Explore the power of the underdog in Malcolm Gladwell's dazzling examination of success, motivation, and the role of adversity in shaping our lives, from the best-selling author of The Bomber Mafia.

Three thousand years ago on a battlefield in ancient Palestine, a shepherd boy felled a mighty warrior with nothing more than a stone and a sling, and ever since then the names of David and Goliath have stood for battles between underdogs and giants. David's victory was improbable and miraculous. He shouldn'thave won.

Or should he have?

In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwellchallenges how we think about obstacles and disadvantages, offering a new interpretation of what it means to be discriminated against, or cope with a disability, or lose a parent, or attend a mediocre school, or suffer from any number of other apparent setbacks.

Gladwell begins with the real story of what happened between the giant and the shepherd boy those many years ago. From there, David and Goliath examines Northern Ireland's Troubles, the minds of cancer researchers and civil rights leaders, murder and the high costs of revenge, and the dynamics of successful and unsuccessful classrooms - all to demonstrate how much of what is beautiful and important in the world arises from what looks like suffering and adversity.

In the tradition of Gladwell's previous best-sellers - The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, and What the Dog Saw - David and Goliath draws upon history, psychology, and powerful storytelling to reshape the way we think of the world around us.

Listening Length

7 hours and 1 minute
Author

Malcolm Gladwell
Narrator

Malcolm Gladwell
Audible release date

October 1, 2013
Language

English
Publisher

Hachette Audio
ASIN

B00EKQKMG2
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	7 hours and 1 minute
Author	Malcolm Gladwell
Narrator	Malcolm Gladwell
Audible.com Release Date	October 01, 2013
Publisher	Hachette Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B00EKQKMG2
Best Sellers Rank	#1,303 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #7 in Medical Applied Psychology #15 in Popular Applied Psychology #18 in Social Psychology

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Grace Clevenger

Good Concept, That’s it.

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2018

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The concept is interesting, but reading the first few chapters is honestly enough. I’ll confess that I haven’t finished this book — which only happens when I am simply not interested enough to keep going. This book repeats the same concepts over and over again (as if you aren’t smart enough to understand the first couple of times) and states it’s conclusions and ideas as if one can not draw the conclusions themselves from similar information. The evidence used was mostly anecdotal or simply not the whole story — he choses situations that fit the conclusions he wants to make disregarding the complexities, or ignoring the fact that only a small percentage of people have such experiences, and in some cases, just having incorrect information. I felt as if I was hitting my head with a brick while reading it, and while good points were made, much of it was useless fluff and redundancies. I would not recommend this book; if you want to read it, a summary online will serve you just as well without wasting so much time.

108 people found this helpful

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Gregory Brian Chewning Jr.

Paradigm Shift

Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2016

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There is a particular movement throughout the chapters of this book which take you on a journey through the process of advantages versus disadvantages, split into three segments: Identifying vantage points, identifying advantages in apparent disadvantages, and the exchanges of power (as they relate to advantages and disadvantages). All advantages may seem to have disadvantages, but there’s more that meets the eye. Just as World War Z highlighted mother-nature’s greatest strength as its greatest weakness, our seemingly disadvantageous circumstances have more advantages than imagined. This idea is postured in the story of David and Goliath in the Old Testament, where David is a small and feeble character who stands up against the mighty giant warmonger, Goliath. The story ends in a twist where David defeats the giant when everyone expects the giant to win. Gladwell uses this story as an invitation to a paradigm shift - that we might see disadvantages in a new light.

Gladwell does a great job capturing plenty of true stories of people with disadvantages, or in disadvantageous situations. The first three chapters focus on redefining our situations, followed by the next three which are cause-and-effect relationships (how our disadvantages shape our lives for advantages), followed by more chapters of redefining disadvantages through questioning what real power looks like. Gladwell does a good job of interweaving these stories with data such as charts and graphs, as well as historical data to defend his main idea. Although Gladwell makes great points, you might find his story-telling to become redundant. You begin to understand where the stories are going and get used to Gladwell’s style early on in the reading. This is to be expected since Gladwell is a well-known journalist; for he collects his thoughts thoroughly and uses a set format to write his stories. Only once did I find myself questioning Gladwell’s sources, and that was on his information about Goliath’s health. He only quotes one source and uses that source heavily to prove the point that Goliath had an illness in his brain that made him big and made his movements slow. Other than that, I appreciated his use of sources.

Overall, this book is well worth reading as it can change your thinking for the better. Advantages have disadvantages, but disadvantages present the opportunity to discover new-found advantages. This is a positive message to put any underdog on top in all kinds of negative circumstances. Everyone faces giants in life. Like Goliath, those giants call us out to battle with them on their terms, but we don’t have to meet those giants on their terms. Normally when we do, we lose. Rather, we can find strengths in the greatest of weaknesses, and opportunities in all kinds of situations that turn disadvantages upside-down.

102 people found this helpful

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Storm

Great book, changes the way you think and gives ...

Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2017

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Great book, changes the way you think and gives perfect examples.

The two main points I took away from this book:

•too much of any good thing will lead to a bad thing (and vice versa).
•I would much rather be a big fish in a small pond than be a small fish in a large pond.

^Read the book to find out why. I recommend this for anyone.

49 people found this helpful

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Kagehyo6

This book will be impactful for those that enjoy long stories/narratives to make a point

Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2016

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Headline: This book will be impactful for those that enjoy long stories/narratives to make a point.

