The thesis of Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, Outliers, won’t sound very controversial to anyone to the left of Bill O’Reilly. To achieve extraordinary success, Gladwell argues, it’s not enough to simply be driven and talented. In addition, you need to grow up in a culture that nurtures your gifts, or at least one that doesn’t squash them.

In other words, if the Mother’s Club at Seattle’s Lakeside School hadn’t raised money for an almost comically advanced computer facility in 1968, 14-year-old Bill Gates might never have gotten a taste for programming. The American Dream is a beautiful thing, but all the pluck and skill in the world won’t help you found Microsoft if you never get to spend any time with a computer.If this sounds a bit obvious, well, it is. But because Gladwell doesn’t have to work very hard to support his argument, he gets to spend each individual chapter exploring fascinating cases in which culture either helps or hinders talent. Why, for example, was South Korea’s airline for many years one of the world’s worst? Because of a culturewide belief in strict hierarchies that prevented subordinates from ever correcting the pilot, even when he was about to crash the plane. Why are Canada’s hockey stars always born in the early winter months? Because the league cutoff date is January 1, meaning that from a very young age, the kids with January birthdays are the biggest and the most coordinated and therefore get the most attention from coaches.

These stand-alone explanations contain insight and surprises. And if Gladwell never gets into the moral implications of his arguments—if one’s chances in life are rigged by culture, are we obligated to help liberate people from their unhelpful backgrounds?—he consistently entertains.

Gladwell reads Tue 18.