Brian

I thought the author did a great job taking a huge amount of information - about the history of economics all the way from Adam Smith to the recent financial crisis - and put it into one overarching context. It is quite clear from his word choices ("Utopian Economics" vs. "Reality-based economics") which side he is going to come down on, but this is a subject that warrants an opinion rather than dry analysis.

What I liked most about the book was that it answered some of the stray questions that I've had when reading other accounts of what happened during the financial crisis, while putting it all into context.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book - plenty of laugh out loud moments as usual with Christopher Moore. However, for me it does not rank up there with Lamb and A Dirty Job - in particular I thought parts of the second half of the book dragged out a bit.

I previously read Freakonomics so I knew part of the story about Sudhir Venkatesh. Gang Leader for a day was even more vivid and fascinating - frankly, no offense sociologists, but I was surprised the narration was so good. You really find yourself wondering how Sudhir had the nerve to put himself in the situations he did.

All in all great story.

I read and enjoyed The Fountainhead some years ago but I've never read Atlas Shrugged. I expected that even the abridged version of a 1,200 page book might be a little dry in parts, but that was not the case - I was captivated all the way through. Even if you don't agree with Ms. Rand's ideology you can't help but laugh at some of the scenarios presented.

The narration was also excellent - the voices of the various characters were consistent and underscored the surreal nature of some of the characters and situations.