David and Goliath

Anytime I see a Malcolm Gladwell book, it immediately goes on my “to read” list. The way he breaks down the topics he covers maximizes the interesting possibilities and puts it together in a way that, if you try just a little bit, just might expand your life. With a title like “David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants,” how could this book not be an absolutely interesting read?

Yet again, Gladwell delivers the goods. This is a fantastic book! Definitely worth the read.

The titular conflict between David and Goliath gets the book started and will probably surprise you with his take on the battle. Right away Gladwell strips the issue to its basic components and shows how this may not have been such an unfair fight after all! Or, perhaps it was unfair in the opposite direction from what you'd think! It is a lot more interesting than a lot of people might think, and more eye-opening.

Besides David & Goliath, Gladwell talks about the Blitzkreig bombings of London and how they actually STRENGTHENED the will of the British people (especially Londoners) and how “near misses” effect individuals and groups. This segues into the 1960's Civil Rights Movement which is amazingly interesting and revealing. These sections actually revealed to me how “near misses” have affected my development.

He also spends quite a bit of time discussing dyslexia and business, giving great personal examples of how setbacks in an individual's life, under the right circumstances for that person can actually provide just enough push to make them exceptional in other ways to not only compensate, but excel in life and/or business.

Overall, this book was fantastic. I highly recommend it to pretty much any reader.

I listened to the unabridged audiobook and the narrator was fantastic (it was Malcolm Gladwell himself and he does a good job with narration, which isn't always true of other authors).