“Freakonomics”

My daugther Rita had me read “Freakonomics”, a sometimes fun, sometimes sobering collection of ecclectic facts drawn from off-beat questions (as in “why do drug dealers live with their mothers”?).  The dots it connects are, at times, not just unconventional, they are eye opening: this is the book that tied the  drop in the crime wave to the legalization of abortion.   I was particularly entertained by its critique of such “experts” (hucksters?) as real estate agents (what do they have in common with the Ku Klux Klan?), criminologists, political scientists and other pundits.  Although the book’s advice on parenting has come a bit late for my wife and I the authors would, no doubt, agree with me that that doesn’t matter–though for different reasons.

“The King of Torts” by John Grisham

OK novel, easy read; just the right thing for a long-haul flight.  Plot gets a bit repetitive, enabling you snooze mid-Atlantic.   Message: Fame comes at a price, money is a root of all kinds of evil and Jesus Christ can bring positive change to the worst human wreckage.