---
product_id: 99690469
title: "Outliers: The Story of Success"
price: "A$34"
currency: AUD
in_stock: false
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.com.au/products/99690469-outliers-the-story-of-success
store_origin: AU
region: Australia
---

# Outliers: The Story of Success

**Price:** A$34
**Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Outliers: The Story of Success
- **How much does it cost?** A$34 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Currently out of stock
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.au](https://www.desertcart.com.au/products/99690469-outliers-the-story-of-success)

## Best For

- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

Outliers: The Story of Success - Kindle edition by Gladwell, Malcolm. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Outliers: The Story of Success.

Review: Another terrific book from Gladwell - "Outliers", like other Gladwell books, is very enjoyable. It offers some interesting perspectives about what makes some people more successful than others, with particular emphasis on those who far exceed expectations. Many of the book's criticisms focus on what the book is not. I think that is a mistake. This is simply a fine book, a very thoughtful and easy read. The book goes into how one's ethnic roots and specific opportunities set the stage for dramatic success, then working hard takes over. For example: 1. An ancestral emphasis on community involvement can lead to health results which beat the odds. 2. The date of one's birth can affect athletic and academic success, as the oldest in a group of youth, will lead to the 'Matthew Effect', better coaching/teaching, more games/practice, etc. There is an accumulative advantage. On a list of the wealthiest people of all-time, besides opportunity showing up with so many from America, among that group, being born around 1835 and around 1955 stand out, to take advantage of when railroads and Wall Street emerged and when computer time-sharing emerged, respectively. 3. The 10,000 hour rule. Gladwell thinks about 10,000 hours of concentrating at a skill is necessary to excel at something. 4. Whether it is height in basketball or IQ, just being tall enough or intelligent enough is all that really matters, same with colleges as long as they are good enough. Practical intelligence, knowledge and savvy are what really counts and family background is the key to having those. Parents should be involved with their children, with lots of negotiating and expectations of child talk-back, necessary to cause a child to develop a sense of entitlement, maybe not the most moral approach, but extreme success madates that. 5. Jewish immigrants had advantage of occupational skills, like in the garment industry - enterpreneurial skills versus other immigrants like peasant farmers. Work was more meaningful. Their offspring saw this, plus NYC public schools were probably the best in the world at the time. 6. Harlan, Kentucky is an example of herdsmen settlers, with a culture of honor from Scotch-Irish ancestors, influenced descendants, Gladwell saying that crime in the South more influenced more by personal than economic reasons. Certain 'insult' words have bigger effect. 7. Plane crashes are more from human errors in teamwork and communication. Cultural respect for authority a big factor; can keep a subordinate from directing a superior in an emergency. Plus, 'mitigated speech' can be a problem. Can be remedied by training in 'Aviation English'. 8. Asians being better in Math, likely related to ancestral tradition of rice paddies, which are complicated and require hard work throughout the year. Western farming is more mechanical with usually an off-season with little work. Here again, more meaningful and hard work. Plus, Asians learn to count faster because of language differences for numbers. 9. K.I.P.P. Academy in the Bronx, charter middle school, is successful because it has long school days and short summer vacations, with students who commit to work hard. Studies have shown schools generally do well when they are in session, the problem are kids losing ground without good parental involvement during summer vacation. So, it is possible to make up for poor childhood family situations. Makes school meaningful. Incentives, rewards, fun and discipline is the formula. A terrific book.
Review: We all know or have heard of one of these. Why are they so interesting? - There is little doubt that Malcolm Gladwell is an engaging story teller, clearly a result of his his background as a journalist. His style is both easy to read and informative. The individuals whose lives and stories he uses to illustrate his points are at once interesting and at the same time well chosen to illuminate the issues under his social microscope. These are stories told with enough detail, often gleaned from personal interviews with the people at whom he chooses to look in intimate detail. He avoids in large measure the narrow vision that such inspection may yield by also investigating the social sciences that have searched out the details of such difficult concepts. Everyone has some idea who "makes it" and who does not. That is often easy to see because life rewards those who make great effort in general. The difficult part is understanding why some succeed so well and others who may be even more gifted do not, at least in terms of the world's way of rewarding the star performers. It is often the grist of of rumor and innuendo as to why or how some people make it to the top of the "food chain." But to analyze the reasons carefully and then apply the scientific data of real studies to those stories brings this clearly into the realm of reality, if we ever really know that that is. As one who has spent a lifetime trying to apply the results of scientific study to the real world I found his approach noteworthy because of its practical applicability. I have read many dry textbooks, articles and studies and sometimes had difficulty seeing their real world application. But these stories are very illustrative of the points Mr. Gladwell is attempting to help us see with clarity. I enjoyed very much reading this work and wondering if it would have made some difference in the way I lived my own life and what I may have accomplished had I applied the message of its pages. I think that this can help everyone with ambition and ability to achieve more and those who may not have as much of a gift do well with what they have inasmuch as he clearly points out that achievement of greatness is often the result of great effort and application of what natural ability one has. I liked the "10,000 hours" as a real world application of what it takes to do it well. There is just enough science to give the work credibility, but not make it dry or over the heads of most. This and all the others of Gladwell's work that I have read have that same engaging style, enough to help one understand and believe it and enough of the stories of real people to make it interesting and applicable. I have recommended this book to my friends and family, especially those who are in the fields of childhood education or influence and who are either children growing up in this competitive society or raising children themselves. Everyone has something to learn from this either about themselves, those they may seek to help and those whom they may choose to emulate. I liked this book. I read it on my kindle, standing in line, sitting waiting or just absorbed by its message. It was hard to put down. This was the first of Mr. Gladwell's works I read, but then quickly read others which seem to have the same merit.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #20,261 in Kindle Store ( See Top 100 in Kindle Store ) #7 in Decision-Making & Problem Solving #10 in Business Decision Making #15 in Communication & Social Skills Self-Help eBooks |

