Audiobook Books

Radical Self-Acceptance is a lovely guide to healing and bringing understanding and acceptance to all areas of life, from a buddist perspective. Not only will it bring healing to those listening to it, but to all beings. For when one person's energy shifts, it has the ripple effect on all those that are connected. We are all one. Peace and enjoy this gentle healing journey.

A very good personal develpment aid. Integrates a psychodynamic, buddhist and humanistic approach. As a psychiatric nurse I work hard to provide groups for people who are looking for ways forward and feel desolate and lost. This CD helps me live and helps me help others too.

This book is brilliantly written by a therapist with great depth and kindness. As a Buddhist for over 20 years I applaud her presentation of Buddhist beliefs and as a person training to be a psychotherapist, she has given me lofty goals. My meditation practice will be far stronger.

Thank you Tara for sharing so much of your heart....wonderful job.

Danny O'Neill

Lot of people suffer from self hatred inspite of so much material progress..The refreshing and stimulating approach of Tara sees the fundamental problem of suffering. It offers great approach to NOT rate the Self and 'accept things the way they are' without judgement. Then we are better equiped to not hate ourselves. Self-improvement is myth although behaviour can be altered with acceptance.
Contemporary approach worth listening to for problem of self-hatred by Buddhist Psychologist.

Tara's gentle, soothing voice makes this a great CD to own. The companion book, Radical Acceptance, teaches the wisdom of understanding the self and appreciating the present.

These kinds of books always are published a month before national elections as though they represented some 'undiscovered truth' about a particular candidate.

David Freddoso, a mouthpiece for the right-wing National (read that Nazi) Review wrote a book that is nothing more than a badly written hatchet job against Barack Obama, full of errors, distortions and smears. Bottom line: Freddoso simply fails to prove his primary assertions, preferring to rely upon a bunch of false attacks, a la Swift-Boat-Veteran style smear tactics with a twist McCarthyist inspired denunciations of Obama's associations. Throw in the usual extreme conservative attacks on abortion rights and stuff it with the usual facist banter on topics unrelated to Obama and his record and you have the typical 'conservative intellect' at work - an oxymoron if there ever was one.

For example, Freddoso opens with an outrageous lie (which is repeated on the back cover). He states that Obama is "the least experienced politician in at least one hundred years to obtain a major party nomination for President...."(ix) Oh REALLY??? Did 'Frauddoso' forget that George W. Bush in 2000 had served only six years as governor prior to becoming President, whereas Obama sports 12 years of experience: eight years as an Illinois state senator and four as US senator?? By the way General Dwight David Eisenhower had NO political experience prior to becoming President of the US. Or are you Neocon pukes trying to rewrite history now??

If you are stupid enough to believe this drivel, you've got your head so far up your Republican behind, you think you're seeing daylight.

You want some facts? John McCain was one of the Keating 5 and a major player in the S&L disaster of the 1980's (or are the Neocons attempting to rewrite that bit of history also?)

John McCain has for over 15 years pushed for deregulation of the finance industry - a key reason for the current sub-prime mortgage and investment bank financial meltdown we now experience.

REPUBLICANS WERE IN POWER AND PRESIDED OVER EVER MAJOR FINANCIAL DISASTER OF THE LAST 80 YEARS:

1929 - Herbert Hoover. Result: the Great depression
early 1980's - Ronald Reagan. Result: S&L failure
2007-2008 - George W. Bush. Result: sub-prime mortgage and Wall Street investment bank failure.

Only this time the cost of this $700B 'bailout' exceeds the cost of the prior 2 disasters combined. This represents a tax that will sink the middle class for good - a fundamental Neocon objective if there ever was one.

A McCain presidency will insure the torture continues - and you can take that to the bank...

I have always had reservations about Obama from the very beginning. How could someone so unknown, so quickly rise to the position of running for President of the United States. This, within itself, raised great question. This is a book EVERYONE should read if you are truly concerned and interested in your safety and welfare for yourself and this country.
You be the judge but I think it is unquestionable what this man's motive is.

David Freddoso provides an detailed examination of Obama's life before the Democratic nomination. Each chapter is very well written and easy to see Obama's "change" agenda and how he is nothing but party line Democrat with radical allies who he fails to acknowledge who he sides with today. It is a great book for any voter unsure of Obama and provides a very accurate picture of what an Obama presidency would be like. Freddoso cuts through the media BS of Obama and gives you enough information from accurate sources for you to make your own judgment about the man before November 4th. I would highly recommend this book!

