David vs Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell, rating: 7/10

You will find detractors for Malcolm Gladwell, but I find that he does write well and on interesting topics.

In this particular book, I learned a few things.
 
Being disagreeable can be an indicator of success. But you don't tend to be disagreeable unless you've had some hardships in life. (You could be disagreeable because you are a spoiled brat though.)

The other thing is roughly about police state and the legitimacy of authority. When the police state has no legitimacy, you would get rioting and resistance. Gladwell spends a couple chapters on this related to Northern Ireland.

There were a few other more points made, which though I had never really thought about them, they do seem rather more obvious:


A big fish, in little pond better. Extend this to ivy league versus state school, unless you think your kid is really really outstanding.

Growing up with a hardship like dyslexia can cause a person to develop other compensating learning mechanisms, for example, paying more attention during  lectures (avoids having to read to understand the material). But this is only if the person hasn't been totally demoralized by falling behind everyone else. Otherwise they may just act out in class.