17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent! Even Better than the first, November 15, 2010
This review is from: SuperFreakonomics, Illustrated edition: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance (Hardcover)
I love this book. It is a fascinating look at real data that often tells us a very different story than we are quick to believe. No, it is not a foundational bastion of absolute certainties, but it was never intended to be. This book offers a different way of looking at common everyday issues and poses the idea of "maybe it's not like you always thought it was." It is funny, poignant, quirky, curious, odd and in some cases quite practical (e.g. the Realtor chapter). It's also a quick read, keeps the readers attention throughout.
I loved it.
I particularly like this edition better than the first (Freakonomics) because it saves each punchline for just the right place. The first book, gave you all of the really exciting and interesting punchlines right up front, then gave you chapters detailing each example further into the book. The result was that by the time you got half way through, it became somewhat boring. You already knew what the answer was, so you lost the thrill of surprise and the joy of wondering and speculating and trying to figure it out along the way. This book plays it just right, with a fascinating punchline punctuating each chapter.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Superfreakonomics - Illustrated Version - Levitt and Dubner (Wm. Morrow), January 24, 2011
This review is from: SuperFreakonomics, Illustrated edition: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance (Hardcover)
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and for the authors of the blockbuster series "Freakonomics," the pictures, graphs and charts contained in their new illustrated edition are proof of that concept big-time.
"SuperFreakonomics: *The Super-Deluxe, Super Illustrated Edition Thereof," (yes, that's its title!) prides itself on comparing and contrasting empirical data grabs against information from seemingly unrelated categories to create thought-provoking mash-ups of information (Prostitutes vs. Santa Clauses, as an example) designed to turn traditional thinking on its ear. By actually illustrating the results of these concepts, the two authors have created an easy to use, in-your-face analysis of trends from health care to highway safety to make the reader re-think popular misconceptions while learning all manner of obscure but interesting information about the world around them. It's much the same as the original version, but this time with pictures - lots of pictures (and graphs, charts, diagrams, etc.)
Global warming vs. meat consumption, a better model for ER facilities, drunk driving vs. drunk walking, and product price discrimination are but a few of the myriad topics covered in this colorful, 281-page edition. While looking at the past as well as possibilities for the future (e.g. cooling the earth with a `chimney to the sky'), it's sometimes hard to discern if the authors are serious or pulling a mickey with certain aspects of their analysis. (They even openly admit that "many of our findings may not be all that useful.") But this, of course, is the appeal of their books. Are they serious? Perhaps only time will tell. In the meantime, Levitt and Dubner have succeeded wildly in getting their readers to think and to look at problems from a host of different comparative points of view.
Early in the book, they have a list of topics that the book doesn't cover. (Average ratio of Facebook friends to real friends, why songs you like least are the ones you remember the most, salad dressings that never caught on, the actual price of all the tea in China.)
Sounds to us like a blueprint for Volume Two. (or is it Three?)
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A picture says a thousand words, December 30, 2010
This review is from: SuperFreakonomics, Illustrated edition: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance (Hardcover)
Great way to present a book. The authors have done a great job with illustrations by blending historical events/facts etc. Some of the facts presented in the book is very interesting and makes you read more. Read the book rather than listen to it using an audio CD. Data Analytics and Visualizations are really cool.
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