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  • Range

  • How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
  • By: David Epstein
  • Narrated by: Will Damron
  • Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (576 ratings)

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Range cover art

Range

By: David Epstein
Narrated by: Will Damron
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Publisher's Summary

The instant Sunday Times Top Ten and New York Times bestseller

Shortlisted for the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award

A Financial Times Essential Reads

A powerful argument for how to succeed in any field: develop broad interests and skills while everyone around you is rushing to specialize.

From the ‘10,000 hours rule’ to the power of Tiger parenting, we have been taught that success in any field requires early specialization and many hours of deliberate practice. And, worse, that if you dabble or delay, you'll never catch up with those who got a head start.

This is completely wrong.

In this landmark book, David Epstein shows you that the way to succeed is by sampling widely, gaining a breadth of experiences, taking detours, experimenting relentlessly, juggling many interests – in other words, by developing range.

Studying the world's most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors and scientists, Epstein demonstrates why in most fields – especially those that are complex and unpredictable – generalists, not specialists are primed to excel. No matter what you do, where you are in life, whether you are a teacher, student, scientist, business analyst, parent, job hunter, retiree, you will see the world differently after you've read Range. You'll understand better how we solve problems, how we learn and how we succeed. You'll see why failing a test is the best way to learn and why frequent quitters end up with the most fulfilling careers.

As experts silo themselves further while computers master more of the skills once reserved for highly focused humans, Range shows how people who think broadly and embrace diverse experiences and perspectives will increasingly thrive and why spreading your knowledge across multiple domains is the key to your success, and how to achieve it.

©2019 David Epstein (P)2019 Penguin Random House LLC

Critic Reviews

"David Epstein manages to make me thoroughly enjoy the experience of being told that everything I thought about something was wrong. I loved Range." (Malcolm Gladwell, best-selling author of Outliers)

"It’s a joy to spend hours in the company of a writer as gifted as David Epstein." (Susan Cain, best-selling author of Quiet)

"Urgent and important...an essential read for bosses, parents, coaches, and anyone who cares about improving performance." (Daniel H. Pink)

What listeners say about Range

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A compelling fantasy novel

I think my issue with this book is an issue I have with most books of this genre. There is a compelling question, drawing me in, with thoughtful arguments. But as soon as I leave Epstein’s world of ultra intelligent / effective / successful / perfect human case studies, and I try to fit his conclusions to the actual world that exists before me, it becomes apparent how vapid and meaningless his thesis is. Focusing exclusively on the 0.00001% of people who achieve greatness is a textbook example of confirmation bias. It doesn’t examine whether similar people who made similar decisions achieve abject failure or silent mediocrity. The longer the book went on, the less I was confident in his assertions, because even if he isn’t cherry-picking examples to fit what he wants to say, he’s certainly cherry-picking by focussing on people who have really made a name for themselves. And the longer the book went on, the less I was able to identify with his points, because his examples of stand-out people are by definition not most people, and surely not me.
This book is a fantasy novel. Sure, it’s written in the style of pop psychology / sociology / business, but don’t be fooled, it’s still a fantasy novel. I enjoyed the main character, because I tend to be the sort of person that exhibits range in my life. Does that make me more likely to be successful? Probably not! Are you not that sort of person? It probably doesn’t matter!
If you’re looking to get absorbed into an amazing world where everyone is Somebody Important And Amazing, this book is a real page-turner. And it does explore interesting questions in a digestible way. Who says fantasy novels can’t deal with real-world issues? I only advise against reading this under the impression it’s non-fiction. This book doesn’t tell us how the world, or humans, or you really work. It would be refreshing if authors like Epstein could be honest about this, but that’s not how this cottage industry works. When you close the pages of Range, no matter how enthralling a story, you must face the fact that your broom is certainly just a broom, and you are not Harry Potter.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Too long for a simple idea

Go on youtube and listen to his talk. That should be enough to understand the point of the book. No need to read this

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6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Was the perfect audiobook to start a new semester

I listened to Range about a chapter a day for two weeks. For most of those days it was the most thoughful part. I found the ideas in this book to be immensely comforting, it made me want to push myself to explore .

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Best book that I have read in a while

Very readable, thoroughly researched and well argued. The one key theme is explored across multiple dimensions. Despite its length and single theme there is no fluff. Case studies are very engaging. I plan to re-listen immediately.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Recommends that range is more important than narrow specialisation

This book contains stories of well known scientists, athletes, musicians etc which were successful because they diversified.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I love this book! Must listen!!!

So good, great job David. Entertaining and based on lots of evidence. Made concrete concerns I’ve had about work and society for sometime. Much to be learned and acted on in this book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting concepts

Fascinating book, made me look at the views I have held about my kids career journey.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinatingly brilliant. A must read!

Breathtaking. Busting a myriad myths, this book is a must read for the world that has been focusing on early specialisation, and specialisation only.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

ideas need to be shared!

if you feel like you have too many scattered interests start with reading this book.

A fantastic book about how your interests can lead on to new ideas especially if those interests diverge and spread across different domains. I highly recommend giving it a listen or read!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Must read!!

Will change the way you think. A fantastic book that provides enormous insight into the way we think and live.

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