## Images

![Outliers: The Story of Success - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/714RIa-9iJL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Another terrific book from Gladwell
*by J***H on December 3, 2008*

"Outliers", like other Gladwell books, is very enjoyable. It offers some interesting perspectives about what makes some people more successful than others, with particular emphasis on those who far exceed expectations. Many of the book's criticisms focus on what the book is not. I think that is a mistake. This is simply a fine book, a very thoughtful and easy read. The book goes into how one's ethnic roots and specific opportunities set the stage for dramatic success, then working hard takes over. For example: 1. An ancestral emphasis on community involvement can lead to health results which beat the odds. 2. The date of one's birth can affect athletic and academic success, as the oldest in a group of youth, will lead to the 'Matthew Effect', better coaching/teaching, more games/practice, etc. There is an accumulative advantage. On a list of the wealthiest people of all-time, besides opportunity showing up with so many from America, among that group, being born around 1835 and around 1955 stand out, to take advantage of when railroads and Wall Street emerged and when computer time-sharing emerged, respectively. 3. The 10,000 hour rule. Gladwell thinks about 10,000 hours of concentrating at a skill is necessary to excel at something. 4. Whether it is height in basketball or IQ, just being tall enough or intelligent enough is all that really matters, same with colleges as long as they are good enough. Practical intelligence, knowledge and savvy are what really counts and family background is the key to having those. Parents should be involved with their children, with lots of negotiating and expectations of child talk-back, necessary to cause a child to develop a sense of entitlement, maybe not the most moral approach, but extreme success madates that. 5. Jewish immigrants had advantage of occupational skills, like in the garment industry - enterpreneurial skills versus other immigrants like peasant farmers. Work was more meaningful. Their offspring saw this, plus NYC public schools were probably the best in the world at the time. 6. Harlan, Kentucky is an example of herdsmen settlers, with a culture of honor from Scotch-Irish ancestors, influenced descendants, Gladwell saying that crime in the South more influenced more by personal than economic reasons. Certain 'insult' words have bigger effect. 7. Plane crashes are more from human errors in teamwork and communication. Cultural respect for authority a big factor; can keep a subordinate from directing a superior in an emergency. Plus, 'mitigated speech' can be a problem. Can be remedied by training in 'Aviation English'. 8. Asians being better in Math, likely related to ancestral tradition of rice paddies, which are complicated and require hard work throughout the year. Western farming is more mechanical with usually an off-season with little work. Here again, more meaningful and hard work. Plus, Asians learn to count faster because of language differences for numbers. 9. K.I.P.P. Academy in the Bronx, charter middle school, is successful because it has long school days and short summer vacations, with students who commit to work hard. Studies have shown schools generally do well when they are in session, the problem are kids losing ground without good parental involvement during summer vacation. So, it is possible to make up for poor childhood family situations. Makes school meaningful. Incentives, rewards, fun and discipline is the formula. A terrific book.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ We all know or have heard of one of these. Why are they so interesting?
*by S***E on November 22, 2013*

