Malcolm Gladwell is better known as the author of Tipping point. Outliers promises to be the book that would out shadow the success of his first best seller. Here is a quote from the last page
“It is impossible… for any other outlier for that matter, to look down from their lofty perch and say with truthfulness, “I did this, all by myself.” Superstar lawyers and math whizzes and software entrepreneurs appear at first blush to lie outside ordinary experience.
But they don’t.
They are products of history and community, of opportunity and legacy. Their success is not exceptional or mysterious. It is grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky – but all critical to making them who they are.
The outlier, in the end, is not an outlier at all.”
If you get a chance, grab a copy and read the book.