David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants Audio CD – Audiobook, Unabridged

*Starred Review* Gladwell’s best-sellers, such as The Tipping Point (2000) and Outliers (2008), have changed the way we think about sociological changes and the factors that contribute to high levels of success. Here he examines and challenges our concepts of “advantage” and “disadvantage” in a way that may seem intuitive to some and surprising to others. Beginning with the classic tale of David and Goliath and moving through history with figures such as Lawrence of Arabia and Martin Luther King Jr., Gladwell shows how, time and again, players labeled “underdog” use that status to their advantage and prevail through the elements of cunning and surprise. He also shows how certain academic “advantages,” such as getting into an Ivy League school, have downsides, in that being a “big fish in a small pond” at a less prestigious school can lead to greater confidence and a better chance of success in later life. Gladwell even promotes the idea of a “desirable difficulty,” such as dyslexia, a learning disability that causes much frustration for reading students but, at the same time, may force them to develop better listening and creative problem-solving skills. As usual, Gladwell presents his research in a fresh and easy-to-understand context, and he may have coined the catchphrase of the decade, “Use what you got.” --David Siegfried --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Praise for Outliers:

"In the vast world of nonfiction writing, Malcolm Gladwell is as close to a singular talent as exists today...Outliers is a pleasure to read and leaves you mulling over its inventive theories for days afterward."—David Leonhardt, New York Times Book Review

"The explosively entertaining Outliers might be Gladwell's best and most useful work yet...There are both brilliant yarns and life lessons here: Outliers is riveting science, self-help, and entertainment, all in one book."—Gregory Kirschling, Entertainment Weekly

"No other book I read this year combines such a distinctive prose style with truly thought-provoking content. Gladwell writes with a high degree of dazzle but at the same time remains as clear and direct as even Strunk or White could hope for."—Atlanta Journal Constitution

"[An] important new book...Gladwell intelligently captures a larger tendency of thought-the growing appreciation of the power of cultural patterns, social contagions, memes...Gladwell's social determinism is a useful corrective to the Homo economicus view of human nature."—David Brooks, New York Times

"Thought-provoking, entertaining, and irresistibly debatable...[Outliers] is another winner from this agile social observer."—Heller McAlpin, Christian Science Monitor

"Outliers is required reading for boardroom and watercooler crowds alike."—Men's Health

"In Outliers, Gladwell (The Tipping Point) once again proves masterful in a genre he essentially pioneered-the book that illuminates secret patterns behind everyday phenomena."—Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Tipping Point

"A fascinating book that makes you see the world in a different way."—Fortune

"Gladwell's theories could be used to run businesses more effectively, to turn products into runaway bestsellers, and perhaps most important, to alter human behavior."—New York Times

Praise for Blink

"A real pleasure...Brims with surprising insights about our world and ourselves."—Salon.com

"Intoxicating".Gladwell is an engaging writer and a first-rate tour guide.?—Thane Rosenbaum, Los Angeles Times

"BLINK moves quickly through a series of delightful stories?.Always dazzling us with fascinating information and phenomena."—David Brooks, New York Times Book Review