Book Summary: The author points out stories of inspiration to encourage people to overcome difficulties or adversity. The author also strongly cautions taking on too much adversity as the result may be the opposite of what is intended. The thesis of the book would be, "Through these stories, I want to explore two ideas. The first is that much of what we consider valuable in our world arises out of these kinds of lopsided conflicts, because the act of facing overwhelming odds produces greatness and beauty. And second, that we consistently get these kinds of conflicts wrong. We misread them. We misinterpret them. Giants are not what we think they are. The same qualities that appear to give them strength are often the sources of great weakness" (Kindle, 48). The author successfully attributes narratives throughout the book to make these points seem real. The narratives also tug at one's heartstrings in a way that makes the objective of the story become vivid. Gladwell further evidences his point by offering simple examples such as a U-curve so that individuals may understand the tipping point as best as possible between various scenarios.

One of the best stories in the book related to this tipping point was of a student who attended Harvard for a degree in science. While this student was in the 99th percentile in the world for her brilliance, the constant comparing of herself to other "smarter" students ended up holding her back. Had she gone to a school with a slightly less competitive nature, she would have excelled. Gladwell comments, "We compare ourselves to those in the same situation as ourselves" (Kindle, 869). Gladwell does well with this because while many book about inspiration focus purely on the positive aspect of life, few are able to caution the opposite effect that may result from too much positivity (positivity used loosely here). "What matters, in determining the likelihood of getting a science degree, is not just how smart you are. It’s how smart you feel relative to the other people in your classroom" (Kindle, 922).

While Gladwell started this book well, with stories and points being made precisely and clearly, the book does not end that way. As you read past the first few chapters, the stories become longer and it takes away from the points being made clearly. This is a good and a bad thing all at once. The way the stories are written, they are engaging, making you feel like you're reading a historical novel. However, when one becomes too engrossed in the stories, and the points are made in only a sentence or two out of several pages of story, the points being made seem to lose their effect.

The points made hold a solidarity to them. For example, it is difficult to argue the fact that too much or too little of anything can be both good and bad. Gladwell references the U-curve (shaped like a parabola) in the first few chapters stating that the perfect point between good and bad is at the tip of the U, going beyond that will see minimal results, going less than that point will demonstrate a lack of results. As nearly everything in this world is a binary, this is a difficult point to argue because it holds true in almost every situation (I can't think of a situation where it does not). The beauty of the discussion, however, is not in the inability to argue the points being made, rather it is in the simplicity that it is explained. Gladwell takes what may be a very difficult concept and explains it in a way that nearly every person may understand.

Ultimately, I would recommend this book. The self-development and psychological factors are well-presented. If you are a person who does not enjoy stories, read the first several chapters then skim the rest of the book. The truths that are recognized in this text are basic truths that every person may benefit from learning or becoming aware of.

56 people found this helpful

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Tham Chee Wah

extensive research

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 13, 2021

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A lot to process after reading this book. The references are relevant but mostly about groups of people seeking equality in their many aspects of life.

The stories are inspiring. The earlier chapters bring out the success of people/leaders who struggled with their learning disabilities, such as dyslexia. Yet, they changed the facet of their environment to their advantage. These are good motivating developments.

I would like to know the struggles or the learning opportunities that these people had that led them to success. Did David learn how to kill with a staff and sling from a Sifu? How long did David take to learn that?

mimday

Really, well worth a read. It will make you rethink things that you've always just accepted. Maybe it's not always that obious.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2014

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I have never read any Gladwell books but, after hearing him interviewed on the radio, thought he sounded interesting and thus would give one of his books a try. I really enjoyed it. It was easy to read and, at least on my part, made me rethink things that I'd always accepted; 'Well, of course that has to be right' - but does it? Was it, necessarily, a great surprise that a small, well trained protector of livestock would loose a battle against a weak, poorly sighted acromegalic? Does the smaller class increase the productivity of students exponentially? Do some 'disabilities' actually increasing some people's ability and success? Whether you accept all the facts Gladwell pulls on in his book or not I'm quite sure that it will make you think about things - it did for me anyway.

6 people found this helpful

Dcd4adtmc

good stories but tries too hard with flawed reasoning

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 6, 2013

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I'm a big fan of Gladwell especially his short stories and articles in The New Yorker. David and Goliath is a compelling analogy for the world in which we live today and had the making of a great book but I feel Gladwell fell short of the book's (and the point he set out to prove) true potential.

The premise that the small can take on the big and mighty and win in today's fast paced and rapidly changing world is compelling. But his book fails to inspire and that is a disappointment. The premise had been well laid out early in the book and I expected it to progress to great current day learnings but the entire book labours a point that most readers will get and agree with early on. Gladwell would then have done better to show the learnings and pitfalls of the analogy rather than spending chapter after chapter proving a point that had already been proven.

Some good stories, well written and easy to read but could've delivered so much more. A decent book but from Gladwell I expected something more.

3 1/2 stars.

7 people found this helpful

markr

entertaining reading

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2014

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This is very enjoyable and entertaining reading. The main theme is the goldiocks principle - too little or too much of something won't work well - it needs to be just right ( or at least within a just-right range)

Drawing on examples from education, policing, civil rights, and much else the book provides numerous anecdotes as well as statistical evidence to show that inverse U shaped curves apply to the effectiveness of most fields of human activity.

I thouroughly enjoyed this book, although there is not much that is revelatory, and read it in just one day

3 people found this helpful

Normanic

How can he do it again and again, genius

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 31, 2013

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Gladwell keeps answering big questions with the narrative shine of an expert story teller and the detailed analysis of a terrier journalist. David and Goliath hits the inquisitive mind's nail squarely on the head and encourages all to find the strengths they have rather than those society tells them they should. This book will probably be slated by those who were always the top third of the top class in the best school, because it shows in that within the joyous technicolor of the human condition, we can all excel if we play to our strengths. Well done Malcolm.

3 people found this helpful

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