I haven't all of it, But it brings up alot of points that I am checking into. I find some I thought as bias, but on further examining are true.....

Excellent examination of the political journey of Barrack Hussein Obama. After reading this insightful novel, one will know the case has been made that this inexperienced, far-left, socialist politician is not ready, not tested to be President of the United States. 143 days in the United States Senate does not make Obama ready for the presidency and is not prepared to be the next president. Obama is not about change, he is the same old Liberal politician. His ties to terrorists, to hate monger ministers, to socialists should raise a red flag for all patriotic freedom-loving Americans and see to it that Obama NEVER makes it to the White House!
The Case Against Barrack Obama is an excellent read and I highly recommend it!!!

Can be enjoyed by the kids and adults alike. I would suggest that the kids be 5-6 years old or older. Some of the stories contain "scary" parts.

At 3 1/2, my son fell in love with these stories -- and six months later he's still listening to them again and again. He prefers them to videos. He learned more from them than picture books. They make long drives in the car peaceful and interesting for all of us. As an adult might listen to the radio while working, he listens to these audio books when he's building with blocks, drawing, playing with vehicles or even just resting after playing outside. This particular set, stories 33-36, are longer stories than some of the previous sets, and contain some of his favorites. Night of the New Magician, for instance, introduced him to the great inventors Thomas (Alva) Edison, Louis Pasteur, Gustave Eiffel, and Alexander Graham Bell. I overhead him explaining to his grandmother recently how the Eiffel Tower was made (fairly accurately) and I suspect before long he'll be teaching all of us about electricity and then medical research.

This is actually not a book although the title is Magic Tree House Books 33-36. You need to read until the last wood that tells you it it an audiobook. I was misled and purchased it by mistake. My kids don't like the audios at all.

I'm not going to recap the story for you as it has been covered several times.

I have read every novel by Kathy Reichs and this is the first one I have NOT enjoyed. What's worse is I have been aware of it all along. Every page has been a little too much, a little too much detail, a little too much covering of the info we already know about Temperance. Not nearly as bad as Patricia Cornwell. One of the reasons Cornwell is so tedious is because she is the center of every novel. In Temperance Brennan novels, the mystery is the center.

But there is a terrible disconnect between the novel and the television program. The characters are unpleasantly different. The television program has a character who is wooden, unfeeling, scientific to a fault. The differences make it very difficult to read the book.

Part of the problem is that I can't figure out which Temperance I like better. It may be the one on television.

I just didn't. I've read every book she's written, and I even love the TV series (didn't think I would - don't usually like TV or movie adaptations of books, but they are SO different that I barely think of them as related.)

As I remember, on all her other books, I've stayed up late into the night because I couldn't put them down. Not so, this one - I kept picking it up and putting it down in fits and spurts. It wasn't holding my attention. And I can't put my finger on the "why".

I don't mind Tempe's flaws, but I really don't think I (as a fairly intelligent, but in no way medically trained person) should be able to figure out some of the antrhopological mysteries ahead of her. There's even a line where Tempe says, "How did I miss that?" and I had to agree. I may have even yelled out loud, "Yeah, how did you?" startling my husband, to say the least.

And while I know that we need Tempe involved in investigations to keep the series going, I really don't understand how an anthropologist is allowed to go along to question witnesses or chase down perps. I am very interested in the science, so a little more lab time and a little less, "what is she doing in the street?" wouldn't be a bad thing to me.

I always enjoy more the books that are set in Montreal - I think I don't love the Charlotte sub-characters as much. The daughter and the ex are just getting way too annoying, the detectives not as engaging... I am glad to see the next book is going back to Quebec.

I am in no way ready to give up on the series, but I hope the next one is more engaging. That being said, I still wouldn't tell anyone to skip it - just don't expect the best of the series in this one.

Kathy Reichs is a genius! I honestly don't know how she does it all but I love her descriptions and the way she can use language to paint a picture. These books are so packed with science I can use them in the classroom to emphasize topics on Forensics as well as other basic science topics.

I can never put Kathy Reichs books down so the minute I get it I have to force myself to savor each and every moment.

I love the interview in the back of the book- it makes her so personable.

Interesting, but hard to follow. I was excited to have a new Kathy Reichs, but it was a letdown after "Cross Bones."

Devil Bones delivers pretty much what you expect. I'm not a huge fan of the author, but generally speaking I like Reichs' writing and appreciate her sense of humour. She finds a nice balance when describing the forensic elements of her novels so that it informs the reader without getting bogged down in detail. While I would prefer less info on Tempe's love life drama, compared to her contemporaries, Reichs shows reasonable restraint in this area.

