Hopeful Monsters By Pat Barker: The Most Uncommon People

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Also, I like how this book points out that the most uncommon people are the most successful. Barker refers to uncommon people as "Hopeful Monsters" which are individuals who deviates radically from the norm in a population because of a genetic mutation that confers a potentially adaptive advantage. For example the book mention Michael Phelps as a hopeful monster. His upper body is too long, legs to short, hands and feet to big, and he has gangly arms. In fact, he doesn’t seem designed to move well on land at all, but Phelps’s collection of odd traits makes him uniquely suited to being an awesome U.S. Olympic swimmer who has won the most awards than any swimmer has won in the world. I would recommend this book for anyone who in an early/mid/