I’ve never considered myself a specialist. My professional path has been too winding, my interests too varied. I am definitely a generalist. With that in mind, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World was an intriguing choice to me when I saw it picked as a book of the month in my nonfiction Goodreads book group. Sold! I jumped in with both feet.
David Epstein’s thought process was easy to follow throughout the book. I loved the way he ended each chapter with a little foreshadowing of what you’re going to find in the next chapter. He used compelling examples in each chapter that kept me turning the pages to learn more. I won’t give away all of the details he shares in the book. It’s more fun to read the book to find out for yourself. But he does cover topics such as our current education system, the 10,000 hour rule, problem solving, and so much more.
Being a true generalist at heart, with each example he gave, I dug deeper and found more books to read on each topic. I came away wanting to read more about Vivaldi and the orphan girls trained to be musicians in his orchestras; Vincent Van Gogh’s biography; and Jackson Pollock’s biography. It seems the deeper I dig into nonfiction, the more I find that I want to read!
Nonfiction often gets knocked for being dry and boring. I beg to differ. First you need to find your interests. Next you need to find the right authors. After all, there are dry and boring fiction books written every day as well. Range is definitely not dry and boring. I’m giving Range four out of five stars.
Mysteries and Mayhem 