David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants Audiobook, by Malcolm Gladwell Play Audiobook Sample

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants Audiobook

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants Audiobook, by Malcolm Gladwell Play Audiobook Sample
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Read By: Malcolm Gladwell Publisher: Little, Brown & Company Listen Time: at 1.0x Speed 4.67 hours at 1.5x Speed 3.50 hours at 2.0x Speed Release Date: October 2013 Format: Unabridged Audiobook ISBN: 9781478978251

Quick Stats About this Audiobook

Total Audiobook Chapters:

12

Longest Chapter Length:

55:25 minutes

Shortest Chapter Length:

01:01 minutes

Average Chapter Length:

35:07 minutes

Audiobooks by this Author:

11

Other Audiobooks Written by Malcolm Gladwell: > View All...

Publisher Description

Audie Award Winner, Nonfiction, 2014

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 bestselling 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't have 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 bestsellers—The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers and What the Dog SawDavid and Goliath draws upon history, psychology, and powerful storytelling to reshape the way we think of the world around us.

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“Gladwell’s bestsellers, such as The Tipping Point and Outliers, have changed the way we think about sociological changes and the factors that contribute to high levels of success. Here he examines and challenges our concepts of ‘advantage’ and ‘disadvantage’ in a way that may seem intuitive to some and surprising to others. Beginning with the classic tale of David and Goliath and moving through history with figures such as Lawrence of Arabia and Martin Luther King Jr., Gladwell shows how, time and again, players labeled ‘underdog’ use that status to their advantage and prevail through the elements of cunning and surprise…As usual, Gladwell presents his research in a fresh and easy-to-understand context.”

— Booklist (starred review) 

Quotes

  • “Pop-culture pundit Malcolm Gladwell is an idea blender, mixing concepts from vastly different sources (everything from business to science to the Bible) to produce new ways of seeing the world.”

    — Reader’s Digest
  • “Gladwell has made a career out of questioning conventional wisdom, and here he examines the allegedly unlikely triumph of the weak over the mighty and shows it’s not so unlikely after all. Four stars.”

    — People
  • “David and Goliath readers will travel with colorful characters who overcame great difficulties and learn fascinating facts about the Battle of Britain, cancer medicine, and the struggle for civil rights, to name just a few topics upon which Mr. Gladwell’s wide-ranging narrative touches. This is an entertaining book.”

    — Wall Street Journal
  • “Gladwell sells books by the millions because he is masterful at explaining how the world works—the power of critical mass, the arbitrariness of success, etc.—packaging his ideas in fun, accessible, and poignant vignettes.”

    — USA Today
  • “As always, Gladwell’s sweep is breathtaking and thought provoking.”

    — New York Times
  • “Truly intriguing and inspiring, especially when Gladwell discusses ‘desirable difficulties’...Gladwell’s account of the journey of Dr. Emil ‘Jay’ Freireich is unforgettable.”

    — Los Angeles Times
  • “Fascinating...Gladwell is a master of synthesis. This perennially bestselling author prides himself on radical re-thinking and urges the rest of us to follow suit.”

    — Washington Post
  • “What propels the book, like all of Gladwell’s writing, is his intoxicating brand of storytelling. He is the master of mixing familiar elements with surprise counter-intuitions and then seasoning with a sprinkling of scientific evidence....Gladwell is a master craftsman, an outlier amongst authors.”

    — Huffington Post
  • “Provocative....David and Goliath is a lean, consuming read...The book’s most crafty, engaging chapter ties together the Impressionist movement and college choices to highlight the fact that gaining admission to elite institutions, which we typically perceive as an advantage, is no guarantee of success.”

    — San Francisco Chronicle 
  • “Engrossing...Gladwell’s singular gift is animating the experience of his subjects. He has an uncanny ability to simplify without being simplistic: clean and vivid Strunk and White prose in the service of peerless storytelling.”

    — Seattle Times
  • “Contemporary society can’t escape history when Malcolm Gladwell explains the world as he does with David and Goliath.”

    — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
  • “Gladwell’s most provocative book yet. David and Goliath challenges how we think about obstacles and disadvantages, drawing upon history, psychology, and powerful narrative talent to rethink how we view the world around us and how to deal with the challenges life throws at us.”

    — Columbus Dispatch
  • “The fifty-year-old Canadian is a superstar, the most popular staff writer on the New Yorker and a hero in the frequent-flier lounge where journalism, social science, business management, and self-help hang out....It’s a good story, and he’s got plenty more.”

