Fee Download David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell
Getting guides David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell now is not type of difficult method. You can not just opting for publication store or collection or loaning from your friends to review them. This is a quite straightforward way to specifically obtain the book by on-line. This online e-book David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell can be among the options to accompany you when having extra time. It will not lose your time. Believe me, guide will reveal you new thing to read. Just spend little time to open this online book David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell and also review them any place you are now.
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell
Fee Download David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell
Picture that you obtain such particular remarkable experience and also knowledge by only checking out a book David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell. Exactly how can? It appears to be greater when an e-book can be the ideal point to find. Publications now will show up in published as well as soft file collection. One of them is this book David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell It is so usual with the printed e-books. Nonetheless, many individuals in some cases have no room to bring guide for them; this is why they can not check out the e-book any place they really want.
As understood, book David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell is popular as the window to open up the globe, the life, as well as extra point. This is what individuals currently need so much. Even there are many individuals which do not like reading; it can be a selection as reference. When you truly need the means to produce the following inspirations, book David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell will truly assist you to the way. Additionally this David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell, you will certainly have no remorse to get it.
To get this book David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell, you could not be so confused. This is online book David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell that can be taken its soft documents. It is different with the on the internet book David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell where you can purchase a book then the seller will send out the published book for you. This is the location where you could get this David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell by online as well as after having handle investing in, you can download David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell on your own.
So, when you require quickly that book David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell, it doesn't should get ready for some days to get the book David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell You can directly get guide to conserve in your tool. Even you love reading this David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell anywhere you have time, you could appreciate it to review David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell It is undoubtedly useful for you who wish to get the a lot more valuable time for reading. Why do not you spend five mins and invest little cash to obtain guide David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants, By Malcolm Gladwell here? Never allow the extra thing goes away from you.
Malcolm Gladwell, the #1 bestselling author of The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, and What the Dog Saw, offers his most provocative---and dazzling---book yet.
Three thousand years ago on a battlefield in ancient Palestine, a shepherd boy felled a mighty warrior with nothing more than a stone and a sling, and ever since then the names of David and Goliath have stood for battles between underdogs and giants. David's victory was improbable and miraculous. He shouldn't have won.
Or should he have?
In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell challenges how we think about obstacles and disadvantages, offering a new interpretation of what it means to be discriminated against, or cope with a disability, or lose a parent, or attend a mediocre school, or suffer from any number of other apparent setbacks.
Gladwell begins with the real story of what happened between the giant and the shepherd boy those many years ago. From there, David and Goliath examines Northern Ireland's Troubles, the minds of cancer researchers and civil rights leaders, murder and the high costs of revenge, and the dynamics of successful and unsuccessful classrooms---all to demonstrate how much of what is beautiful and important in the world arises from what looks like suffering and adversity.
In the tradition of Gladwell's previous bestsellers---The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers and What the Dog Saw---David and Goliath draws upon history, psychology, and powerful storytelling to reshape the way we think of the world around us.