I found Devil Bones unremarkable but enjoyable enough to read; that is, until the lame ending. The conclusion is poorly conceived, requiring Tempe to make some ridiculous leaps in deductive reasoning. The killer's actions are preposterous and the novel falls flat as a result. I've raised this issue before, but I have to say it again: I'm getting very tired of the `killer tries to kill our hero because he/she is getting too close to solving the crime' plotline. This is something that rarely happens in real life and is becoming far too common in crime fiction and TV crime shows. Enough already. It's been done to death.

The Bottom Line: The plot is thin and the pieces don't come together in the end. The novel's resolution is an illogical mess. Even so, the novel was reasonably entertaining, most of the time. I found some of the info on Wicca and Sanitaria pretty interesting and the writing and characters are above average. The end result: I just barely give this novel 3 stars.

Stephen Covey is a true coach for a leader. This will empower you to be at your best as a leader and to inspire others. Perfect to revisit from time to time if you ever feel like you are just spinning your wheels or need to get back to your roots.

Though geared to an industrial environment, this book teaches how to think when in need to improve processes. Makes great introductory reading for business process management professionals.

Goldratt's examination of throughput and cultural belief issues in a manufacturing environment are highly informative for anyone involved with a product slated for manufacturing. He illustrates his concepts with adeptly conceived metaphors and parables which makes grasping them much easier. In fact I would even go so far as to recommend this book to those involved in service industries, where his concepts of throughput and bottlenecks may be applied with great utility.
Additionally, on the financial side Goldratt presents models for cost of inventory which I found illuminating, although I am more concerned with the throughput side of the operation.
An excellent easy read I recommend to almost anyone in business.

Per my graduate class in quality engineering:

"Read The Goal and provide an executive summary of the book. The summary should cover the main points of the process that Mr. Rogo and his team took to turn around the plant. In addition to the summary, answer the following questions."

Part I -- Executive Summary

The problem of production has challenged human beings since they first evolved. Even hunters and gatherers had to do elementary planning to evaluate local resources and ration their prizes to assure they met the basic needs of the tribe. Moreover, gathering these basic commodities from nature -- wild game, fruits, nuts, roots, stems, berries, and so forth -- constituted only the first step of the tribal production process. A primitive division of labor within the tribe created the equivalent of an assembly line on the micro scale with hunters, gatherers, preparers, tribal elders, caretakers, medicinal specialists, etc.

Over the millennia, this division of labor continued to specialize and to multiply the range of possible productive occupations. This trend exploded with the advent of new individual freedoms after the American Revolution. The resulting Industrial Revolution greatly swelled the diversity, complexity, and specialization of knowledge needed in the rapidly modernizing society. It resulted in the modern fields of engineering and especially industrial engineering, the study of systems that keep industries humming.

Because of their long history of storytelling, humans still show a strong preference for learning through dramatic interpretation. Young people learn moral lessons like the just rewards of industry through stories such as "The Little Red Hen." Such fictional tales of virtue tend not to make their way so much to older generations. A few exceptions exist in novels such as Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, a story which illustrates the role of the mind in man's life. A more recent exception comes in The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt, a story which illustrates his "Theory of Constraints" dramatically.

Goldratt, a consultant by profession, considers himself a philosopher in his own right. His frustrations in the early 1980s in attempting to convey his new theory of production to his clients led him to write The Goal with the help of professional writer Jeff Cox. Goldratt seeks to show, in the form of a novel, how commonly held yet faulty assumptions about ideal production plant behavior, such as using all processing resources to capacity, neglect integrated thinking at a systems level and lead to net profits far short of potential. To borrow the words of Ayn Rand, Goldratt tells the reader, in effect: "Check your premises." By the end of the tale, protagonists and readers alike have profitably done just that.

Goldratt cleverly tells the story from a first person point of view of its main protagonist, Alex Rogo. The novel opens with Alex struggling to keep his manufacturing plant afloat. As the plant manager, Alex has done his best to apply his degree as an industrial engineer to solve mounting production problems at his plant. But he has had to face the hard truth that his best simply will not do. The plant has fallen into a perpetual "fire fighter" mode in which jobs get "expedited" based on whichever higher manager screams the most loudly on that particular day. Preposterously long work shifts resulting from this modus operandi have placed stresses on his marriage to his wife, Julie, as well as his relationship with their two young children.

