David and Goliath by Malcom Gladwell 155.24 Glad

I love Gladwell's books.  He takes the oddest groups of topics and turns them into a fascinating read (or in my case a listen).  You can probably guess what the general theme of this book is from the title.  He actually writes about that story first and explains why David was probably so successful.  The rest of the book will make you think about your attitude toward people who have met obstacles or who have had a disadvantage.  He will amaze you with the number of highly successful people who had a lot of things in their lives which looked like setbacks at the time.  A boy losing his father (whether by death or divorce) will have a negative effect.  However, 12 out of 44 of our presidents were in that position.  Maybe overcoming that obstacle gave them something which led to their success.

Some of the topics in the book are basketball underdogs,  dyslexics, the importance of classroom size and the impressionists.  Really there is something of everyone.  Highly entertaining book that will make you think.