"A deeply interesting and important book."
-- THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
"Profound."
-- LONDON EVENING STANDARD
"The Genius in All of Us has quietly blown my mind."
-- LAURA MILLER, SALON
Is true greatness obtainable from everyday means and everyday genes? Conventional wisdom says no, that a lucky few are simply born with certain gifts while most are not.
The new science of human potential suggests otherwise. Forget everything you think you know about genes, talent, and intelligence, and take a look at the amazing new evidence.
A New York Times bestseller.
A London Guardian BookShop bestseller.
An ABA IndieBound Bestseller
Shortlisted for the 2011 Bristol Festival Best Book of Ideas
MORE REVIEWS
"A welcome new book...compelling...Shenk's thesis is that intellectual capacity is not a gift, fixed permanently in our cells. It's a process."
-- THE BOSTON GLOBE
"I wonder whether, finally, it's beginning to sink in among policymakers that the richness of people's lives depends on the richness of their environment, and not on the idea that some are doomed to be born thick. David Shenk's [book] should be read by anyone persisting with that myth."
-- THE GUARDIAN (UK)
"Cogent and compelling...[Shenk's book] will convince many readers that the conventional wisdom about talent is due to be overthrown. Shenk gets that revolution well under way."
-- THE WEEK
"A thinking man's Outliers."
-- NEW YORK MAGAZINE
"Engrossing...revives faith in not just practice and determination but also parenting and lifestyle."
-- BOOKLIST (starred review)
"Readable and well-researched...The big idea in this book is that talent is not a matter of genetic endowment, but of an ongoing interaction between genes and environment. The nature/nurture debate is therefore dead (or should be)."
-- THE INDEPENDENT
"Inspiring."
-- THE SCOTSMAN
"An incredibly well-researched meditation on the nature of human talent."
-- KEVIN ROBERTS, CEO WORLDWIDE, SAATCHI & SAATCHI
"One of my all-time favorite books."
-- KRISTEN PHILIPKOSKI, GIZMODO
"One of the best books I have read in the last year...Many of my favorite non-fiction books of recent years have been in different ways about the process of human improvement – Non-Zero by Robert Wright, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris, Good to Great by Jim Collins. I would add The Genius in All of Us to this list."
-- RUFUS GRISCOM, BABBLE
"Rather than championing nurture and downplaying nature, [Shenk] paints a picture in which genes and environment interact in a much more complicated way."
-- THE LONDON OBSERVER (Paperback Book of the Week)
"Outstanding."
-- EXAMINER.COM
"The Genius in All of Us will give new hope to those of us who have not yet written a classic sonata or played center field for the Yankees. With a flair for explaining scientific research, [Shenk] debunks outdated assumptions that genes are destiny and shows how environment and mindset are just as important."
-- THE DAILY BEAST (A Book Pick)
"Shenk dissects and demolishes the notion that some people are "born geniuses"...I hope that The Genius in All of Us is widely read and discussed among educators, and that all of us take a hard look at our own assumptions."
-- INSIDE HIGHER ED
"Teachers, parents and anyone else who is guilty of setting low expectations for American boys should read The Genius in All of Us.
-- EDUCATION WEEK
"Empowering...myth-busting...entertaining."
-- KIRKUS REVIEWS
"Startling."
-- MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW (Reviewer's Choice)
"Surprisingly compelling...vivid and eloquently described...equally suited to the bookshelf of a philosopher, educator, or popular science reader."
-- PHENOTYPE JOURNAL
"Shenk robustly disputes the popular belief that intelligence and talent are genetically predetermined and methodically explains the thousands of hours of practice behind the “genius” of a host of musical and athletic superstars (and those amazing London cabbies)."
-- FREAKONOMICS BLOG
"Clear and exciting prose...[this is the] one book that will change your thinking about intelligence, genetics, [and] the role of schools in creating learning."
-- CINCINNATI METRO NEWS
MORE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW : "It’s ambitious indeed to try to overthrow in one go the conventional ideas and images that have accumulated since 1874, when Francis Galton first set the words “nature” and “nurture” against each other. Yet Shenk convinces the reader that such a coup is necessary, and he gets it well under way. He tells engaging stories, lucidly explains complex research and offers fresh insights into the nature of exceptional performance….. Just how tall a task Shenk took on is evident in his voluminous endnotes, which go on as long as the main text and are just as interesting. Here the author allows us to watch him working his way through the literature, inquiring, arguing, marveling, as he wrestles a new understanding into being."
SPEECHES:
• The Commonwealth Club, March 18, 2010
• TEDxSF, March 27, 2010
• The Wellington School, November 10, 2010
• Kickoff lecture for 2011 Virginia Festival of the Book
TV/VIDEO:
• Tavis Smiley on PBS. Video here. Transcript here.
• The Agenda with Steve Paikin on Canada's TVO. Video here.
• Edinburgh Book Festival interview.
• Bloggingheads dialogue with Will Wilkinson.
• BigThink interview.
• "Good Day Columbus" morning TV interview
NPR:
• Talk of The Nation
• KERA's Think with Krys Boyd (Dallas)
• WOSU's All Sides with Ann Fisher (Columbus OH)
• Minnesota Public Radio's Midmorning with Kerri Miller
• KUER's RadioWest with Doug Fabrizio (Salt Lake City)
• Tech Nation with Moira Gunn
• The Takeaway
• WYPR's Midday with Dan Rodricks (Baltimore)
• WNPR's Colin McEnroe Show (Connecticut)
• Aspen Public Radio's Page by Page, with Jonathan Bastian
• KQED's Forum with Michael Krasny (San Francisco)
MORE INTERVIEWS AND EXCERPTS:
Freakonomics Q&A
Nature podcast
Wall Street Journal excerpt
New York Times Learning Network
Babble.com interview & excerpt
My answer to the Tiger Mom, on Babble.com
UK Edition
PUBLICITY CONTACTS:
US: Rachel Lapal, Doubleday: RLapal [at] randomhouse.com
UK: Najma Finlay, Icon Books: Najma.Finlay [at] iconbooks.co.uk
AUS: Abba Renshaw, Allen & Unwin: AbbaR [at] allenandunwin.com ____________________
