When reading a book by a guru economist, a few thoughts come to mind, and none of them really would entice one to read further. A book on economy to many evoke thoughts of boring, complicated, dull, hard, and cold numbers and facts. But not this specific book by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner titled “Freakonomics, a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything.” Levitt put the human touch back into the universally misunderstood science of economics and reverses many of the paradigms related to economics as a science. This one book is 180 degrees opposite to what one would expect from a book on an economic subject. It reads well, conversational, light, and very easy to understand. It is also reassuring when the writer is an award winning economist like Levitt who teaches economics at the University of Chicago. His co author, Dubner is a writer for the New York Times and the New Yorker magazine.

This best seller book looks at economics from a compelling viewpoint that, even though very original, but still might relate more to the essence of economics as a science than many of the complicated references that only academics dare to explore. In his book Levitt reminds everyone about the origins of economics which simply aimed at helping human beings prosper. Many economists seem to have forgotten this simple fact as they pour their complicated theories and laws in books that only economic experts dare even touch. Instead, Levitt focuses on the target of economics, the people, and helps the reader get a true insight of people’s behavior and train of thought, from an economic perspective. Given the above, a more fitting name would be un-Freakonomics rather than Freakonomics.

If you think the book’s name is weird, wait until you see the titles of the chapters: ”What do schoolteachers and Sumo wrestlers have in common? How is the Ku Klux Klan like a group of real estate agents? why do drug dealers still live with their moms? Where have all the criminals gone? What makes a perfect parent? Would a Roshanda by any other name smell as sweet?” One amazing question after the other and the answers are not short of that either. The titles are not only catchy, but the chapters content is also as interesting and helps open the readers’ eyes to the significance of the answer to the question, which turn out to be deeper and more meaningful than the seemingly trivial value of just being a direct answer to an unimportant question. Each chapter talks about aspects of human behavior that are hidden to the naked eye, or where the naked eye is manipulated by conventional wisdom which sometimes disguises the truth instead of hiding it.

 The book exposes some of the more common lies of the media, experts, and politicians, but it does not condemn them. Instead, it shows why they lie and how all of us as humans are open to fall, and often do fall, in the same trap of the temptation to twist the truth or manipulate information deceitfully, whether intentionally or sub continuously.

The recently published book (2005) comes in a neat cover with an intriguing picture of an apple with one slice cut to expose a disguised orange within. It is around 250 pages long and reads smoothly as it uses simple conversational language. The author keeps readers entertained with his down to earth style and witty humor and clichés throughout the book.

There are indirect benefits to reading the book that the author probably did not intend as a direct objective, but they are embedded in the book’s style and stories. One of them is the importance of presentation in everything. How interested people are in an issue, product, or story, depends on how it is dressed up by the presenter. The book shows that we as humans are suckers for presentation. Those who master the art of presentation can convince anyone with anything, regardless of how truthful their information is. This is both dangerous and important for people to understand, whether they are presenting or being presented with information.

 Another nice angle to the book is that it discusses the importance of information, and in a simple manner shows the meaning of the information revolution, and why we are living in the information age. We are being fed information every second of the day by different sources and all our perceptions, behaviors, and statements are based on purely information, that can be or might not be based on solid facts.

The writer does not try to cloud one’s judgment or tell people what to think or how to think. Instead, he lays out facts based on solid figures and proofs, to counter false claims and perceptions built on misinformation, personal vendettas, and emotions.

The only downside to Freakonomics is that it does not hold together as a book so well, but maybe it does not have to. On their own, each of the chapters provide a wealth of information that one can use and benefit from based on own personal background and experience.

 The book is a best seller with well over a half million copies sold since publication.