Life is unfair. Money, power, fame, and success are distributed among people extremely unevenly. But why do some get everything while others get nothing? Is it right to reduce the causes of success solely to personal qualities bestowed by nature? Malcolm Gladwell was the first to uncover the hidden laws behind what had always seemed purely a matter of chance. These laws explain why outstanding hockey players are, as a rule, born in January and almost never in October; why Asian schoolchildren find mathematics easier than others do; why, to become a prestigious New York lawyer, one needs to be Jewish. The book shows what Bill Gates, the Beatles, and Mozart have in common and why they managed to outstrip their peers. "Outliers" is not a manual on "how to become successful." It is a fascinating journey into the laws of life that you can use to your advantage.