Alex encounters Jonah, an old friend and science teacher who challenges Alex on a number of his basic assumptions with a Socratic method of inquiry. "Then, tell me, what is the goal of your manufacturing organization?" he asks Alex after a brief series of opening questions. Although seemingly innocuous, the answer to the question of "the goal" actually opens a floodgate of other questions. These in turn cascade into answers that help Alex and his team of managers to transform the plant from the biggest loser in the company to the most profitable one.

For any plant, of course, "the goal" proves actually quite simple -- to make money. But Alex takes pages and pages of thought and dialogue in the early part of the novel to answer this question, first refuting other common answers such as "to produce products as efficiently as we can" and other misleading slogans before arriving at the final answer to his own satisfaction. His ensuing exchanges with Jonah over the remainder of the novel, combined with many other plot elements, help Alex to work backwards from this goal to the intermediate tasks the plant performs to achieve it. This leads to open challenges and confrontations with management up and down the chain of command in the company as Alex and his new converts strive to drive dogma from the corporate culture and replace it with a well-reasoned production philosophy -- the "Theory of Constraints."

The "Theory of Constraints" itself seems obvious by the end of the novel. It simply shows, for example, that the throughput of a plant will remain constrained by the narrowest "bottleneck" in the production line, with that line including the market demand itself. Hence, attempts to use other resources up and down the line from that bottleneck to full capacity result in backlogs before the bottleneck and idleness after it. Other problems, such as excess inventory and untimely retooling, also result from the "full capacity" fallacy. Moreover, as a plant reorganizes its resources to make the plant more effective, thus increasing its overall capacity, it can experience the phenomenon of moving bottlenecks. Alex Rogo and his team of experts deal with just this occurrence as their plant improves and they later document this as a key component of their process improvement strategy. (See Part II Question 1 for the step by step strategy.)

Goldratt keeps the story interesting with side plots to illustrate his theory, such as a Boy Scout hike that stretches or shrinks depending upon the sequence and ability of the hiking troops. He also shows that "constraints" apply beyond manufacturing plants to human relations as Alex struggles to hold his family together under the "constraints" of 16 hour work shifts. By the end of the novel, Goldratt resolves the conflicts among the characters satisfactorily and shows the happy reality of practicing his "Theory of Constraints."

Readers who liked Atlas Shrugged will enjoy The Goal. While much narrower in scope, it nevertheless remains a novel that challenges many widely held assumptions. As did Ayn Rand, Eliyahu Goldratt demonstrates himself a profound thinker who dares all of us to think more profoundly.

Part II -- Questions and Answers

1. Review the step-by-step approach implementing the Theory of Constraints (TOC) approach. In your opinion, which is the hardest step and why?

Per Chapter 37:

1. IDENTIFY the system's constraint(s).
2. Decide how to EXPLOIT the system's constraint(s).
3. SUBORDINATE everything else to the above decision.
4. ELEVATE the system's constraint(s).
5. WARNING!!!! If in the previous steps a constraint has been broken, go back to step 1, but do not allow INERTIA to cause a system's constraint.

In my experience, the overcoming of inertia mentioned in Step 5 represents the greatest challenge to implementing TOC. Comfort embodies the core of inertia. With management content with how a process currently operates, overcoming that inertia can prove almost impossible.

2. The first edition of this book hit print in 1984. Are the lessons still relevant? Explain.

The lessons of this book remain as relevant today as they did in 1984. Although the industrial culture has learned much since then, the principles remain timeless and warrant consistent and unyielding repetition. Only repetition of a principle assures its continued practice.

3. What is your biggest takeaway from this book and why?

First, my personal takeaway: Julie Rogo behaves like a psychotic drama queen from hell, and her parents, lying sacks of garbage. I fantasize a novel called Alex Shrugged in which immature Julie leaves her hard-working, productive husband under cover of her conniving, coddling parents only to return to the house to find the locks changed, the house sold, and her husband, children, and assets vanished without a trace. She would have gotten her just deserts.

Now, my professional takeaway: The largest lesson I took from this book involves the importance of setting forth principles dramatically. The compelling and engaging story complete with plot, theme, character, and style help to illustrate otherwise dry principles. One can say much the same for Ayn Rand's great novel Atlas Shrugged which illustrated the role of the mind in man's life.

4. The author claims that the TOC is hard for management to accept because the result runs contrary to common practice (i.e., 100% utilization may not be good). Which of these results, or measurements, or practices is the hardest to accept for management (in your opinion)? Explain.

