Freakonomics

Freakonomics, a non-fiction novel by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, examines and analyzes everyday life and its hidden features.  The authors have a combined knowledge of economics and writing and they use their insight to show how economic principles apply to modern society.  The basis of the book is that society is full of people with hidden agendas, and they use their resources to accomplish their goals.  They argue that incentives drive people's lives, that conventional beliefs are commonly wrong, and that drastic effects are usually caused by small changes.  The rest for the book shows how these theories hold true real examples.  The book was published in 2003, and therefore doesn't have the most recent data available, but it recent enough to still be very relatable today.

As the authors use examples from around the world, the book is written toward an international audience, and while the book is primarily designed to entertain, it also informs its audience on the society they live in.  This is done mainly through using primary statistics and data collections in order to qualify examples.  In doing so, the authors let the readers try to sort through the evidence and draw conclusions on their own before they explain it.  This keeps the readers involved and interested in the book as they are reading.  For example, when describing ways teachers have cheated on standardized test scores, the book shows data from a computer of student scores in two different classrooms and the reader is told to find the pattern.  Also, they use juxtaposition and humor in order to improve their effectiveness.  For example, a chapter compares real estate agents to the Klu Klux Klan.  Obviously, the authors are not saying that they are equivalent, they just delve into the features of the two groups in order to draw conclusions on their overall motives.  The book is very effective and entertaining because it utilizes many different tones and devices as described.