As a journalist's take on psychology, Malcolm Gladwell's David and Goliath possesses mass appeal. He uses his "everyman" charm to sidle up beside readers and endear himself to them so as to make his argument more persuasive. After all, who doesn't love a good underdog story? That's what Gladwell is all about. He writes in order to persuade his readers to persist in accomplishing their goals, despite the odds.
David and Goliath, as the title implies, is about surprising success stories. Gladwell curates stories which demonstrate the power of the will. He talks about many important people who have accomplished unlikely success because they refused to make excuses. His argument is that fear is natural, but it is a means to an end. If a person is willing to acknowledge their fear and still to push through it for a greater goal, they can accomplish anything. This is the measure of a person's courage, not the feeling of being courageous. People who determine to be successful eventually are, even if the odds are stacked against them.
Gladwell includes extensive statistical analysis throughout the book, for which he has been greatly criticized. Although the book received popular acclaim, reaching the New York Times Bestsellers list's #4 place, it also received a great deal of criticism from the field of psychology. Gladwell, however, does not propose to be an authority on the topic, merely to be relating his own conclusions about how people become successful. The tables and case studies still seem to clutter his message somewhat, but his layman's perspective on success and persistence in the face of adversity has inspired millions.