I agree with the author that a result such as using a resource at less than full capacity remains the hardest pill for management to swallow. Management mythology suggests the old nineteenth century whip cracking slave driver who gets maximum effort from his minions and punishes those who "slack." Reality shows that slack remains a vital and indispensable part of any good management system.

5. There is an old saying that "if you measure it, they will do it." How does this phrase relate to the TOC approach?

Every measurement implies an acceptable range of performance. When the plant measured efficiencies of individual components in the system rather than the overall performance of the system, the metrics misled management to focus on "improving" those efficiencies at the expense of overall plant performance. Once the focus changed to the right metrics, plant performance improved dramatically.

6. As the demand on the system increased, problems arose in the plant -- first diagnosed as moving bottlenecks. As the demand on any system reaches capacity, what are the keys to implementing TOC?

Per the answer to Question 1, management must follow the process of constraint identification regularly.

7. Would you have accepted the French order for $701 per part (Model 12)? Is the answer the book takes always the correct answer? Explain.

Per Chapter 38:

"We calculate the load that this large deal will place on the bottlenecks -- no problem. We check the impact on each of the seven problematic work centers -- two might reach the dangerous zone, but we can manage. Then we calculate the financial impact -- impressive. Very impressive. At last we're ready."

Yes, I would have accepted the order. Yes, the book offers the right answer under the conditions given. The Goal of the plant is to make money. This decision served that goal.

8. Are there any flaws in this philosophy? State your perceived flaws, if any, and defend your answer.

The philosophy assumes that management can identify and control all constraints. This does not always hold true, especially in an age of intrusive government regulations with origins in political ambitions. The novel could have at least mentioned this externality as a "constraint" to the effectiveness of the Theory of Constraints.

Great book! I couldn't put it down. Very interesting how the author used a novel to present a breakthrough business theory.

I have just started to read this book, and from the very beginning it feels like you are inside the normal reality of manufacturing.
It is easy to write books about theories, but giving a real feeling of daily manufacturing issues is something new.
I expect a lot form reading the whole, since page by page you discover more as the guy who's involved in story.

This was a gift for my cousin. He and I both enjoyed the Poirot Mysterys on television. He has really enjoyed the CD's and said he "Might" let me borrow them. I will not hold my breath.
Dianne

Recently I had eye surgery and was not able to see at all for a month. During that time I enjoyed these Poirot mysteries. He is already a favorite of mine. It was a lifesaver for me to have these audio stories available.Perhaps you might enjoy listening on your way to work, or know a person with vision loss who might love to hear of these Poirot escapades.

This is a great audiobook that contains several mindboggling mysteries! David Suchet is the best man for this job so to speak since he portraited Hercule Poirot in the tv-sent shows.
His interpretation of Hercule Poirot, the voice and everything makes one feel like ones there just beside them!
I highly recommend this one!

What can I say , It's Agatha Christie ! She is the best in my book when you talk Mysteries !Add Poirot in the picture and all I can say is WOW ! The stories are excellent as usual . Brilliant writer .

We really enjoyed listening to the audiobooks and noticing the differences between the DVD's and the actions and verbage in the books.

I am so glad I purchased this CD! The more I listen to it, the more I love it. Everything Louise Hay talks about in "101 Power Thoughts" makes pefect sense.
I listen to it pretty much every day while driving and noticed that I always have a wonderful day if I listen to it. It does give me positive energy that lasts throughout the day no matter what.

I couldn't imagine what to expect from this CD. I popped it in the player and out came a soft friendly voice telling me what I deserve out of life. It was great to hear that I deserve goodness in life and deserve to be loved because Im me. I sure hadn't told myself that before. These and a ton of other affirmations seemed more valid to me since they were coming from an unbiased third party. This started to get my brain going on the right track. Hopefully soon I can regularly implement (think them, say them and believe them) these power thoughts during the day especially if negative mind chatter pops up. I do highly recommend this CD. Each time after listening to it I feel so uplifted, positive, peace of mind, and relaxed. Ive started putting it in while doing household chores and while in the car. Like another review states its very soothing and relaxing to listen to....that surprised me. Thanks Louise!

Only one improvement I feel is needed. The CD only has 2 tracks divided in half. So its kind of hard to use the repeat on your player if you want to hear the same affirmation over and over again.

But, overall this is a great CD. Its a nice change of pace from talk radio. Louise Hay's voice is soothing, and loving and when listening to it you just feel at peace.
I recommend this for anyone who wants to replace the constant mind chatter with something inspiring and something to help change your thoughts.