- Sales Rank: #6776 in Books
- Brand: Brand: Little, Brown and Company
- Published on: 2013-10-01
- Released on: 2013-10-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.50" h x 1.00" w x 5.75" l, .90 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 320 pages
Features
From Booklist
*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
Review
"Truly intriguing and inspiring, especially when Gladwell discusses 'desirable difficulties'....Gladwell's account of the journey of Dr. Emil 'Jay' Freireich is unforgettable." ---Hector Tobar, Los Angeles Times
"Provocative....David and Goliath is a lean, consuming read....The book's most crafty, engaging chapter ties together the Impressionist movement and college choices to highlight the fact that gaining admission to elite institutions, which we typically perceive as an advantage, is no guarantee of success." ---John Wilwol, San Francisco Chronicle
"As always, Gladwell's sweep is breathtaking and thought-provoking....I've long admired Gladwell's work." ---Joe Nocera, New York Times
"David and Goliath readers will travel with colorful characters who overcame great difficulties and learn fascinating facts about the Battle of Britain, cancer medicine and the struggle for civil rights, to name just a few topics upon which Mr. Gladwell's wide-ranging narrative touches. This is an entertaining book." ---Christopher F. Chabris, Wall Street Journal
"Fascinating....Gladwell is a master of synthesis. This perennially bestselling author prides himself on radical re-thinking and urges the rest of us to follow suit." ---Heller McAlpin, Washington Post
"What propels the book, like all of Gladwell's writing, is his intoxicating brand of storytelling. He is the master of mixing familiar elements with surprise counter-intuitions, and then seasoning with a sprinkling of scientific evidence....Gladwell is a master craftsman, an outlier amongst authors." ---Rob Brooks, Huffington Post
"Gladwell sells books by the millions because he is masterful at explaining how the world works---the power of critical mass, the arbitrariness of success, etc.---packaging his ideas in fun, accessible, and poignant vignettes." ---Lionel Beehner, USA Today
"Gladwell's most provocative book yet. David and Goliath challenges how we think about obstacles and disadvantages, drawing upon history, psychology, and powerful narrative talent to rethink how we view the world around us and how to deal with the challenges life throws at us." ---Susanne Jaffe, Columbus Dispatch
"The bestselling author behind the inventive Outliers, Blink, and The Tipping Point is back with another thought provoking theory that fascinates, entertains, and informs. He gives underdogs their due this time, challenging everything readers believe about facing-and conquering-life's stumbling blocks, using the 'real' story of David and Goliath and more to make his point." ---Celeste Williams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
"Gladwell has made a career out of questioning conventional wisdom, and here he examines the allegedly unlikely triumph of the weak over the mighty and shows it's not so unlikely after all. 4 stars." ---Judith Newman, People Magazine
"The 50-year-old Canadian is a superstar, the most popular staff writer on The New Yorker and a hero in the frequent-flier lounge where journalism, social science, business management, and self-help hang out....It's a good story and he's got plenty more." ---Jeff Baker, The Oregonian
"Pop culture pundit Malcolm Gladwell is an idea blender, mixing concepts from vastly different sources (everything from business to science to the Bible) to produce new ways of seeing the world." ---Barbara O'Dair, Reader's Digest
"Engrossing.... Gladwell's singular gift is animating the experience of his subjects. He has an uncanny ability to simplify without being simplistic: clean and vivid Strunk and White prose in the service of peerless storytelling." ---David Takami, Seattle Times
"Contemporary society can't escape history when Malcolm Gladwell explains the world as he does with David and Goliath."---Jane Henderson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell explores the dynamics that inform and effect our everyday lives. By analyzing the Biblical account of the clash between David and Goliath, Gladwell presents a bold new interpretation of the lessons we should apply from it." ---Today Show
About the Author
Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1996. He is the author of The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, and What the Dog Saw. Prior to joining The New Yorker, he was a reporter at the Washington Post. Gladwell was born in England and grew up in rural Ontario. He now lives in New York.
Most helpful customer reviews
508 of 563 people found the following review helpful.
Entertaining but Lacking Scientific Rigor
By Book Shark
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell
"David and Goliath" is an interesting yet somewhat disappointing book about what happens when ordinary people confront giants. Best-selling author, Malcolm Gladwell provides many examples that range from the compelling to the dare I say feeble. That being said, the book is stimulating and it's never boring, it just lacked the brilliance that a book like his very own "Outliers" has. This provocative 320-page book is broken out into the following three parts: 1. The Advantages of Disadvantages (and Disadvantages of Advantages), 2. The Theory of Desirable Difficulty, and 3. The Limits of Power.
Positives:
1. Always engaging, provocative and a page turner. Gladwell is a gifted narrator.
2. Interesting subject, never boring. You never know what you are going to get from Gladwell. A great premise and title for a book, "David and Goliath".
3. Gladwell explores two main ideas through stories and keen observations. "What we consider valuable in our world arises out of these kinds of lopsided conflicts, because the act of facing overwhelming odds produces greatness and beauty. And second, that we consistently get these kinds of conflicts wrong."
4. A recurring theme that resonates throughout the book, "There is an important lesson in that for battles with all kinds of giants. The powerful and the strong are not always what they seem."
5. I absolutely loved the story of Vivek Ranadive's basketball team and where Pitino's trademark strategy came from. "The whole Redwood City philosophy was based on a willingness to try harder than anyone else."
6. The provocative discussion on the correlation of class sizes and educational success. Interesting angles (the concept of the inverted-U curve) and great water cooler material regardless on which side you fall on.
