Freakonomics

Although it didn't quite live up to its billing, I found Freakonomics well worth reading. What pleased me was the frank and disarming nature of the authors. No name-dropping, no showing off, no calling attention to their own abilities (although they are noteworthy), just an effort to connect with the reader, even to comfort anyone who might be discomfited by some of their correlations. A remarkably sensitive book.

The topics I found worthwhile were the story about the Chicago South Side drug gang and the findings about the correlation between the availability of abortions and crime. Those were really significant.