Book #20: David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell

First of all--I have to say: I've read 20 books so far this year and it's still February! Um, what? Last year it was MAY before I got to 20 books. Clearly I am on a roll right now. If I keep up this pace I could more than double the books I read last year--but I know I won't because this rate isn't totally sustainable. I've just had a bunch of books I've requested from the library that have been coming in on hold and I'm trying to work through them before I have to return them. So once I make it past that giant pile of books I'll probably slow down again. But it's been really fun reading so much the last few weeks.

I have read all four (?) of Gladwell's other books. I remember reading Blink and The Tipping Point back in 2010--I found them in the BYU bookstore as required textbooks for a class I wasn't even taking and I bought them because I wanted them, haha. And when I read those, I felt like my mind was blown--Gladwell presented these stories and then gave the exact opposite interpretation of what you'd expect but he backs it up so well that you have to believe him. He follows that exact same formula in David and Goliath too. His theory is that we are always pleasantly surprised when underdogs win, but it really shouldn't be a surprise, because it happens pretty regularly and it happens for a reason--because the underdogs know what they are doing and know how to work the system to defeat their giants. He tells these really fascinating stories about people who succeed from really dysfunctional or depressing backgrounds and junior basketball teams who go to the championships without any talent at all and small French towns who stand up to the Nazis and harbor Jews, and uses those stories as evidence to back up his theory. And really, what's not to like? Gladwell's style is just so readable and his stories are thought-provoking and compelling. The thing is, after having read his other books (even a while ago), this pattern just starts to feel gimmicky. He tells you something, and you just wait for the twist--You think that life is THIS way, but actually it's just the opposite... Be amazed! I don't disagree with his main premise here, and I think he does a good job of being moderate enough in his wordings (he doesn't say he's right all the time, just in certain circumstances), but I just don't even know how worthwhile this topic even is as a book. I kind of just skimmed to read the stories and read about the people who he was writing about because those were the most fascinating parts of the book.