7. The concept of it is better to be a Big Fish in a Little Pond than a Little Fish in a Big Pond. "The phenomenon of relative deprivation applied to education is called--appropriately enough--the `Big Fish-Little Pond Effect.' The more elite an educational institution is, the worse students feel about their own academic abilities." Interesting findings that resulted from this observation.
8. An interesting look at dyslexia. "Dyslexia is a problem in the way people hear and manipulate sounds." This is where Gladwell goes into his theory of "desirable difficulties" and provides many examples of stories of success and overcoming challenges. The case of trial lawyer David Boies is one of overcoming the odds and making the most of his challenges.
9. Measuring personality through the Five Factor Model ("Big Five").
10. I enjoy historical references and this book offers a couple of intriguing stories. The "London Blitz".
11. Gladwell loves patterns and he has made it a trademark to share some of his favorites. "Twelve of the first forty-four U.S. presidents--beginning with George Washington and going all the way up to Barack Obama--lost their fathers while they were young."
12. A fascinating medical case study involving Jay Freireich and leukemia.
13. Case studies involving courage. The American civil rights movement. The fascinating story behind the iconic photograph (calm teenage boy being attacked by a snarling German shepherd) that captured the impetus of the historical movement.
14. The use of trickery, the art of survival and triumph even in the most hostile of environments.
15. The incendiary case study of Northern Ireland. "In Northern Ireland, the British made a simple mistake. They fell into the trap of believing that because they had resources, weapons, soldiers, and experience that dwarfed those of the insurgent elements that they were trying to contain, it did not matter what the people of Northern Ireland thought of them."
16. The principal of legitimacy. "Legitimacy is based on three things. First of all, the people who are asked to obey authority have to feel like they have a voice--that if they speak up, they will be heard. Second, the law has to be predictable. There has to be a reasonable expectation that the rules tomorrow are going to be roughly the same as the rules today. And third, the authority has to be fair. It can't treat one group differently from another."
17. The uplifting case of Jaffe and J-RIPpers.
18. The inception of the Three Strike rule and its shortcomings. "Clearly, then, there's a big difference between having no penalties for breaking the law and having some penalties--just as there's a big difference between a class of forty students and a class of twenty-five. On the left side of the inverted-U curve, interventions make a difference."
19. Understanding the limits of power. The case study of the Huguenots.
20. Notes linked.
Negatives:
1. No links to original sources.
2. No formal bibliography.
3. Lacks scientific rigor or depth. Gladwell mainly presents his side of the story and at times suffers from confirmation bias. It's ok to present opposing scientific views while defending your own.
4. I really have a tough time buying the notion that people succeed because of their difficulties, "The second, more intriguing, possibility is that they succeeded, in part, because of their disorder--that they learned something in their struggle that proved to be of enormous advantage." I look at it as overcoming challenges, making the best of what you have.
5. Some of the case studies are not for the faint of heart. The Candace Derksen story was particularly painful and difficult to read.
6. A misspell in the table of contents.
In summary, Gladwell's books are always provocative and fun to read. The biggest problem for Gladwell is to live up to expectations set by a book of the caliber of "Outliers" and frankly whether fair or not this book doesn't live up to it. It lacks panache and most importantly scientific rigor. That being said this book has moments of radiance and he always manages to entertain. Perhaps 3 stars is a bit low but rest assured all of Gladwell's books are worth reading. In short, this book will provide great water cooler material, read it and make your own call.
Further recommendations: "Outliers: The Story of Success", "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference", and "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" by the same author, "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us" by Daniel H. Pink, "Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard" and "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die" by Chip and Dan Heath, "The One Thing" by Gary Keller, "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" by Susan Cain, "Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success" by Rick Newman, "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhig, "What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets" by Michael J. Sandel, "Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain" by David Eagleman, and "The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined" by Steven Pinker.
510 of 581 people found the following review helpful.
Gladwell did it again.
By Derek Halpern
You might read some reviews that hate on this book.
They'll say they don't like his pseudo-scientific claims. They'll say he oversimplifies everything. They might even mention some "incidents" where they witnessed a deluge of "random" people who hated on this book... just a day after it's released.
