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smiley938's review against another edition
4.0
Should have been half as long. However, once you get to the author's points, they actually make you think about your own life and cons you may have inadvertently fallen for. The best parts of the book were the range of con stories.
snommers's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting, but didn't grab me like I thought based upon a discussion I heard on a podcast. The true story anecdotes were an interesting way to lead into the psychology and studies of con-games. The studies and psychology could get kind of dry.
nonameless's review against another edition
4.0
Thorough analysis of how con men prey on basic human psychology. I am now questioning everything and everyone around me, but I still think it's good to know & be aware of why we do what we do so we can avoid basic tricks.
greebytime's review against another edition
3.0
In the last few years, I've gotten a bit addicted to documentaries about con artists. Whether it's Anna Delvey, Elisabeth Holmes, Fyre Fest, etc., I'm in. And in so many of these, I noticed the same person being asked to provide some insight to what happened - and it's Maria Konnikova. She's published several books, including this one, about confidence artists (con men) and why what they do works so well.
That's certainly on display here, and she cites quite a lot of research in support of this. The book truly shines when she's telling more stories about famous cons that happened through history - and she smartly often doesn't finish those stories right away, keeping the reader waiting to get to the resolution, etc. The problem is ... that's what really interested me. So reading about another study at Stanford or somewhere else was helpful, but I really wanted to get back to the family who just invested all their money in search of Sir Francis Drake's treasure, and so forth.
That said, it's fascinating to understand a bit more WHY folks are so gullible and easily led astray (there's a large percentage of one of our political parties that would be looking in the mirror if they read this book, though I'm not sure how much they read anything but wacked out conspiracy theories), and to realize that if you think "Well, that's just what happens to other people," then you're just as likely to get scammed as anyone else.
Definitely recommended, but keep expectations in check.
That's certainly on display here, and she cites quite a lot of research in support of this. The book truly shines when she's telling more stories about famous cons that happened through history - and she smartly often doesn't finish those stories right away, keeping the reader waiting to get to the resolution, etc. The problem is ... that's what really interested me. So reading about another study at Stanford or somewhere else was helpful, but I really wanted to get back to the family who just invested all their money in search of Sir Francis Drake's treasure, and so forth.
That said, it's fascinating to understand a bit more WHY folks are so gullible and easily led astray (there's a large percentage of one of our political parties that would be looking in the mirror if they read this book, though I'm not sure how much they read anything but wacked out conspiracy theories), and to realize that if you think "Well, that's just what happens to other people," then you're just as likely to get scammed as anyone else.
Definitely recommended, but keep expectations in check.