Black Swan, The

Maverick thinker Nassim Nicholas Taleb had an illustrious career on Wall Street before turning his focus to his black swan theory. With its revolutionary examination of the impact of highly improbable events, this New York Times bestseller took the world by storm. Not all swans are white, and not all events—no matter what the experts think—are predictable. Every so often, one of these unpredictable events occurs and has an immeasurable impact on the world—such as 9/11. Taleb argues the problem is that humans focus too much thought on what they already know, and not enough on what they don’t. The trick is understanding how to deal with black swans when they appear, and how to benefit from them.

Witty and irreverant, The Black Swan holds the power to change—for the better—the way people think about the world. It is unlike any book ever written, and its groundbreaking arguments are lucidly articulated by narrator David Chandler.