But I believe those people have an agenda. An agenda where they decided they were going to hate this book before they even read it.
I'll explain.
When I buy a Malcolm Gladwell book, I don't expect in-depth analysis of hundreds of research studies. For that, I'll turn to someone like Eliot Aronson, Dan Ariely, or some new blood like Adam Grant. When I buy a Malcolm Gladwell book I expect to read compelling stories that bring a few pieces of key research to life. I also expect to be inspired by these stories. And in that regard, David and Goliath OVER DELIVERS.
#1 I loved the story of the impressionists
I won't ruin the story for you because I think you should buy the book and read it. But the short of it is this: When the impressionists were shunned from the high art society in France, they created their own art show. And their art became more popular. And today, their art is essentially priceless since the art they were showing in their 'offsite' art show totaled more than billion dollars worth of art.
What's funny about this story is the connection to Gladwell and today. Gladwell might get shunned by some nitpicking academics, and that's fine. He's not trying to break into the world of academia. He created his own world, and he's the guy selling millions of books.
This doesn't mean I hate academia though. I run a website called Social Triggers, and a podcast called Social Triggers Insider. My goal? To share the research from academia in language that layman can understand. So I dig academia.
That said, this story was inspiring because it reminds me (and I'm sure other people who read it) that it's not about being accepted by a system. Sometimes, you need to create your own system - and you'll be better off.
#2 We should all remember the inverted U curve
Again, Gladwell goes into this in more detail, but I loved this. It quite simply says, that just because you do more of something doesn't mean you're going to have more results. At some point, doing more can actually have the REVERSE effect. Doing more can actually make you do worse.
Even though he didn't use this analogy, I think about going to the gym. When you go to the gym once a week, you get poor results. Go twice, and better results. Go three, and maybe better results. But if you go 7 times a week, twice a day, you risk 'overtraining' and when you overtrain you actually risk getting worse results.
Based on those two stories alone, I believe this book is worth the read.
Now back to the naysayers...
The naysayers pick his books up and say it's too simple. And you know what? Just the other day, Gladwell said it best: "If my books appear oversimplified, then you shouldn't read them"
Why is that best?
Because if you think his books are too oversimplified, you shouldn't read them. You're NOT the audience.
He's not writing a book to be consumed by 1,500 academics. He's writing a book to inspire millions of people.
And that's why I have to say, Malcolm Gladwell did it again. Check the book out.
91 of 113 people found the following review helpful.
Simply disappointing -- Neither instructive nor insightful
By The Agnostic Apatheist
Let me begin by saying that "David and Goliath" is an easy read. If you are a fast reader with extra time on your hands, you can finish the entire book in one sitting. Gladwell is a good, entertaining writer. Having said that, I was disappointed with the content of his book. Thus, this review will focus on those points.
"David and Goliath" is about battling giants... at least, I'm sure that's what you thought when you bought the book. That's certainly what the subtitle states - "Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battle Giants." However, you would only be partially correct. While there is some content related to battling so-called giants, the book's title is misleading. Most of the book is about advantages and disadvantages. The first section is about perceived advantages and how these advantages are often the source of disadvantage. The middle section is about perceived disadvantages and how these can be advantages. The last few chapters are about the limits of power, which is poorly connected to the overall theme of the book. Most of the stories had very little to do with battling giants, regardless of how you define the term "giants". In fact, Gladwell uses a very loose definition of "giants". Giants are anything that seems formidable.
Introduction: Goliath
Gladwell begins strong. He presents the story of David and Goliath but provides background to the story. The message to take away from the story is that David surprised Goliath. Goliath was expecting a sword-to-sword battle. Instead, David came out with his sling and took out the giant by refusing the play to Goliath's strengths, namely, his size. But Gladwell also mentions that what is perceived as Goliath's strength is also a source of weakness; Goliath likely had acromegaly (assuming the story is even historical). Acromegaly limited Goliath's vision requiring him to fight in close quarters; David would not fight Goliath on equal terms. In the end, David slays Goliath. Not a bad start to the book.
