Born to Rebel: Birth Order, Family Dynamics and Creative Lives

"Born to Rebel" provides quantitative data in support of a novel interpretation of the importance of birth order to personality development, evolution, and history. Many are comparing its insights to those of the author's hero, Charles Darwin. The notion that birth order is a very significant determinant of personality is not new, but Sulloway puts it in an entirely new and comprehensive context. This book will be a must for cocktail party conversation. I first learned about it from Robert S. Boyton's lengthy review in The New Yorker of October 7 ("The Birth of an Idea", p. 72).