The X Factor: A Quest for Excellence

by George Plimpton

Book Overview

Celebrated journalist and author George Plimpton sets out to find that elusive quality--which he calls the "X Factor"--that all winners, from famous athletes to successful CEOs, seem to possess. In a quest both hilarious and informative, Plimpton corners sports superstars, famous coaches, successful businesspeople, and others, putting to each the same question: What is it that allows an individual, or a team, to outperform competitors who are no less...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393314685
• ISBN13: 9780393314687
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 172 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

The Perfect Saturday Afternoon Read

Something about Plimpton's writing, his lack of adjectives I think, makes for quick reading. I read this in one sitting and laughed through a lot of it. This little book is Plimpton wandering around the country asking famous athletes and CEOs for advice on his upcoming horseshoes rematch against then-president George H W Bush. He asks each of these people, including Bush, what it is that makes them succeed in what they do. It's not hard work, practice, or innate abilities but rather some "ingredient... a potion that people in all walks of life would go to extravagant lengths to obtain if it came in a small earthenware jug corked at its mouth." In the process of interviewing people around the country he loses badly to Billie Jean King at tennis, discovers that his athletic stature most resembles a bull, and kicks it around Camp David. Classic Plimpton, and a unique look at Bush the husband and father. Read it on a rainy day.