Outliers: The Story of Success is the latest book by New Yorker essayist Malcolm Gladwell. His previous two books, The Tipping Point and Blink, have built for him a huge audience and it is because he does such a - I have to say it - entertaining job of explaining complex ideas. He makes you see the world in a different way, and Gladwell fans will not be disappointed in this latest effort.

As he has for his previous books, Gladwell is the reader on this edition from Hatchette Audio, and he brings to the task his mellow voice and his calm demeanor. But when he finds something extraordinary or shocking, his voice conveys it, and we have the feeling that we are discovering something unusual along with him. It is a special time of intimacy that only an audiobook can create.

I will be talking in depth Monday in the print edition of The Sun about Outliers, but here is my pitch for listening to the audio version: a discussion with the author at the end of the recording in which he reveals, in the most charming way, the secret of his success. I will give you a hint. It has to do with a couple of buddies he has had since the first grade.

Another bonus? Gladwell explains why so many comedians come from Canada!