David and Goliath

Best-selling author and New Yorker magazine regular Malcolm Gladwell possesses a singular genius: He can take the contents of a fairly interesting, to-the-zeitgeist, feature-length magazine article and expand it into a readable best-selling book. His straightforward, conversational style, direct reader address and constant citing of impressive-sounding studies transform even minor insights into thunderbolts. His observations – such The Tipping Point’s contention that you must practice 10,000 hours to achieve true skill in any endeavor – become social clichés and appear in pretty much every subsequent book or article that comes near a subject Gladwell once addressed.

Give credit where it’s due: Gladwell created his own successful niche, and he works it unceasingly. This entertaining collection of pronouncements and the anecdotes that illustrate them illuminate an ancient yet contemporary theme: the triumph of the underdog.