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svec's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a bunch of blog entries, lightly grouped together into chapters by somewhat related topics. If you like the Freakonomics blog, podcast, books, or viewpoint then you'll probably like this book.
However, it's the weakest of the Freakonomics books because it's just a series of blog posts without any way unifying idea or narrative.
However, it's the weakest of the Freakonomics books because it's just a series of blog posts without any way unifying idea or narrative.
palegreenshutters's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to the audio book on loan from the library. Since it is a collection of blog posts, if you read the blog there won't be much, if anything, new for you. This is fairly typical, as the last two freakonomics books have been, essentially, a collection of podcast summaries. However, I don't read the blog, so it was all new material for me.
These are not the well thought out and researched ideas normally published by the Freakonomics guys. They are much more raw and off the cuff, as you would expect a casual blog post to be. As such, they are based more in opinion than facts and data, so I found myself disagreeing with them a lot more than I usually do, as well as finding more holes in their arguments.
However, because it is not as polished, you do get a better sense of what it might be like to actually have a conversation with Dubner and Levitt, and see how their minds look at everyday occurrences, which is kind of cool.
These are not the well thought out and researched ideas normally published by the Freakonomics guys. They are much more raw and off the cuff, as you would expect a casual blog post to be. As such, they are based more in opinion than facts and data, so I found myself disagreeing with them a lot more than I usually do, as well as finding more holes in their arguments.
However, because it is not as polished, you do get a better sense of what it might be like to actually have a conversation with Dubner and Levitt, and see how their minds look at everyday occurrences, which is kind of cool.
library_of_babel's review against another edition
4.0
The final book in the freakonomics series is probably the least favourite of one of my favourite series. Consisting entirely of blog post entries from the Freakonomic.com website in the 10 years leading up until its publishing, it contains all the witticisms, curiosity and genius that have made the whole Freakonomics series such an easy-reading success. However, due to the nature of blogging, I did find this book to be a little stop-start and therefore less of a page turner that the rest of the series, and that did take away from the enjoyment and experience somewhat.
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Check out more reviews like this one on Instagram @myhonestbookreview
broprahwinfree222's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.5
mejum's review against another edition
3.0
Not as great as a Freakonomics title. Lots of great information and stories.
firstwords's review against another edition
2.0
Some fun ideas, but the amount of philosophical navel-gazing and formulation of possible courses of action that just dont work in the real world (a sex tax, not speaking figuratively) make this book completely ridiculous...if you are looking for a serious book. If you want a series of questions/possibilities raised, and to hear a "this experiment will never leave our lab" scenarios, then this is for you.
They raise a question and then ignore all real-world external factors - and human behavior, weird from the folks that wrote [b:Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything|1202|Freakonomics A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything|Steven D. Levitt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1550917827l/1202._SX50_.jpg|5397] - in their answer. Some questions can be answered "in the lab," and where they simply present data and give a conclusion, the book is fine. But almost every single "what if" question that they pose that involves people (if people arent involved, it's easier) leaves out about 95 percent of variables/data. And it makes their conclusions, again, navel gazing.
So if you like "lab" theorems, things that ignore human behavior and the complexity of human societies (again, not being sarcastic, it's fine), then pick it up. Navel gazing was fine when I was a sophomore in college, but I'm past the idiocy of college professors (who also largely lecture in the bubble/lab). Yeah, I guess that's what this is. A couple of professors who never have to enter the real world, and understand nothing of it (Freakonomics? Really?).
You can tell that this was a blog originally, and that some "articles" that became part of the book were articles there just to get page views and news hits. That absolutely SUCKS for a book (for me).
It wasnt a total waste, so two stars.
They raise a question and then ignore all real-world external factors - and human behavior, weird from the folks that wrote [b:Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything|1202|Freakonomics A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything|Steven D. Levitt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1550917827l/1202._SX50_.jpg|5397] - in their answer. Some questions can be answered "in the lab," and where they simply present data and give a conclusion, the book is fine. But almost every single "what if" question that they pose that involves people (if people arent involved, it's easier) leaves out about 95 percent of variables/data. And it makes their conclusions, again, navel gazing.
So if you like "lab" theorems, things that ignore human behavior and the complexity of human societies (again, not being sarcastic, it's fine), then pick it up. Navel gazing was fine when I was a sophomore in college, but I'm past the idiocy of college professors (who also largely lecture in the bubble/lab). Yeah, I guess that's what this is. A couple of professors who never have to enter the real world, and understand nothing of it (Freakonomics? Really?).
You can tell that this was a blog originally, and that some "articles" that became part of the book were articles there just to get page views and news hits. That absolutely SUCKS for a book (for me).
It wasnt a total waste, so two stars.
cagebox's review against another edition
2.0
This book just feels lazy. It's more like a bathroom reader than anything else. It's just a bunch of little articles collected from their blog to form one book, but the book is not a cohesive whole. It's not a complete waste of time but it's not good.
libbyann01's review against another edition
4.0
This books is a collection of blog posts from the Freakonomics blog. This will be of interest to those who are fans of the original books and/or the blog, but not a good starting place for those new to Freakonomics. This was a very quick read. Some of the entries were very entertaining, but even though they are grouped by theme, there wasn't much continuity.