Reviews

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein

annoyingtwig's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring

4.75

mrsdexter's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

mtquandary's review against another edition

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informative lighthearted reflective slow-paced

3.5

heddsomewhere's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

meganreads5's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

4.25

derekvantilborg's review against another edition

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4.0

Range was an easy-to-read, but interesting book. The thesis in this book is based on a lot of anecdotal stories. Still, the author makes for a very convincing idea. The main point of the book becomes clear quite early on and I was afraid that author would just drag this on chapter after chapter. Against my expectations, the book kept me engaged throughout.

The core idea in the book, that you benefit from having a wide range of skills and experiences before you specialise in life resonated a lot with me. I see myself as a generalist. I often jokingly say that I am mediocre in many things. It's actually not a joke. This results in me feeling stupid once in a while when talking to true experts in my own field of work. This book made me realise that my well-roundness is probably something to celebrate and will pay out in the long run.

This book also helps you embrace the willingness to suck at something new. Or to give up and try something else for that matter. Being 'behind' in life and not having everything figured out all of the time is often a good thing. I think that his book not applies to hard skills (which is the primary perspective of the book), but also to social skills and personal relationships. A heterogeneous life makes for homogeneous wisdom.

zamyatins_fears's review against another edition

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I think DNF'ing this work is more on me, than the author. I've read a lot on this subject and ironically, this book about generalists is a bit to general for me. 

calisreading's review against another edition

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informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0

pierce_ellinwood's review against another edition

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4.0

This one got me really excited about pursuing new challenges and finding value in career change and diverse experiences. There was some slogging through the last handful of case studies as they started repeating, but I think this is well worth a read and consideration. Definitely going to be coming back to it in the future to reread sections.

saybee's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5