There is little doubt that Malcolm Gladwell is an engaging story teller, clearly a result of his his background as a journalist. His style is both easy to read and informative. The individuals whose lives and stories he uses to illustrate his points are at once interesting and at the same time well chosen to illuminate the issues under his social microscope. These are stories told with enough detail, often gleaned from personal interviews with the people at whom he chooses to look in intimate detail. He avoids in large measure the narrow vision that such inspection may yield by also investigating the social sciences that have searched out the details of such difficult concepts. Everyone has some idea who "makes it" and who does not. That is often easy to see because life rewards those who make great effort in general. The difficult part is understanding why some succeed so well and others who may be even more gifted do not, at least in terms of the world's way of rewarding the star performers. It is often the grist of of rumor and innuendo as to why or how some people make it to the top of the "food chain." But to analyze the reasons carefully and then apply the scientific data of real studies to those stories brings this clearly into the realm of reality, if we ever really know that that is. As one who has spent a lifetime trying to apply the results of scientific study to the real world I found his approach noteworthy because of its practical applicability. I have read many dry textbooks, articles and studies and sometimes had difficulty seeing their real world application. But these stories are very illustrative of the points Mr. Gladwell is attempting to help us see with clarity. I enjoyed very much reading this work and wondering if it would have made some difference in the way I lived my own life and what I may have accomplished had I applied the message of its pages. I think that this can help everyone with ambition and ability to achieve more and those who may not have as much of a gift do well with what they have inasmuch as he clearly points out that achievement of greatness is often the result of great effort and application of what natural ability one has. I liked the "10,000 hours" as a real world application of what it takes to do it well. There is just enough science to give the work credibility, but not make it dry or over the heads of most. This and all the others of Gladwell's work that I have read have that same engaging style, enough to help one understand and believe it and enough of the stories of real people to make it interesting and applicable. I have recommended this book to my friends and family, especially those who are in the fields of childhood education or influence and who are either children growing up in this competitive society or raising children themselves. Everyone has something to learn from this either about themselves, those they may seek to help and those whom they may choose to emulate. I liked this book. I read it on my kindle, standing in line, sitting waiting or just absorbed by its message. It was hard to put down. This was the first of Mr. Gladwell's works I read, but then quickly read others which seem to have the same merit.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Interesting, and Fun to Read (If Not Completely Earth-Shattering)
*by N***H on July 12, 2014*

I want this quote from Chapter 8 tattooed on my students’ foreheads: “Success is a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work hard for twenty-two minutes to make sense of something that most people would give up on after thirty seconds.” Nailed it. No better statement explains the difference between success and failure in my English and writing classes. Part of me really enjoyed reading this book, though as many reviewers have pointed out, the parts are greater individually than as a whole. The most interesting and insightful chapter is right up front, Gladwell’s analysis of Little League hockey (quite fascinating). The other stories, about such topics as pilots, rice paddies and summer school, while interesting and well written, ultimately drew what I thought were pretty obvious conclusions: clear, blunt communication in times of peril is good, having a hard work ethic is good, and putting that work ethic into practice is even better. Um. Duh? Each chapter’s new idea is thoughtful and well explained, but when I finished the book, I didn’t feel the earth-shattering revelations that I was hoping for. Instead, I sat back and thought to myself, I’m not sure I just learned anything that I didn’t already know. In fact, I thought to myself, Who doesn’t already know on some level what Outliers purports, that sweeping success is a matter of heritage, luck, skill and hard work. Now that I think about it, it’s almost insulting that Gladwell assumes most Americans believe that success is purely a matter of skill or hard work, that greats such as Albert Einstein and Bill Gates succeeded as a result of their innate genius and astounding IQ alone. But then my brain reminds me, Hey, you teach high school, and students act on this flawed premise all the time. And if the kids do, what does that say about the parents? Might they also underestimate the value of persistence, hard work, and opportunity? (The answer, BTW, is that yes, there are tons of parents who understand that hard work is good for their student, but who don’t understand exactly what “hard work” means for the academic setting.) Thinking back to my students again, and about how easily they give up, and how little effort they’re willing to put into their own education, suddenly a book like this makes perfect sense. This is why Outliers: Chapters 1 and 2 are going to be making their debut in my freshman classroom this year. Perhaps the real lesson of Outliers is not the conclusions that it draws, but the fact that few of us actually put these conclusions to practical use. And in that sense, this is a very valuable book indeed

---

## Why Shop on Desertcart?

- 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016
- 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories
- 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price
- 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members)
- 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection
- ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews

**Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.com.au/products/99690469-outliers-the-story-of-success](https://www.desertcart.com.au/products/99690469-outliers-the-story-of-success)

---

*Product available on Desertcart Australia*
*Store origin: AU*
*Last updated: 2026-02-24*