Chapter 1:
In this chapter, Gladwell presents the case of Vivek Ranadive, who was able to lead a team of basketball underdogs to the championship without any formal knowledge of the game. Moreover, Ranadive's players barely knew the rules when they began training. However, by focusing on physical conditioning and the lesser employed tactic of full-court press, Ranadive was able to wear down opposing teams and increase opportunities to steal the ball. This is clearly a story about the triumph of the underdog, and it is in-line with the title. Unfortunately, the Introduction and Chapter 1 are the best sections of the book. It goes downhill from this point.
Chapter 2:
Here, Gladwell focuses on school classroom size and how a perceived advantage - i.e. small class size - is actually a disadvantage. While a smaller class size may improve learning, there is a point where a very low class size can actually hurt student performance. While this topic is interesting in itself, it is only loosely connected to the notion of battling giants. In fact, the connection is an artificial one; I'm not even sure who or what the "giant" is supposed to be in this story. Is it the educational system? Is it student performance? Is it class size?
Gladwell's point is that advantages can be a source of disadvantage. However, he doesn't really tell you how to battle the so-called giant, whatever the giant is supposed to be in this story. If the giant is classroom size, then it would've been nice to state what the ideal classroom size would be for elementary or middle school or high school students. Instead, all you know is that class size shouldn't be too low, whatever "too low" means. But if we take his point to the logical extreme, he seems to imply that one-on-one tutoring may not have advantages. After all, that is the ultimate small class room. However, this has neither been my experience nor the experience of most parents who can afford private, one-on-one lessons for their children, whether in an athletics or academics. In fact, studies on expertise by K Anders Ericsson, whom Gladwell mentions in "Blink", states that individual mentoring or coaching is very important for achieving high levels of success.
Chapter 3:
Chapter 3 suffers similar problems with chapter 2. It is the story of Caroline Sacks. She was a high academic achiever in high school, but discovered that she was not good enough to compete in the Ivy Leagues. She loved science and wanted to pursue a career in a scientific field; however, she could not compete with the other students at Brown University. Gladwell's point is that she has a perceived advantage over most students - she had the ability to get admitted into Brown University. Nonetheless, this advantage became a source of disadvantage for her. She ultimately felt defeated by becoming a small fish in a big pond, and eventually chose not to pursue her love of science. Had she gone to a second-choice school, she might've been a high achiever and more successful. In short, it's sometimes better to be a big fish in a small pond, rather than always seeking to enter the big pond and finding out that you're only a little fish.
Once again, I'm not sure who or what the giant is in this story. If the giant is the Ivy League school, Brown University, then Gladwell is not really discussing how to successfully battle this giant. Gladwell's message is to choose another opponent to do battle with - i.e. choose a non-Ivy League school. In this case, the giant has defeated the underdog by getting the underdog to choose an easier opponent to fight. Isn't this the antithesis of the books' theme?
Chapter 4:
Beginning with chapter 4, the book takes a different turn. Gladwell begins focusing on disadvantages, suggesting that they can be a source of advantage. This is not a novel idea, but Gladwell stretches this idea to make his case. In this chapter he mentions that dyslexia is a perceived disadvantage but is a characteristic of nearly one-third of entrepreneurs, including Richard Branson, Charles Schwab, David Neeleman, and others. In other words, approximately 30% of entrepreneurs have dyslexia and may have become successful businessmen because of their dyslexia. Of course, the other possibility is that these entrepreneurs succeeded in spite of their dyslexia, rather than because of it. This point is merely dismissed by Gladwell without much consideration.
Nonetheless, anyone who has taken a basic statistics or critical thinking class should immediately see a flaw with Gladwell's reasoning. He seems to want his reader's to think that if a person is dyslexic then he/she has a 30% chance of becoming incredibly successful in business. But stating that 30% of entrepreneurs have dyslexia is not the same as saying that 30% of dyslexics are entrepreneurs. Moreover, if 30% of entrepreneurs have dyslexia, then that means 70% of entrepreneurs do not, and from empirical evidence, dyslexics struggle in academic fields throughout much of their life. Let's not forget that an overwhelming majority of jobs expect employees to be college educated, at least. There are also a large number of dyslexics in prison. Thus, while having dyslexia can be an advantage (if Gladwell is correct), it is not an advantage for most. Yet Gladwell seems to insinuate that dyslexia is not a problem at all; he just stops short of suggesting that dyslexia is something you might wish for your children and grandchildren because of the advantages it can provide. I guess that's why I'm not a multi-billionaire; I don't have dyslexia.
