Q: What is “Freakonomics,” anyway?
A: It’s a book we wrote back in 2005. It exceeded our expectations by a factor of about 100, which is why we are still here, carrying on the conversation on our blog and elsewhere. It also spawned a variety of offspring – a second book, SuperFreakonomics; a radio show; a film; even a pair of pants. Some people think we are smarter than we are.

Q: Besides the U.S., where has Freakonomics been published?
A: In a lot of countries and a lot of languages, including a Chinese version whose title, we are told, is Devil’s Economics. Between Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics, we’ve sold about 5 million copies.

Q: Did Freakonomics win any awards?
A: Yes, including these.

Q: Does everyone like your books?
A: Ha! Not by a long shot. Here is an early catalog of people who hated Freakonomics. In the U.S. alone, there are probably enough Freakonomics haters to fill up the Rose Bowl. Which is why you’ll never find us walking past the Rose Bowl without an armed guard, at least not at night. Also, our global-warming chapter in SuperFreakonomics caused downright apoplexy among a certain quadrant of environmentalists.

Q: What did it feel like to have Freakonomics turned into a movie?
A: Mostly good, 100% weird. Watching oneself on screen in a movie theater isn’t for the faint of heart. But the filmmakers – lead producer Chad Troutwine and an army of talent producers, directors, and others – did a great job turning the book into visual storytelling.

Q: What are you guys up to now?
A: We are tinkering with a third book. Levitt still teaches at the University of Chicago, and has also founded a consulting firm called The Greatest Good. Dubner keeps busy with the Freakonomics Radio show and other writing projects. Also, they both have kids. And Levitt plays a lot of golf. We also blog a lot.

Q: How do I contact you guys, or your lecture agent, or the book publicist?
A: All that information can be found right here.

Q: Do you read all the e-mails that people send you?
A: Yes. But do we answer them all? Unfortunately, no, although we do the best we can. Sometimes we also post interesting correspondence on the blog.

Q: What’s the story with the illustrated edition of SuperFreakonomics?
A: One of us is a numbers guy and the other is a word guy, but we both like pictures. By “pictures,” we mean a lot of different things – photographs, illustrations, scientific or technical drawings, even panels of data. The idea was simply to add another dimension to the two-dimensional words and numbers we’d already put down on paper. The design firm Number 17 made it all come together.

Q: What other economics books should I read?
A: Here’s a list we put together. It’s not remotely definitive, but is still pretty worthwhile. Here are some other books we like. We regularly write about books and authors on our blog, and in the “Stuff We Weren’t Paid to Endorse” sidebar on the blog.

Q: Do you have anything else to add?
A: Apparently not. But we are open to suggestions.