Our British publisher, Penguin U.K., continues to delight and astound us with their marketing cojones. How would you like to come across this new poster in the Tube? It is perhaps not surprising that Penguin won a big marketing award this year for their work on Freakonomics. It should be noted that the “3 million copies sold” refers to worldwide copies, not just U.K. — although I think we’ve done better in the U.K. on a per capita basis than the U.S., which is pretty strange considering how U.S.-centric the book is.
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About Freakonomics
Stephen J. Dubner is an author and journalist who lives in New York City.
Steven D. Levitt is a professor of economics at the University of Chicago.
Their book Freakonomics has sold 3 million copies worldwide. This blog, begun in 2005, is meant to keep the conversation going. Recurring guest bloggers include Ian Ayres, Jessica Hagy, Daniel Hamermesh, Sudhir Venkatesh, and Justin Wolfers.
Annika Mengisen is the site editor.
Comment of the Moment
Naked Self-Promotion
Dubner was first published at age 11 in Highlights magazine -- which, in honor of its 60th anniversary, has just recognized him as a “Highlights Kid” who went on to become a professional writer, as Dubner puts it: "for better or worse."
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
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November 20
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Ron Paul Answers Your Questions, Part Two
Ron Paul
When we solicited your questions for Congressman Ron Paul shortly after the election, so many questions came in that we split Paul’s answers into two batches, the first of which was published last week.
Here is the second. Like the first batch, they are well-considered and interesting throughout; they will surely make many [...]
November 20
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Jenkem: Bringing the Levitt Family Together
I often get emails from blog readers asking me to shed light on some issue that, in the mind of the email writer, is a pressing social or economic issue. Sometimes it is a big issue like immigration or the financial crisis. More often it is something less mainstream, like election fraud or an unusual [...]
November 20
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Freddie Mac and Cheese
It’s not an entire film (and it’s not in French), but two more readers, Talya and Pavle, have sent in a video of their song “Fannie Mae Eat Freddie Mac and Cheese,” which uses “freakonomics” as a sort of mantra. We like.
November 19
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What Would You Do in the Worst Case? A Freakonomics Quorum
Photo: Jamesfischer
These are the economic times that try men’s souls, and women’s too. In the past few months, a lot of people have seen their net worth fall substantially, and I’m sure more than a few have contemplated what would happen if they lost everything.
So we asked a group of people — Nick Mills, [...]
November 19
(29 comments)
FREAK Shots: Who Are You Calling Third-World?
Blog reader Nick Turner sent along this photo of a Body Shop ad in San Francisco:
Photo: Nick Turner
He was surprised that the ad guarantees fair-labor conditions for workers in Italy:
I thought fair-trade protections were for third-world workers. I
wonder how the Italians feel about this designation.
The ad didn’t outright call Italy third-world; but if it had, [...]
Stuff We Weren't Paid to Endorse
1. Go to Hulu.com. 2. Choose Arrested Development. 3. Start with Season 1 and then watch every episode of all three seasons. 4. You can thank me later. (SJD)
I can scarcely tell a scarlet tanager from Scarlett O’Hara, but The Life of the Skies had me transfixed from the first page. Jonathan Rosen -- who happens to be a friend of mine -- writes with astounding insight, wit, and compassion. The story he tells here is the best kind of odyssey, an outward journey that ends up highlighting the beauty and daring that live inside of us. Here's a Times review of the book, and here's an earlier blog post about the book and the power of suggestion. (SJD)
Even if you don’t have a son fighting in Iraq, even if you don’t read poetry, even if you think you are immune to the power of a mother’s lament – pick up The Warrior and read it right away. Fran Richey has written some of the most powerful stories I’ve ever encountered. It is obvious that her life was changed by living these poems; yours may well be changed by reading them. (SJD)
From the Opinion Blogs
Necessary Steps
Inching Along the Edge of the World
In his last walk of the series, the author manages to avoid stepping out into thin air.
Abstract City
New York Cheat Sheets
All New Yorkers develop tricks that allow them to stay ahead of the pack in daily life. Here I offer some of mine in a couple of handy charts.
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11 Comments
Why are sumo wrestlers the only men that look good in thongs?
— egretmanI have to say the Uk cover is much cooler than the US cover. No offense to the apple/orange.
— neverknowsbestWhy are you surprised? We like intelligent debate as much as the next country, it’s in a language and culture we’re familiar with, and being a smaller island, the word of mouth recommendations get around faster.
And I love seeing the posters on the underground. They’re great fun.
— angelofthenorthThat guy looks like a cheater.
— 711buddhaI love America, but this is a country where my very-intelligent, accountant roommate hasn’t read a non-fiction book since high school. In fact, I can’t say I’ve ever seen her read a book, period, in three years of living with her.
— tim in tampaThey should have added your tag line: Buy the book or he will crush you.
— pkimelmaI see Dubner’s put on a little weight.
Al Gore isn’t the only one becoming a living carbon sink.
— zbicyclistPart of the per capita difference lies with me. I bought myself a copy last year and got given another one for Christmas (what else do you buy the grouchy economist who’d prefer cash?)
— keithbchurchmy one query- what makes a “good bookshop”?- if you like to read, it’s redundant- else, it’s a political descriptor?
— frankendufI like the US cover better, I think.
That marketing campaign is awesome, I would definitely pay attention to those posters!
Frankenduf, for me, a “good bookshop” is an independent bookshop. I don’t shop at the big chains, and would not think of them as bookshops (nevermind good) - they are supercenters, like the Walmart of the book industry. Some towns are creating incentives to support local industry and little shops: http://lethologicalreader.blogspot.com/2007/06/non-dollar.html
— LiteraryMonkeyDear Stephen,
Your comment about the UK has rattled me.
I am an English author, and at my blog, 8 Legs Good, I have a post titled ‘the English and the www dot’.
I’m questioning our experience of the web.
If you’d like to take a look, here’s a link.
http://theoctopusfrontier.typepad.com/8_legs_good/2007/06/the-english-and.html
Like lots of my friends, I’ve enjoyed your book. You are now someone with a reputation for cataloguing strange things, yet even you find it odd that we’ve bought so many copies of your book because it’s largely about the American experience.
By doing this you’ve inadvertently poked the heart of my argument - why is Britain, when it comes to the web, dominated by American companies and thinkers.
I’d be flattered if you’d leave a comment.
Kind Regards,
Lee Henshaw.
— LeeHenshaw