Freakonomics
"A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything"
By Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
This book is, quite frankly, amazing. It explores a lot of issues and uses raw data to answer unusual questions that turn up even more odd things about our society. As Kurt Anderson says in his praise: "This is bracing fun of the highest order."
The cover consists of a picture of an apple with a slice cut away to show the inside to be... an orange. True to the cover, the book tries to send the message that not everything is what it seems, and by asking the right questions and using the right data, we can begin to uncover the real truths of our world. This is an extremely popular book as far as I know, which is why I decided to read it- and it was worth it. It's not extremely long, and every page has its own surprises. However, they do talk about some controversial issues, like discrimination and abortion, and if you have strong beliefs about such issues, this book may be a little upsetting. It also talks a lot about crime, since Levitt's chief interest is not really in the economy, but in everyday issues and crime. The way the authors write and explain things using data in this book is alone reason enough to read it, since it is extremely unique.
If you have yet to read a non fiction book, then I'd highly recommend this book for any sort of interest you may have. Being a science and music person, economics don't really strike me as, well, amazing, but this book was definitely worth the read. I have yet to read the next book, Superfreakonomics, and explore their website. If you do read it though, please tell me what you think of it! It's a very thought-provoking book.
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