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

<b>Explore the power of the underdog in Malcolm Gladwell's dazzling examination of success, motivation, and the role of adversity in shaping our lives.</b><b><br></b>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 <i>shouldn't </i>have won. <p/>Or should he have? <p/>In <i>David and Goliath</i>, Malcolm Gladwell<i></i>challenges 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. <p/>Gladwell begins with the <i>real</i> story of what happened between the giant and the shepherd boy those many years ago. From there, <i>David and Goliath</i> 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. <p/>In the tradition of Gladwell's previous bestsellers---<i>The Tipping Point</i>, <i>Blink</i>, <i>Outliers</i> and <i>What the Dog Saw---</i><i>David and Goliath</i> draws up