Title: wait for the paperback
Product review: if you read it at all. Very dissappointing. I do not doubt that Levitt is capable of asking meaningful questions and devising sophisticated analyses, but that does not come through in this book. The theories are largely unsupported by data (at least data that are cogently presented), flaws and shortcomings in the analyses are not adequately described and commented upon, and much of the text is dumbed-down, self-evident gibberish, or idle speculation - take for example the entire chapter devoted to children's names. I certainly hope that this book does not speak for the current art and science of sociological analysis and I wonder if Levitt was not "coaxed" into participating in this project by an adoring and fawning Dubner, who admittedly has a proclivity for "hero worship". Is he responsible for the sophomoric tone of the text and its lack of supporting data?
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