Ten of the best books about late bloomers and late blooming talent
From Michelangelo to Malcolm X
1. Michelangelo, God's Architect, by William E. Wallace. The story of how Michelangelo built St. Peters. His original plan had been to retire. (And in the evenings, after a day at the building site, Michelangelo carved sculpture with the light from candles attached to his hat.)
2. Personal History, by Katharine Graham. Graham was one of the most successful CEOs of the twentieth century. Her autobiography explains how her whole life changed one tragic day when she was 45 and she was suddenly thrust into greatness.
3. Old Masters and Young Geniuses, by David Galenson. An economist's theory about why some artists do all their work early and some do all their work later on. Wonderful, detailed, fascinating study.
4. Life Begins at Forty, by Walter Pitkin. Old-school self-help from a psychology professor, written in 1942.
5. Paddling My Own Canoe, by Audrey Sutherland. Sutherland started exploring the coastlines of Hawaiian islands aged forty. On her first expedition she nearly killed herself. Gradually, she became a proficient explorer and kayaker. Then, in her sixties, she began solo exploring in artic waters. Sutherland ought to be much better known, not least because her books are so well written.
6. The Pursuit of Happyness, by Chris Gardner. Gardner had no degree, no experience, and no contacts. He was a single father, temporarily homeless. But he broke into a stock broking career in the 1980s and made millions.
7. The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Malcolm X and Alex Hayley. A teacher told Malcolm Little he could never be a lawyer because he was black. At 20, he went to jail. By 25, he had become an autodidact and started his new life, becoming central to the civil rights movement.
8. The Chaos Theory of Careers, by Jim E. H. Bright and Robert G. L. Pryor. You can think about your life in terms of fractal patterns, the same way we think about a weather forecast. A fascinating alternative to the usual dreary careers advice.
9. Collaborative Circles, Michael P. Farrell. Not having a group in which they nurture their talent often holds late bloomers back--but there's nothing stopping them from starting a group later on.
10. Intelligence: A Very Short Introduction, by Ian Deary. We think that intelligence declines as we age, and it does, but the overall picture is much more complicated than that.
If you want to know more about these, or other, late bloomers, order my book Second Act: What Late Bloomers Can Tell You About Success and Reinventing Your Life.
Tyler Cowen called it “One of the very best books written on talent.”
Hi Henry, thoroughly enjoying second act. More than once, i've been reminded of the sensory order by Hayek - and in both books i love the attempt to describe living nodes and relations visually - the reflection of individual/group or part/whole is fascinating, as well as the various influences on development. very interesting for art, and so many other puzzles!
And your book talks about perspective - the changing of which helps you to see the different patterns occurring at different levels, revitalising and recontextualising our experiences and thoughts. Like any trip, It's one the those indirect solutions where you never quite know the result in advance, only that the universe will be invited in and its going to be good (so long as you jump far enough from the ledge!)
Thanks for all the research and writing - I hope you've got some more ideas lined up for the future.
I bought the book and am devouring it. At 65 I decided to take up jazz piano, and I’m returning to painting. I retired at 55, took two years to write a book in my field published at age 57, then served with several nonprofits. As soon as a friend retires, we are co-authoring a book about her father, a Holocaust survivor. I’m looking forward to reading the suggested books. Thank you for a wonderful Substack!!