Best Selling Books by Stephen J Dubner

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? How did the legalization of abortion affect the rate of violent crime? These may not sound like typical questions for an econo-mist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much-heralded scholar who studies the riddles of everyday life—from cheating and crime to sports and child-rearing—and whose conclusions turn conventional wisdom on its head. Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author and journalist. They usually begin with a mountain of data and a simple question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: freakonomics. Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives—how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they explore the hidden side of . . . well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. The secrets of the Klu Klux Klan. What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a great deal of complexity and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and—if the right questions are asked—is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking. Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise: If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. It is true that readers of this book will be armed with enough riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties. But Freakonomics can provide more than that. It will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.

The legendary bestseller that made millions look at the world in a radically different way returns in a beautiful 20th anniversary edition featuring a new foreword Which is more dangerous: a gun or a swimming pool? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? What do real estate agents and the KKK have in common? These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much-heralded scholar who studies the riddles of everyday life--from cheating and crime to sports and child-rearing--and whose conclusions turn conventional wisdom on its head. Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author and journalist. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: freakonomics. Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives--how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they explore the hidden side of everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a great deal of complexity and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and--if the right questions are asked--is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking. Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise: If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. It is true that readers of this book will be armed with enough riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties. But Freakonomics can provide more than that. It will literally redefine the way we view the modern world. This 20th anniversary edition of the book includes a gorgeous new cover design and a new foreword by Stephen Dubner, reflecting on the unexpected impact Freakonomics has had on the world over the last two decades, as well as the New York Times Magazine profile Dubner wrote about Levitt that started it all.

As a boy, Stephen J. Dubner''s hero was Franco Harris, the famed and mysterious running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers. When Dubner''s father died, he became obsessed—he dreamed of his hero every night; he signed his school papers "Franco Dubner." Though they never met, it was Franco Harris who shepherded Dubner through a fatherless boyhood. Years later, Dubner journeys to meet his hero, certain that Harris will embrace him. And he is . . . well, wrong. Told with the grit of a journalist and the grace of a memoirist, Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper is a breathtaking, heartbreaking, and often humorous story of astonishing developments. It is also a sparkling meditation on the nature of hero worship—which, like religion and love, tells us as much about ourselves as about the object of our desire.

Turbulent Souls is a luminous memoir, crafted with the eye of a journalist and the art of a novelist by New York Times Magazine writer and editor Stephen J. Dubner. By turns comic and heartbreaking, it tells the story of a family torn apart by religion, sustained by faith, and reunited by truth.

Solomon, a little boy with two belly buttons, discovers that being different can be a good thing.

La 4e de couverture indique : "Freakonomics, le best-seller du New York Times, a changé la manière dont nous voyons le monde en explorant la face cachée des choses. Pensez comme un freak !, le nouveau livre de Steven Levitt et Stephen Dubner, est leur ouvrage le plus révolutionnaire à ce jour. Ils savent toujours aussi bien raconter une histoire tout en avançant une analyse non conventionnelle. Ils nous font partager leur manière de penser et nous proposent une nouvelle approche pour résoudre les problèmes. Les sujets vont du monde des affaires à la philanthropie, en passant par le sport et la politique, et ont tous pour but de nous donner les clés pour renouveler notre manière de penser. Vous découvrirez les secrets du plus gros mangeur de hot-dogs, la raison pour laquelle un médecin australien a avalé des bactéries dangereuses et pourquoi les arnaqueurs nigérians prennent soin de dire qu''ils viennent du Nigéria dans leurs courriels. Levitt et Dubner voient le monde comme personne. Et maintenant, vous aussi vous pouvez adopter leur point de vue. Il n''y a jamais eu penseurs plus iconoclastes et divertissants."

La 4e de couverture indique : "Il y a 10 ans, le monument "Freakonomics" atterrissait dans les rayons des librairies. Quoi de mieux pour célébrer cet anniversaire que de rassembler les meilleurs des 8 000 posts du blog économique freakonomics.com – le plus lu au monde – dans un seul volume ? Steven Levitt et Stephen Dubner se sont donc retroussé les manches et les ont tous passés au crible pour n’en garder que la crème de la crème. Vous découvrirez, entre autres, dans cet ouvrage les sujets sur lesquels les gens mentent le plus souvent et pourquoi, le meilleur moyen de diminuer le nombre de tués par balle, les raisons pour imposer une taxe sur le sexe, mais aussi, le meilleur moment pour cambrioler une banque (en un mot : jamais, le retour sur investissement est atroce). Vous en apprendrez également beaucoup sur les idiosyncrasies et les passions de Levitt et Dubner, des jeux d’argent au golf, en passant par le backgammon et l’abolition du penny. Surprenant et érudit, éloquent et plein d’esprit, À quelle heure braquer la banque ? démontre le talent des auteurs qui a fait de Freakonomics un succès international."