Freakonomics by Steven Levitt is very honest. It is also very opinionated; Levitt has very strong opinions about what he is saying. He tells you the complete truth about his subjects; there is no arguing the statistics and facts in it, although the opinionated parts are questionable. This book mainly compares topics that you originally wouldn’t think would be alike, but surprisingly, they are very much so. Such as sumo wrestlers and schoolteachers- who knew they had so many similarities? The story seems like it should be several short stories, not a book with chapters because each part is so significantly different. This novel definitely uses quite a lot of red herrings. Although some of his random points didn’t relate to the topics at that moment, this oddly made the points seem more realistic and make more sense.

The point of view of the book is third person. There is no certain person in the book to show point of view from, because it is just statistics. I believe that the audience that Levitt wrote this book for was probably mainly well-educated adults; if not just for the reason that it may not make sense to lesser-educated people. I found it hard to understand, and that may have just been that I didn’t know what a lot of the points were. I had to research on my own deeper into certain topics such as the KKK and sumo wrestler gambling rigs. My opinion of Levitt’s book is that it is very well organized and written. I think that certain people would dislike this book very much, though, because of its strong opinions. Personally, I liked the book, but only because I agreed with mainly all the points, although at some points I found it hard not to question or argue with what Levitt was stating. People that didn’t agree with Levitt may not like the book or even may have taken offense to it.

Levitt tells you the truth in Freakonomics. You may or may not agree with what he is saying, but you cannot argue that the stats are true. Whether it is lists of the most common names in America for black and white boys and girls, or how the Ku Klux Klan is exactly like real estate agents, Levitt proves his words in one of the most mind-blowing books I have ever read.