Gettin’ my freak on

With a book! (Had you fooled, didn’t I?) Specifically, with Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Any book that can compare sumo wrestlers with teachers and find a legitimate connection is a winner, in my opinion. :-) Seriously, I am not sure how best to summarize this book, since it uses economics to explore “the hidden side” of.... well, everything except money and finance. Why did crime fall in the 90s? Why do drug dealers live with their moms? Do teachers cheat on standardized tests for their students? It doesn’t sound like economics and it doesn’t read like economics, either. I kept comparing it to talking with that slightly geeky friend we all have, who knows everything, but is gifted with the ability to use that knowledge to tell a whammy of a story. If you liked The Tipping Point, Blink, or Guns, Germs, and Steel, you know what I mean.

On the Bookwormy Goodness Review Scale, where ***** is “go out and buy this book now, it is that good!” and * is “the most appalling awful book ever”, I give Freakonomics *****.