My wife and I listen to this CD every morning to start our day. I've found no matter how twisted I might be in my state of mind, starting my day by listening to wholesome suggestions for thinking positive helps the day flow for me much easier and the bumps I encounter don't have as much impact. It has helped my relationships flourish and grow.

I really would like to recommend this CD. I almost always listen to it while driving my car, and the positive statements/affirmations are so wonderful to hear. Inspiration to my life!

The books was well written, but I'm not really sure how much I've learned from it.

This is an entertaining look at economics and gave valid views on how our systems works.

First of all I totally agree that stupid, promiscuous, nasty girls (henceforth referred to as SPNG) are liable to have criminal sons and more SPNG daughters (all things being genetic). So that making abortion available to such women would decrease crime in the long term (by preventing the birth of criminal boys). However, other studies show that Clever, Virtuous and Kind girls (henceforth referred to as CVKG are (and my own observations of my peers reinforces) are more likely to use contraceptives (although they have sex at a later age and with more thought) and upon the failure of contraceptives are most likely to have abortions. Whilst SPNGs are more likely to have the child, go on government welfare, and have a huge number of children to various Criminal men. So pro choice=fewer ambitious/CVKG type children being born. In conjunction with government welfare this means that many SPNG type mothers having criminal sons.

To really reduce crime would not be pro choice-after all every human instinct is towards reproduction and if your life is empty because you are a stupid SPNG you will have more children than a highly ambitious CVKG.

Proposal:

Offer plasma televisions, DVD players etc with greater incentives per repeat abortion amongst SPNG type women. After enough abortions the cervix becomes incontinent and they will no longer be able to carry a baby to term thus decreasing the SPNG's ability to reproduce in the future.

And when a CVKG seeks an abortions give them educational type benefits (or incentives that are of no value to a SPNG) to give the child up for adoption. Obviously we don't want the CVKG to keep the baby as this would harm her education and career, so adoption is the best possible solution. This increases the number CVKG type children being born and thus increases the number of intelligent people. Whilst decreasing crime by discouraging reproduction amongst SPNG.

Sadly in the western world the characteristics that make someone a SPNG are the characteristic that make someone poor-who wants to work with someone or employ someone who is stupid, Promiscuous and Nasty?

This book has gotten heated reviews from highly focused economic centric minds. Taken for what it is... a very entertaining series of articles with shocking facts and conclusions, the book makes you think about the motivators of human behavior.

Themes: Cheating, Crime, Poverty, Incentives, Testing and finally Causality.

The Chapter Titles grab you. The Chapters can be read in smaller increments.

Very entertaining and enjoyable.

I am pregnant and loved the section on choosing a child names.
I liked the Head Start and Public School perspectives...

Very neat... but approach it as a "fluffy" read, not a book to be cited in your PhD or Master thesis.

Author Steven Levitt is a recently graduated chef from the Culinary Institute of Elitist Capitalism, AKA The University of Chicago. Freakonomics is a kind of nouvelle cuisine version of economic modeling and game-theory as practiced by the disciples of Milty Friedman, but rather little of the book is spent on economic recipes per se, once the basic assertion has been made that "incentives' are the yeast that cause all human behavior to rise. Rather, Levitt puts everything from soup kitchens to swimming pools through the blender of statistics -- the very sort of statistical analysis used by the authors of The Bell Curve and discredited by Stephen Jay Gould in the book The Mismeasurement of Man, the very sort of statistics that can be used to prove that the older you get in Miami, the more likely you are to be Jewish.

Levitt's basic dough: Start with John Stuart Mill and every other 19th C liberal social theorist. Knead thoroughly into a sticky paste. Add a handful of candied fruit in the form of the more radical 19th C postulators - Fourier, Henry George, Bellamy, and Karl Marx as understood before the Russian Revolution. Soften the dough with as much Thorstein Veblen as you can remember. Spice it with generous amounts of scorn for "them" - anthropologists, psychologists, and others who think that human behavior is shaped by more impulses than acquisition and that specific cultural 'memes' play a role. Half-bake the dough in a journalistic oven with the temperature set on SELL. Frost the loaf with an icing of Ayn Rand super-individualism. But don't expect the finished cake to be much different from cakes you've eaten before. There's nothing new in Freakonomics except the smirky style.

Honestly, many readers might find this book stimulating, or over-stimulating, depending on their prior convictions. Go on! Read it! But read it with the same skepticism you'd apply to the gospel of any other religion than your own - Shinto, Islam, Swedenborgian, Leninist, Maoist. This is a book where the reader will be easily tricked into mistaking polemics for proof.