Thursday, November 5, 2009

Recommended Read: "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

Bought this book for my dad a few years ago, but never got around to reading it myself. Now it's in paperback, so my husband picked it up at the airport. We've been trading it back and forth and reading the most surprising portions to each other out loud (we also did this with the last "Harry Potter," by the way. We are cheesy).

"Freakonomics" analyzes "the hidden side of everything," by challenging conventional wisdom and asking questions like "What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?" and "Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?"

I'd like to pose a question of my own: What do magicians and writers have in common?

1. Use of misdirection, suspense, and metaphor
2. Incredulous looks at parties when you tell people what you do (just kidding; writers never go to parties)
3. Liver failure / cold pizza and coffee for breakfast

2 comments:

  1. Freakonomics was a fun read. I don't usually like non-fiction, but that was definitely an exception. My husband and I read all the Harry Potter's aloud too. :)

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  2. Hi Natalie,

    Glad you liked the book. I feel like I should have read it before now, but hey -- better late than never, and the paperback version had some bonus material so that was cool :)

    I've enjoyed reading your thoughts on NaNo this week, especially quality vs. quantity. That 10-minute writing exercise would have killed my hands!!

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