Why, when it comes to lethal violence, is America so different from the rest of the globe? The United States is wealthier, better educated, more technologically sophisticated, more religious than almost any of its peers in the developed world - all of which would suggest that it should also have the lowest levels of violence. Yet the opposite is true. Malcolm Gladwell outlines the paradox, then walks the reader through a series of stories drawn from every corner of American life and culture from emergency rooms to Hollywood westerns to big-city police departments to Supreme Court oral arguments - looking for answers.