As a boy, Stephen J. Dubner's hero was Franco Harris, the famed and mysterious running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers. When Dubner's father died, he became obsessed--he dreamed of his hero every night; he signed his school papers "Franco Dubner." Though they never met, it was Franco Harris who shepherded Dubner through a fatherless boyhood. Years later, Dubner journeys to meet his hero, certain that Harris will embrace him. And he is . . . well, wrong.

Told with the grit of a journalist and the grace of a memoirist, "Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper" is a breathtaking, heartbreaking, and often humorous story of astonishing developments. It is also a sparkling meditation on the nature of hero worship--which, like religion and love, tells us as much about ourselves as about the object of our desire.

Think Like a Freak by Steven D. Levitt has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

How can your name affect how well you do in life? What do estate agents and the Ku Klux Klan have in common? Why do drug dealers live with their mothers? The answer: Freakonomics. It's at the heart of everything we do and the things that affect us daily: from sex to crime, parenting to politics, fat to cheating, fear to traffic jams. And we can use it to get to the heart of what's really happening under the surface of everyday life. This cult bestseller will show you how, by unravelling your life's secret codes, you can discover a totally new way of seeing the world.

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? How did the legalization of abortion affect the rate of violent crime?

These may not sound like typical questions for an econo-mist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much-heralded scholar who studies the riddles of everyday life--from cheating and crime to sports and child-rearing--and whose conclusions turn conventional wisdom on its head.

Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author and journalist. They usually begin with a mountain of data and a simple question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: freakonomics.

Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives--how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they explore the hidden side of . . . well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. The secrets of the Klu Klux Klan.

What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a great deal of complexity and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and--if the right questions are asked--is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking.

Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise: If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. It is true that readers of this book will be armed with enough riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties. But Freakonomics can provide more than that. It will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.

Assume nothing, question everything. This is the message at the heart of Freakonomics, Levitt and Dubner's rule-breaking, iconoclastic book about crack dealers, cheating teachers and bizarre baby names that turned everyone's view of the world upside-down and became an international multi-million-copy-selling phenomenon. 'Prepare to be dazzled' Malcolm Gladwell 'A sensation ... you'll be stimulated, provoked and entertained. Of how many books can that be said?' Sunday Telegraph 'Has you chuckling one minute and gasping in amazement the next' Wall Street Journal 'Dazzling ... a delight' Economist 'Made me laugh out loud' Scotland on Sunday

The international bestselling Freakquel to Levitt and Dubner's Freakonomics, this book sees them looking deeper, questioning harder and uncovering even more hidden truths about our world, from global cooling to patriotic prostitutes, drunk walking to why suicide bombers should buy life insurance. 'Mind-blowing' Wall Street Journal 'Page-turning, politically incorrect and ever-so-slightly intoxicating, like a large swig of tequila' The Times 'Like Freakonomics but better ... you are guaranteed a good time' Financial Times 'Great fun ... Levitt is a master at drawing counter-intuitive conclusions' Sunday Times 'Studded with intriguing examples' Daily Telegraph

The New York Times best-selling Freakonomics was a worldwide sensation, selling over four million copies in thirty-five languages and changing the way we look at the world. Now, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return with SuperFreakonomics, and fans and newcomers alike will find that the freakquel is even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first.

Four years in the making, SuperFreakonomics asks not only the tough questions, but the unexpected ones: What's more dangerous, driving drunk or walking drunk? Why is chemotherapy prescribed so often if it's so ineffective? Can a sex change boost your salary?

SuperFreakonomics challenges the way we think all over again, exploring the hidden side of everything with such questions as:

• How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa?
• Why are doctors so bad at washing their hands?
• How much good do car seats do?
• What's the best way to catch a terrorist?
• Did TV cause a rise in crime?
• What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common?
• Are people hard-wired for altruism or selfishness?
• Can eating kangaroo save the planet?
• Which adds more value: a pimp or a Realtor?

Levitt and Dubner mix smart thinking and great storytelling like no one else, whether investigating a solution to global warming or explaining why the price of oral sex has fallen so drastically. By examining how people respond to incentives, they show the world for what it really is – good, bad, ugly, and, in the final analysis, super freaky.

Freakonomics has been imitated many times over – but only now, with SuperFreakonomics, has it met its match.

In this Freak 'how-to' guide, the mavericks behind the Freakonomics phenomenon teach you their secrets: how to challenge conventional wisdom, unravel life's secret codes and think differently - that is, think like a Freak. Levitt and Dubner see the world like no-one else. Now you can too. 'My gut reaction to this life-changing book is "Where have you been all my life?" You will turn pages with delight' Jeffery Taylor, Sunday Express 'Captivating, intellectually robust, funny, surprising and wise. What else can one ask?' Daniel Finkelstein, The Times 'Illuminating, good fun, endearing, genial ... I was delighted' Philip Roscoe, The Times Higher Education 'It's about how to look at the world, and see the ugly truth ... excellent stuff' William Leith, Spectator 'A phenomenon ... their approach has won them a cult following' Observer

"Freakonomics" was a worldwide sensation, selling more than four million copies.

Now Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return with "SuperFreakonomics," and fans and newcomers alike will find that this freakquel is even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first.

"SuperFreakonomics" challenges the way we think all over again, with such questions as: How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa? What's the best way to catch a terrorist? What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common? Are people hardwired for altruism or selfishness? Can eating kangaroo save the planet?

Levitt and Dubner mix smart thinking and great storytelling like no one else, whether investigating a solution to global warming or explaining why the price of oral sex has fallen so drastically.

This is the ultimate guide to the world of the Freak. Renegade thinkers and bestselling sensations Levitt and Dubner have carefully curated the very best of their blogs, conversations, wisecracks and advice from the last decade to reveal the outlandish truth about everything from lying to bankrobbing, fast food to sex taxes. 'We are all Freakonomists now' Washington Post 'A phenomenon ... their approach has won them a cult following' Observer 'Lie back and let Levitt and Dubner's bouncy prose style carry you along from one peculiarity to the next' Sunday Telegraph 'You are guaranteed a good time' Financial Times

Choosing My Religion is a luminous memoir, crafted with the eye of a journalist and the art of a novelist by New York Times Magazine writer and editor Stephen J. Dubner. By turns comic and heartbreaking, it tells the story of a family torn apart by religion, sustained by faith, and reunited by truth.