The author introduces his idea of outliers with the tale of two cities: Roseto, Italy, and Roseto, Pennsylvania. Emigrants from the former settled in the latter, naming their new town after their old home. Researchers in the fields of medicine and sociology, led by Dr. Stewart Wolf, studied the town, which was known for its nearly nonexistent rates of heart disease. They found a community with almost none of the usual social problems like suicide and addiction; the residents were statistical outliers. What’s more, they could find no apparent reason for this, finally concluding that the community itself provided protection from health and social problems based on its values and stress-free way of life. Where they lived made the difference because of how they lived. Gladwell writes that his goal in this book is to “do for our understanding of success what Stewart Wolf did for our understanding of health” (11)—that is, explain the role that background and culture play in success.

This first chapter examines how opportunity is meted out by looking at the Canadian Hockey League, which grooms young hockey players for careers. The assumption is that the best players in the league rise through the ranks by virtue of innate ability and hard work.