Outliers is a book about success. It starts with a simple question: what is the difference between those who do something special with their lives and everyone else? Malcolm Gladwell takes us on a journey through the world of “outliers” – the best and the brightest, most famous and most successful. What makes high achievers different? His answer lies not in paying attention to what successful people are like, but in paying attention to where they are from: their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncrasies of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.

Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer with The New Yorker Magazine since 1996. His 1999 profile of Ron Popeil 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 two New York Times #1 bestselling books: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference (2000), and Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005).

Daniel H. Pink is the author of a trio of provocative books on the changing world of work. His newest is The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need. Before that, he wrote A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, a long-running New York Times and Business Week bestseller that has been translated into 16 languages. His first book was Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself.

He is currently a contributing editor at Wired, and he also lectures to corporations, associations, and universities around the world on economic transformation and the new workplace.A free agent himself, Dan held his last real job in the White House, where he served from 1995 to 1997 as chief speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore.

To read an article in The New Yorker by Malcolm Gladwell, addressing among other things successful NFL quarterbacks and what makes a good teacher, click here.