Wednesday, November 6, 2013

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell

This is almost a terrific book: the first two-thirds are very good.  I'd recommend the first third of the book to everyone I know.   But the last third continues a theme of "good results come from suffering" that is both wearisome and also not as well written as the start of the text.   Earlier examples of good results coming from difficult circumstances, although flawed by their anecdotal nature, were at least well written and interesting.  More importantly, in these examples Mr. Gladwell tied the conclusion up in a clean bow.   But toward the end there was no circling of the story back to a crisp statement, it was just a pouring on of sad times.

It is though a fast read, and the first few chapters are enjoyable; I realized how long I'd been captivated only when I took a sip of my coffee and found it cold.   That's generally a very good sign for a book.


David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

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