and by Stephen J. Dubner

This book is the follow-up to the insanely popular Freakonomics. If you read my review for that book, then you’ll have a pretty good idea what to expect from this one. The slate of topics is brand new, and the authors wisely state up front that there is no unifying theme throughout. Expect to be bounced from topic to topic and given just enough information to get interested and start a conversation. But don’t expect solid end-all-be-all conclusions and analysis. The authors simply state their question, gather the data, make note of the unusual and interesting outcomes, and leave you to conduct further research if you wish. I found the book at least as much fun as the first one. If you liked that, then you’ll probably like this. If you didn’t, then you won’t.

Rated: Moderate. In this book the authors take on subjects that seem to be a little more up-to-date for popular discussion. The last book talked about sumo wrestlers and the Ku Klux Klan. Superfreakonomics goes after subjects such as global warming, suicide bombers, and prostitution. In fact, prostitution is discussed at length and in great detail. While this book is much lighter on foul language than its predecessor, it does talk very openly and explicitly about sex and the business of sex. A lot of sex terminology and descriptive language is used. You’ve got a few curse words in there, too. Like the last book, much of the questionable content comes from interviews and actual data gathered, but it is presented without much filtering. It’s hard to skip the first chapter completely, which contains the prostitution analysis, but be aware and read carefully if you wish to avoid any icky parts.