The
authors of this wide-ranging and unconventional book seem almost
proud to announce that it has no single unifying theme. It is, they
proclaim in their subtitle, about "everything."

Dare a humble book reviewer suggest that they are wrong? One motif
that runs consistently through their book is a disdain and
skepticism about "experts" in general --- whether pollsters, real
estate agents, law enforcement professionals, journalists,
whomever. Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner take gleeful
pleasure in showing how these so-called experts have gotten things
hugely and publicly wrong.

Levitt, a University of Chicago professor, is the researcher and
number-cruncher on the team; Dubner, a practiced wordsmith, did the
writing. Their book grew out of a 2003 piece by Dubner in the
Sunday New York Times Magazine about Levitt's way of drawing
startling unconventional conclusions from wildly diverse and
seemingly irrelevant data. Featured in that story was one Paul
Feldman, who gave up a secure middle-level government job to go
into the commercial bagel-delivery business. From Feldman's
experience, Levitt had teased out all sorts of provocative
conclusions about the economy, human cupidity, and the theory of
supply and demand. Paul Feldman lives. He has a whole chapter to
himself in this book.

The two Steves have playfully telegraphed their intent on their
book's dust jacket. It displays what appears to be an apple but
turns out upon inside inspection to be an orange. Get it?

Some of the topics they cover are both interesting and important.
There is a fascinating chapter on the inner financial workings of a
Chicago drug distribution gang and an enlightening look inside the
Ku Klux Klan. The topic, however, that is bound to arouse the most
controversy is the contention that the legalization of abortion in
Roe v. Wade was the single biggest reason for the sharp
national crime rate decrease in the early 1990s. The authors
examine other possible reasons, dismissing some as unfounded and
conceding only limited effectiveness to others. Nor do they mention
other possibilities; for example, the variations over both time and
region in how crimes are reported --- a factor that might well have
played a major role in the overall decline.

The chapter on what factors point kids toward success in school is
interesting and logically presented. The conclusion is that who
parents are in terms of education, social status and income level
is a far more accurate predictor than what parents do for their
kids. All those mothers who play Mozart and read Proust to their
toddlers appear to be wasting their time.

Other topics covered in this book, however, seem merely trivial
(Japanese sumo wrestling, television game shows, Internet dating),
and the conclusions they reach fairly obvious. Sumo wrestlers and
college professors will cheat on occasion to make themselves look
good and to advance their careers. Is that surprising? Real estate
agents exploit the ignorance of their clients to increase their own
financial gains. So what else is new?

A lengthy chapter explores the popularity of baby names over the
years by race and economic class --- only to conclude that name
choices have no discernible effect on how children turn out in
later life. Interesting, perhaps, but hardly important.

Levitt and Dubner clearly enjoy their romp through "the hidden side
of everything." They seldom miss a chance to point out where some
expert or think tank got things wrong. They clearly have done
considerable research and Dubner performed well his job of
translating raw data into readable prose. They will make some
people angry and charm others.

Perhaps they could someday be persuaded to investigate whether book
reviewers and blurb writers have any real effect on book
sales.