    — Oregonian
  • “A far- and free-ranging meditation on the age-old struggle between underdogs and top dogs…In addition to the top-notch writing one expects from a New Yorker regular, Gladwell rewards readers with moving stories, surprising insights, and consistently provocative ideas.”

    — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
  • “Gladwell has long proven to be a capable narrator of his own books, and this production reflects his continued success. The work posits that personal obstacles may not always be detrimental—that they can, in fact, help some people outperform others. Gladwell steeps his research in interconnected anecdotes that require a good deal of storytelling, a structure that works well for audio. His vocal delivery commands the attention of listeners through tone, pacing, and well-placed pauses. At times, his delivery feels so natural and conversational that listeners can almost feel his presence in the room.”

    — AudioFile
  • In the vast world of nonfiction writing, Malcolm Gladwell is as close to a singular talent as exists today...Outliers is a pleasure to read and leaves you mulling over its inventive theories for days afterward.

    — David Leonhardt, New York Times Book Review
  • The explosively entertaining Outliers might be Gladwell's best and most useful work yet...There are both brilliant yarns and life lessons here: Outliers is riveting science, self-help, and entertainment, all in one book.

    — Gregory Kirschling, Entertainment Weekly
  • No other book I read this year combines such a distinctive prose style with truly thought-provoking content. Gladwell writes with a high degree of dazzle but at the same time remains as clear and direct as even Strunk or White could hope for.

    — Atlanta Journal Constitution
  • [An] important new book...Gladwell intelligently captures a larger tendency of thought-the growing appreciation of the power of cultural patterns, social contagions, memes...Gladwell's social determinism is a useful corrective to the Homo economicus view of human nature.

    — David Brooks, New York Times
  • Thought-provoking, entertaining, and irresistibly debatable...[Outliers] is another winner from this agile social observer.

    — Heller McAlpin, Christian Science Monitor
  • Outliers is required reading for boardroom and watercooler crowds alike.

    — Men's Health
  • In Outliers, Gladwell (The Tipping Point) once again proves masterful in a genre he essentially pioneered-the book that illuminates secret patterns behind everyday phenomena.

    — Publishers Weekly
  • A fascinating book that makes you see the world in a different way.

    — Fortune
  • Gladwell's theories could be used to run businesses more effectively, to turn products into runaway bestsellers, and perhaps most important, to alter human behavior.

    — New York Times
  • A real pleasure...Brims with surprising insights about our world and ourselves.

    — Salon.com
  • Intoxicating".Gladwell is an engaging writer and a first-rate tour guide.?—Thane Rosenbaum, Los Angeles Times

  • BLINK moves quickly through a series of delightful stories?.Always dazzling us with fascinating information and phenomena.

    — David Brooks, New York Times Book Review

Awards

  • A Publishers Weekly bestseller
  • A USA Today bestseller
  • An AudioFile Editors’ Pick, October 2013
  • A Washington Post bestseller
  • A #1 Los Angeles Times bestseller
  • Winner of the 2014 Audie Award for Nonfiction
  • A Library Journal bestseller
  • A #1 New York Times bestseller

David and Goliath Listener Reviews

Overall Performance: 4.66666666666667 out of 54.66666666666667 out of 54.66666666666667 out of 54.66666666666667 out of 54.66666666666667 out of 5 (4.67)
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Narration: 4.66666666666667 out of 54.66666666666667 out of 54.66666666666667 out of 54.66666666666667 out of 54.66666666666667 out of 5 (4.67)
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Story: 4.66666666666667 out of 54.66666666666667 out of 54.66666666666667 out of 54.66666666666667 out of 54.66666666666667 out of 5 (4.67)
5 Stars: 2
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  • Overall Performance: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5 Narration Rating: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5 Story Rating: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5

    — Sandy Saenz, 5/30/2021
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Narration Rating: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Story Rating: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    — Christopher Goh, 4/27/2019
  • Overall Performance: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5 Narration Rating: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5 Story Rating: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5

    — Tim Gordon, 2/5/2015

About Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer with the New Yorker since 1996. He is a former writer at the Washington Post and served as the newspaper’s New York City bureau chief. He has won a National Magazine Award, and in 2005 he was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. He is the author of four books: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference, Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking, and Outliers: The Story of Success, all of which were #1 New York Times bestsellers. His book What the Dog Saw is a compilation of stories published in the New Yorker. Gladwell graduated from the University of Toronto, Trinity College, with a degree in history. He was born in England, grew up in rural Ontario, and now lives in New York City.