Elias’s success was also a matter of timing and opportunity . He was born exactly twenty years before the Great Conservatory opened in the city—just the right age to be its first star pupil. Had he been born ten years earlier, the school wouldn't have existed; ten years later, and the competition would have been too fierce.
The book was a massive commercial success, debuting at number one on the New York Times bestseller list and staying there for eleven consecutive weeks. Critics have praised it for being "brilliant and entertaining" and a "landmark work". Many find its central argument—that success is not an individual achievement but a product of circumstance—to be refreshing and thought-provoking. Outliers Malcolm Mcdowell Pdf