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jimbowen0306's review against another edition
3.0
Four years ago, Freakonomics became something of a hit for Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt, when they discovered some quirky facts about life that noone had noticed before, and wrote about them. As an example of how their mind works, they discovered that legalising abortions contributed to a reduction in the crime rate.
This book works in a similar vein. They come up with strange little facts and explain them to you in a quirky and humorous way. The book is funny, accesible and enjoyable. You'll enjoy reading information about things as diverse as monkey prostitution (yes monkey prostitution), how governments are trying to catch terrorists, altruism, and how global warming isn't necessarily a bad thing in this book.
This having been said, it's probably a book that's read in small doses. I read the book cover to cover and found the author enjoying his own cleverness a little too much in places. This was particularly bad if I'd been reading a while. Don't get me wrong, you'll enjoy the book what ever way you read it, I just want you to be aware of its' downside!
This book works in a similar vein. They come up with strange little facts and explain them to you in a quirky and humorous way. The book is funny, accesible and enjoyable. You'll enjoy reading information about things as diverse as monkey prostitution (yes monkey prostitution), how governments are trying to catch terrorists, altruism, and how global warming isn't necessarily a bad thing in this book.
This having been said, it's probably a book that's read in small doses. I read the book cover to cover and found the author enjoying his own cleverness a little too much in places. This was particularly bad if I'd been reading a while. Don't get me wrong, you'll enjoy the book what ever way you read it, I just want you to be aware of its' downside!
mrbrownsays's review against another edition
3.0
Does what it says on the tin. Not sure there was a need for a second book, but I am perhaps spoilt by listening to the podcast.
oxnard_montalvo's review against another edition
3.0
Was hoping for something thicker, more in-depth. This seemed to skirt the surface of many interesting ideas without getting to the meat.
trin's review against another edition
2.0
In writing this sequel to the uberbestseller [b:Freakonomics|1202|Freakonomics A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (Revised and Expanded Edition)|Steven D. Levitt|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1157833345s/1202.jpg|5397], did Levitt and Dubner forget everything that made the first book fun? Instead of amusing minutiae, this book attempts to tackle "big issues," but it fumbles them. I think enough's already been said about the bizarre global warming chapter, but then there's also the lame chapter about terrorism (I suppose you could say this about almost anything in retrospect, but doesn't the conclusion about life insurance seem incredibly obvious?), and the chapter about prostitution, which is SuperFreaky, but not in a good way. The book concludes with a short epilogue about monkeys, which is more entertaining—and more like the first Freakonomics—than the rest of the book combined. This is a case where just repeating what made the first book successful and enjoyable would have been enough, but instead the authors tried to reinvent the wheel. Whatever this odd collection of spokes and rubber is, it doesn't work.
_nijinska's review against another edition
Better than the first but still lacking in something, some unity...
ngallion's review against another edition
3.0
While I'm a fan of economics as a tool to study human behavior, this one didn't do much to win me over. The opening chapter on prostitution was interesting (and, indeed, it seems to have won its placement as the first chapter in the book as a means to draw the reader in), but it doesn't really have a significant impact on me or anyone I know, so it doesn't really move past being (mildly) salacious. There are a number of interesting tidbits, to be sure, but there's not a lot that blew my mind. The last chapter, though, felt like a pretty significant misstep to me. Economics, it should be noted, are not climate scientists, and shouldn't pretend that they are. They post a number of interesting ideas in this chapter, but too often they're presented as "See! It's easy to fix climate change!" rather than as theory. They do make a few statements that soften this, but not enough to change this tone. Additionally, the fact that they very quickly gloss over an accusation that a company behind some of these "quick fixes" is a patent troll without any serious exploration of this makes me wonder about some of the other research they did in both this book and the previous one.
In short, I love the economic approach to human behavior, but this book didn't do a lot to advance this for me in any meaningful way. Further, I have some questions about their methodologies and research that make me question the content of the book. Bummer.
In short, I love the economic approach to human behavior, but this book didn't do a lot to advance this for me in any meaningful way. Further, I have some questions about their methodologies and research that make me question the content of the book. Bummer.
cerysejones's review against another edition
4.0
Good. The last chapter was the least interesting but the stuff at the back was cool.