you always have the paul greenbergs. how do you want to respond to them? i decided early on that i was never going to make it a sign of my own success, that i had silenced the critics. i am not out to convert the world. i simply want people to engage in ideas. if they disagree, fine. the other thing that i decided early on, i would be happy if the people that i cared about, the people closest to me, thought what i was doing was meaningful. if my mom likes it, if my editor likes it, if my best friend bruce likes it, i am happy. those are important rules. if you can have some version of that, some kind of system for making sense of criticism, it is easier to function. >> he goes on to quote joseph epstein. >> that's an odd -- i don't remember reading that. "outliers" is an example of the opposite phenomenon. i was confronting the simple idea of success and said that it was more complex than that. it is not simply about talent but it matters what you're you were born. the particulars of the cultures that you grew into, the book is one long attempt to complexi

. >> a fellow named paul greenberg writes editorials in a conservative paper. has as harsh criticism calling your writing pseudo intellectuality design for the carriage trade and delivered with a pretentious air that is ponderous and monthly piffle -- and mostly piffle. it is like the worst talk show you havhave heard of. >> [laughter] >> do you feel pretentious? >> i try not to bid. ponderous? people will read you about a review. -- how they read you. when i started writing, i had to sit down and think about how i will deal with criticism. criticism, as a record, is inevitable. you'll always have a paul greenberg. what -- how do you want to respond to them? i decided that i was never going to make it a sign of my own success to silence critics i am not out to convert the world. i want to -- i want people to engage in my ideas and they do, fine. i would be happy if the people i care about, the people closest to me, thought what i was doing was meaningful. if my mother likes it, it's my editor likes it, it my best friend bruce lexi, i am happy. those are importa