"I dunno. There were some flaws in the details, but I was struck how a mainstream book in the US could have the central thesis that circumstances trump talent and application. Or is your point that I was filling in the blanks? "
No, the books makes three points:
1. It takes a lot of work to succeed: the ten thousand hour rule.
2. Despite that work or talent, some don't succeed: wrong class, wrong birth date.
3. Success matters and let's not talk about what the content of the statement means. Everybody applauds at the end, that's enough.
If you put those things together, you must conclude that success is important and it befalls the lucky few who work hard. Therefore anybody who has "made it" is lucky and has worked hard. The fact that Bill Gates is a multi-billionaire means that he has worked 100,000 harder than any one of us.
Finally, this is a "cool" and "advanced" and "quasi-scientific" justification of the status quo.
I don't get very much more out of Gladwell,
Joanna