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The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
The Black Swan The Impact of the Highly Improbable
Author: Nassim Nicholas Taleb, David Chandler (Translator)
A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swa...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9781400063512
ISBN-10: 1400063515
Publication Date: 4/17/2007
Pages: 400
Rating:
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 27

3.4 stars, based on 27 ratings
Publisher: Random House
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 1
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Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable on + 105 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 10
A tough read more suited to the intellectual than the casual reader. Taleb is far more academic (although he scorns academia) than the more entertaining and storytelling Malcolm Gladwell (Tipping Point)

There are certainly a few nuggets to be found throughout and the premise is memorable, but the diatribe against the Gaussian bell curve is brutally tedious and Taleb writes in a first person style that can come across as self-serving or patronizing.

It was a real chore to make it through.

2 stars out of 5
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