Joyce Gladwell's experiences as a black woman in the UK are from Brown Face, Big Master (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 1969). It is a wonderful book. I recommend it highly-although, as you can imagine, I could be a bit biased.

Acknowledgments

I'm happy to say that Outliers conforms to its own thesis. It was very much a collective effort. I was inspired, as I seem to always be, by the work of Richard Nisbett. It was reading the Culture of Honor that set in motion a lot of the thinking that led to this book. Thank you, Professor Nisbett.

As always, I prevailed upon my friends to critique various drafts of the manuscript. Happily, they complied, and Outliers is infinitely better as a result. Many thanks to Jacob Weisberg, Terry Martin, Robert McCrum, Sarah Lyall, Charles Randolph, Tali Farhadian, Zoe Rosenfeld, and Bruce Headlam. Stacey Kalish and Sarah Kessler did yeoman's work in research and fact-checking. Suzy Hansen performed her usual editorial magic. David Remnick graciously gave me time off from my duties at The New Yorker to complete this book. Thank you, as always, David. Henry Finder, my editor at The New Yorker, saved me from myself and reminded me how to think, as he always does. I have worked with Henry for so long that I now have what I like to call the "internal Finder," which is a self-correcting voice inside my head that gives me the benefit of Henry's wisdom even when he is not there. Both Finders-internal and external-were invaluable.

Bill Phillips and I have been two for two so far, and I'm very grateful I was able to enlist his Midas touch once more. Thank you, Bill. Here's hoping we go three for three. Will Goodlad and Stefan McGrath at Penguin in England, and Michael Pietsch and-especially-Geoff Shandler at Little, Brown saw this manuscript through, from start to finish. Thanks to the rest of the team at Little, Brown as well: Heather Fain and Heather Rizzo and Junie Dahn. My fellow Canadian Pamela Marshall is a word wizard. I cannot imagine publishing a book without her.

Two final words of appreciation. Tina Bennett, my agent, has been with me from the very beginning. She is insightful and thoughtful and encouraging and unfailingly wise, and when I think of what she has done for me, I feel as lucky as a hockey player born on January 1.

I owe thanks most of all, though, to my parents, Graham and Joyce. This is a book about the meaning of work, and I learned that work can be meaningful from my father. Everything he does-from his most complex academic mathematics to digging in the garden-he tackles with joy and resolve and enthusiasm. My earliest memories of my father are of seeing him work at his desk and realizing that he was happy. I did not know it then, but that was one of the most precious gifts a father can give his child. My mother, for her part, taught me how to express myself; she taught me that there is beauty in saying something clearly and simply. She read every word of this book and tried to hold me to that standard. My grandmother Daisy, to whom Outliers is dedicated, gave my mother the gift of opportunity. My mother has done the same for me.

Contents

Front Cover Image

Welcome

Dedication

READING GROUP GUIDE

A CONVERSATION WITH MALCOLM GLADWELL

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

INTRODUCTION

The Roseto Mystery

"These people were dying of old age. That's it."

PART ONE: OPPORTUNITY

ONE

The Matthew Effect

"For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." - Matthew 25:29

TWO

The 10,000-Hour Rule

"In Hamburg, we had to play for eight hours."

THREE

The Trouble with Geniuses, Part 1

"Knowledge of a boy's IQ is of little help if you are faced with a formful of clever boys."

FOUR

The Trouble with Geniuses, Part 2

"After protracted negotiations, it was agreed that Robert would be put on probation."

FIVE

The Three Lessons of Joe Flom

"Mary got a quarter."

PART TWO: LEGACY

SIX

Harlan, Kentucky

"Die like a man, like your brother did!"

SEVEN

The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes

"Captain, the weather radar has helped us a lot ."

EIGHT

Rice Paddies and Math Tests

"No one who can rise before dawn three hundred sixty days a year fails to make his family rich."

NINE