The purpose of this book was to describe what different topics that may have seemed irrelevant to each other yet they were somehow tied to one another. Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner wrote this book and still now continue the book on a blog. The book explored topics such as the similarities between Street Prostitute and Department-Store Santa's. Topics like these were some of my favorite but there were many more to choose from in the book.
The book started out with "How a street prostitute like a department-store Santa." It explained the salary of a department-store Santa and a prostitute. It also compared other aspects as well. It also explained how the salary of a prostitute is dropping significantly. The next chapter after that which i also found very interesting was the chapter about why suicide bombers should buy life insurance. In this section they talked about why terrorism is so cheap yet very effective, which is very bad in the long run. Other sections such as these two were very interesting. The whole book kept me on my toes wanting to read more.
The purpose of this book was really just a book for leisure i think. This book and the first on were very irrelevant to any other book i have ever read, because of these discussions of random topics and how they relate to each other the book ended up being really good. Because it was so interesting to read, the reader will never really want to put the book down.
For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?)
I think this book is for an older to teenage audience. I mean i would recommend it to anyone who just wants to hear interesting facts about stuff but i mean i would really recommend it to teens and adults. I find this book more for an older crowd one because of peoples reading levels and also just the topics they talk about seem to be for older people. For instance last part of the book Freakonomics was pretty good. Some new topics came up that were very interesting and some that were not as interesting. Parenting came up as one that stood out to me that young kids or a younger crowd really would not care about.I mean i really thought about english when i read this section because it was all about selecting schools and what not. I think that a younger crowd would not get where the authors are coming from at all when they are reading this book so that is why i direct it more toward a middle to older aged crowd of people.
Another part of this book that just supports my idea of directing this book at an older crowd is the topic "What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common?." Like really, what is that? I think that is one of the topics that is really irrelevant but i mean it was somewhat interesting just it seemed like the authors did not have a lot to write about it. I mean do not get me wrong i loved the whole book in its entirety but topics like this and some others are just not meant for younger kids and older adults that do not like things like this.
What are the weaknesses of this book, in your opinion?
I think this book covers topics that are kind of boring. The authors may not think so but i found parts of the book really slow. For example, during the beginning of Freakonomics they talked about Pimps and Realtors and how each of them are alike. This section of the book started with the Pimps. It explained how they started off as a person with one girl and that is all it takes. After getting one girl it explained how going from one girl can get you many. Then they talked about how they could gain more women and what techniques they used. Like they took a lot more time just to say that. So i thought that some of the book was really irrelevant. Here is a quote that i think describes the chapter really well.
It turns out that the typical street prostitute in Chicago works 13 hours a week, performing 10 sex acts during that period, and earns an hourly wage of approximately $27. So her weekly take- home pay is roughly $350. This includes an average of $20 that a prostitute steals from her customers and acknowledges that some prostitutes accept drugs in lieu of cash— usually crack cocaine or heroin, and usually at a discount. Of all the women in Venkatesh’s study,83 percent were drug addicts.
Also when they talked about the Realtors they talked about how they chose to sell a house and who too. Depending on age, race, etc. the Real Estate agents would act differently and would offer different areas according to the way the person presented themselves. I found that disturbing because just if a person presents their self in one way does not mean they are that way. If you get what i am saying. This section was exactly like the first book Freakonomics.
In the book SuperFreakonomics, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner pick the most bizarre topics to debate about but in the end the way they use evidence to prove their comparisons is very good. Some parts were way better than others but I really liked the book. I think if we get another chance to do a lit circle again we should read Superfreakonomics it seems just as interesting. Like i also said before in almost all of my posts about this book i would still love to hear what my group mates think about the book as well besides what is on their blogs. The blog also covers the first book, Freakonomics.
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