I was so taken with The Confidence Game, Maria Konnikova’s book on not just why, but how we fall for deceptions, that I immediately added her earlier book – Mastermind – to my Amazon cart, not really caring what it was about. I wasn’t disappointed, exactly, but I doubt many books could live up to the expectations I had for this one based on my effusive review of her follow-up. Mastermind has a similar enough conceit to The Confidence Game, in that it does not […]
I Fell For It
“All of us believe, intrinsically and instinctively. We just differ on where we draw the line between ‘legitimate’ and ‘illegitimate.’ One man’s confidence artist is another man’s spiritual leader.” To say I loved this book is an understatement, I may have brought it into being by sheer force of will, save for the fact that Anna Konnikova kept surprising me. It’s a good sign when a book arrives and you notice every cover blurb comes from a source you love; not only does Neil Gaiman […]