David and Goliath (book)

David and Goliath

First edition cover
Author Malcolm Gladwell
Country United States
Language English
Genre Psychology, sociology
Publisher Little, Brown and Company
Publication date
 October 1, 2013
Media type Hardback, audiobook
Pages 320
ISBN 978-0-316-20436-1
Preceded by What the Dog Saw, 2009

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants is a non-fiction book written by Malcolm Gladwell and published by Little, Brown and Company on October 1, 2013. The book focuses on the probability of improbable events occurring in situations where one outcome is greatly favored over the other. The book contains many different stories of these underdogs who wind up beating the odds, the most famous being the story of David and Goliath. The book was a bestseller, rising to #4 on the New York Times Hardcover Non-fiction chart,[1] and #5 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books.[2]

Summary

David and Goliath employs individual case studies and comparison to provide a wide range of examples where perceived major disadvantages in fact turn out to be the keys to the underdog Davids' triumph against Goliath-like opponents or situations. In one arc, Gladwell cites various seeming afflictions that may in fact have significantly contributed to success, linking dyslexia with the high-flying career of lawyer David Boies, and the loss of a parent at an early age with the exceptional research work of oncologist Emil J. Freireich. These anecdotal lessons are anchored by references to research in the social sciences.

Critical reception

Critical response to David and Goliath was quite uniformly negative. The book was unfavorably reviewed twice in the New York Times. Janet Maslin quipped, "As usual, Mr. Gladwell's science is convenient", and she concludes that "the book's middle section is its messiest", where the author attempts to link the experiences of famous dyslexics such as Brian Grazer and David Boies.[3] Joe Nocera is more direct in his final analysis: "Maybe what 'David and Goliath' really illustrates is that it’s time for Malcolm Gladwell to find a new shtick."[4]

Writing in Esquire, Tom Junod echoes Nocera's conclusion with his title, "Malcolm Gladwell Runs Out of Tricks". Junod coins a term called "The Gladwell Feint", where the author questions the obvious, asserting that the reader's preconceptions are wrong, before reassuring the reader that he has subconsciously known this all along. The Feint is an algorithm that produces reliably feel-good stories. "Gladwell might be suspect as a philosopher, but his credentials as the Horatio Alger of late-period capitalism are unsurpassed."[5] The New Republic reinforced this critique, calling the book less insightful than a Chinese fortune cookie. The title of their review is a pithy takedown of the book's style: "Malcolm Gladwell Is America's Best-Paid Fairy-Tale Writer".[6] The Wall Street Journal laments that "Mr. Gladwell has not changed his own strategy, despite serious criticism of his prior work".[7]

As of March 2015, David and Goliath scores 3.81 stars out of 5, based on over 50,000 reader votes and 3,000 reader reviews, at Goodreads, a popular book recommendation site.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2013-11-03/overview.html
  2. ↑ http://books.usatoday.com/book/malcolm-gladwell-david-and-goliath/l51306
  3. ↑ Maslin, Janet. "Finding Talking Points Among the Underdogs", New York Times, October 2, 2013.
  4. ↑ Nocera, Joe. "Killing Giants", New York Times, October 11, 2013.
  5. ↑ Junod, Tom. "Malcolm Gladwell Runs Out of Tricks", Esquire, November 25, 2013.
  6. ↑ Gray, John. "Malcolm Gladwell Is America's Best-Paid Fairy-Tale Writer", The New Republic, November 21, 2013.
  7. ↑ Chabris, Christopher. "Book Review: 'David and Goliath' by Malcolm Gladwell", The Wall Street Journal, September 28, 2013.
  8. ↑ Goodreads is the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations, with 30 million members, and approximately 1 million unique visitors per day.Quantcast: goodreads.com Retrieved: 28 March 2015.

External links