This book is based on a conference about giftedness in adults, from a couple of years ago. This means it's not a systematic work on giftednes or intelligence in adults, and not a self help book, or advice on the matter. It concerns the creation of a model to descripe 'giftedness' from the perspective of the 'gifted', not focussing on problems concerning giftedness, but on the positive sides of it, so it can be used in changing societal perception of gifted people and their emancipation/'coming out'. I liked the model, very insightful, and I recognized a lot of it in myself. I also liked the discussion about 'performance' as an indicator of being gifted (or is the creative drive enhough? I think so, I'm under enough pressure to perform as it is!). But most helpful at least to me were the stories in between of people, young and old(er) who tell about their lives, the sense of being different than others, being bored and dropping out, and then discovering they have a very high IQ. I think while none of them would trade their IQ for a lesser one, it's clear that it's not really a 'gift', but more a 'mutation'. something that makes you different from your peers, which can cause it's own problems. Think X-men. Also interesting was the influence of our calvinistic thinking on the expectations put on highly gifted individuals.
My wife was one of the storytellers writing about her experiences in this book. She told me she had thought for a while that I'm highly gifted too (IQ above 130, different way of thinking), but she didn't know I didn't realise that giftedness is not a gift, but causes problems. Now a lot of stress and frustration of my life falls into place. So, for me it's on to an IQ-test, a good book about the subject and learning to accept that I'm a mutant.