Gladwell goes on to present the story of two dyslexics, David Boies and Gary Cohn. Boies became a successful trial lawyer and Cohn became president of Goldman Sachs. Both were successful because they were forced to compensate for their dyslexia. They had to develop other skills that they learned to use to their benefit. So if dyslexia is a "giant", then the way to battle this giant is to compensate for it, rather than overcome it. In other words, the dyslexic isn't defeating his or her problem but circumventing the problem. In the end, I felt these stories were stretching the theme of the book.
The following quote from Gladwell summarizes this chapter: "Most people with a serious disability cannot master all those steps [i.e. steps to compensate for a disability]. But those who can are better off than they would have been otherwise, because what is learned out of necessity is inevitably more powerful than the learning that comes easily." That is, if you have a disability, you are not likely to be able to compensate for it; however, if you are one of the lucky ones who manage to compensate, then you have a good chance to be successful. This isn't really encouraging or instructive. It isn't even insightful.
Chapter 5:
The message of chapter 5 can be summed up in Nietzsche's famous quote, "What does not kill me, makes me stronger." But the chapter is longwinded and holds a superficial, even artificially created, relationship to the idea of battling giants. In this chapter, Gladwell points out that we are often afraid of fear, but the actual experience that we are afraid of is less frightening once it is experienced. But once again, as with chapter 4, the message of this chapter is not instructive or insightful.
Chapter 5 does provide one explanation for how heroes are created. Many so-called heroes and successful individuals have experienced death early in their lives - i.e. the death of at least one parent. As a result, they are often "disagreeable" individuals; that is, they go against the societal grain. They often take much abuse from the mainstream, but if these individuals can weather the storm, then they are often stronger in the end. Of course, a lot of prisoners have also lost at least one parent at a young age. So if you are looking for a way to think of this information in your own battles with "giants", you will have learned nothing by the end of the chapter. The take home message: hardship can be an advantage. This is true, but once again, Gladwell's message is not insightful.
Chapter 6:
This chapter is about the 1960s Civil Rights era. Gladwell reiterates the same theme from chapter 5 - i.e. what doesn't kill you, will make you stronger. But he also discusses some the questionable tactics that the Civil Rights activists used to win their political and legal freedoms. For example, Wyatt Walker's approach was to "use what we got" and win by "any means necessary". In fact, Martin Luther King Jr and Wyatt Walker used children to stir public attention for their cause, even allowing them to be jailed or beaten or nearly killed. Aside from the ethical issue of this tactic, Gladwell's message is to do whatever it takes when fighting a giant. But how far is this supposed to go? Would Gladwell condone similar attitudes and behaviors exhibited by paramilitary or terrorist groups? Isn't that basically what these groups think they are doing as well - doing whatever is necessary for their "rightful" cause? In the end, this chapter fits with the basic theme of battling giants, but raises other questions.
Chapter 7-9:
The last three chapters are about the limits of power. I'm not sure how these chapters fit into the overall theme of the book. The stories seem unconnected to the first two sections of the book, which focuses on advantages and disadvantages. While the chapters touch loosely upon the theme, the overall content is primarily a divergence from the theme. I felt that these chapters were added as fillers, rather than pertinent or important topics.
In fact, Gladwell spends a great deal of time talking about the legitimacy versus illegitimacy of power. After defining the differences, his point is that illegitimate power will not prevail in the end, and illegitimate power often leads to counterproductive results. In other words, there are limits to what you can expect from the use of power or force. However, the stories he shares to make his point seem disconnected to the rest of the book.
In short, "David and Goliath" is Gladwell's worst book. The only saving grace is his writing ability. In fact, the best chapter is the Introduction. Unfortunately, I felt that the book was less about battling giants and more a hodge-podge of diverse stories centered around a concocted theme in order for Gladwell to sell another book. There is nothing newsworthy, instructive, or insightful in its pages. Thus, I give this book two stars.
See all 2974 customer reviews...
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell PDF
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell EPub
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell Doc
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell iBooks
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell rtf
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell Mobipocket
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell Kindle
# Fee Download David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell Doc
# Fee Download David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell Doc
# Fee Download David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell Doc
# Fee Download David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell Doc
