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Freakonomics

By: Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
Narrated by: Stephen J. Dubner
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

Assume nothing, question everything.

This is the message at the heart of Freakonomics, Levitt and Dubner's rule-breaking, iconoclastic book about crack dealers, cheating teachers and bizarre baby names that turned everyone's view of the world upside-down and became an international multi-million-copy-selling phenomenon.

©2005 Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (P)2005 Penguin Audio
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Critic reviews

"Prepare to be dazzled." (Malcolm Gladwell)

"A sensation...you'll be stimulated, provoked and entertained. Of how many books can that be said?" (Sunday Telegraph)

"Has you chuckling one minute and gasping in amazement the next." (Wall Street Journal)

What listeners say about Freakonomics

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Facinating

Thouroughly facintating.

Much more readible and as if not mote interesting as books by other economists like Joeseph Stiglitz and Paul Collier.

The only economics books I found more facinating were 'Good Economics for Hard Times' and 'Poor Ecobomics' and they aren't as enjoyable a read in comparison.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Audible file is corrupted

Some parts are missing some parts are cut, although book is great. Probably better to buy a paper or digital copy

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Some interesting stories

Many unexpected stories and creative analysis of peoples motives and statistics. Some of the parts towards the end, however, became less interesting, and felt more like a string of vaguely interesting facts.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

In short, great, very interesting and not really what I expected!

Although I studied Economics at school. This was a lot more interesting and applicable than the theories of Economics which we learnt at school. And it explains how Economics plays out in the real world.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Crazy statistics

Great examples of how statistical analysis can be used in more obscure situations not just macro-economics!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

It was okay…

Why was there a musical interludes half way through most of the chapters? The concepts are quite interesting but a lot of them are so a big “so what?”

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

different way of thinking and game changer

this book makes one thing new ways of measure danger, people's perceptions about other people.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

surprising

great stories and surprising twists. some long lists of names could have been summarised better as they are not impactful as an audio book, but somewhat confusing!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Cool stories

'Stories' are easy to follow although there are at times many lists, graphs and tables, which are hard to follow in audio format. It doesn't really matter, the main point is always clear nonetheless.

All in all the book is a good reminder on how the data and statistics are usually meaningless without proper analysis and the right questions asked.

Only thing I disliked in this audio book was the occasional music interludes. They came with no warning in the middle of chapter and made zero sense in this format. Please get rid of those.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Captivating!

Captivating story, covering multiple intriguing questions! Latter part of the book is rather long, but overall a great read!

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