Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time - The Confidence Game

It intends to break up the confidence game into phrases much in the way the movie, The Sting did, but really it just becomes repetitive. There are good examples of the confidence men and women and their victims. The book makes clear that, yes, smart people, do fall for the con. Konnika writes about techniques the con men use to get their victims to believe their stories even though many sound ridiculous. It's worth reading, but I think the phases of the con aren't as distinct as she lets on, which leads to variations of the same story.

It's such an interesting topic but the writing style makes it a bore. The stories of the actual con artists are interesting but her analyses are so simplistic and repetitive. She makes the same point over and and over again, maybe to fill pages? Because, take the stories away, and I feel like this could be done in 20 pages. It's not a well organized book. The writing is all over the place. Even the chapters don't really make when you read them.

I chose the rating of three for several reasons:
1. The reading is difficult, however, is so intriguing, that while I was not into the book; I had to read it! Kudos to the author
2. When I choose to read a book just for the pleasure of reading, I expect a lighter mood.This book was intense!
3. While I appreciate the author's work and research, the book did not meet my expectations.
I would not recommend this book to any of my friends, unless they need to write a paper on the confidence game.

Well referenced and surprisingly great prose for what essentially is an academic work.The ideas apply to any field that relies on arts of persuasion. Dr. Konnikova offers important information for those working to protect potential victims of con artists as well as solace to their victims. As one who has spent a career in in marketing, business development and sales, I am torn between recommending this book for anyone in sales, marketing or business development and petitioning the Congress of the United States to introduce an amendment banning it for all time.

Rather than simply describing common cons and tactics, Ms Konnikova takes us into our own, surprisingly gullible, receptive minds, to better understand the true nature of an effective con and our vulnerabilities. While it's tempting to think that this book might be better prepare the reader to cope with con artists, the underlying warning is to avoid being lured in. Once you've entered the con, you and I may be equally incapable of escape.

The historical examples were interesting and supported the main premise. Because of the way the examples were intertwined, I found it difficult to understand the thread of the logic. I'm guessing that the author wanted to demonstrate how a con works by leading the reader on, but I found it irritating.However, I am grateful to the author for having the courage to write about how difficult it is for any human being to avoid getting conned.

By focusing on the "conned" instead of the con artists you have to stop and think about your own past reactions to a bulls***ers in yor life & why we fall for it. His comparison of what makes magicians successful much like a con artist is perfect. I have a relative who is a magician and definitely a con-artist in his day to day life

Everyday, news stories and tv shows illustrate the wide variety of con men and women, and it seems there are new cons every day, becoming more sophisticated and multi-layered. The author takes a look at the wide variety, what a con is, how they are put together, and why we are so willing to accept that nothing is wrong with that latest get rich quick scheme. No matter how much we hear the words "If it's too good to be true,.....", we continue to jump onboard. The author delivers an engaging and easy to comprehend look at what they'll tell us, how they gain our confidence, and how to know what to guard against. Well done and interesting.

Reads like a psychological thriller. A fascinating foray into, not just the con, but.....perhaps surprisingly...ourselves. Lots of detailed and often excruciating examples with correlated studies which relate to how people think. "they" are often "us" more than we know. Plan to buy Mastermind as soon as practical. Maria is sharp, eloquent and accessible.

Overall, it was worth the read. While I got bored with some of the stories I did appreciate the author's commentary. The stories of Demara, Norfleet, and Roasales were interesting. I do wish she would have expanded on the Pattens and others like them. I also wanted to know more about Sullivan and Stalvey's journey through cults and more commentary/lessons on how to avoid liars/cults.

Author Maria Konnikova’s book the Confidence Game is a fascinating read. She explores the history and psychology behind why various types of “con” jobs succeed. She focuses on the built in biases in most people, including confirmation bias (believing what you want to see), selection bias (only choosing things you want to see) and many others and how conmen, hucksters, and a long list of other names used succeed. This book is a follow up to her first work, a book about how to think like Sherlock Holmes and will very much appeal to Malcolm Gladwell enthusiasts.

Maria Konnokova's excellent analysis of the psychology of con artists is a must read for anyone interested in psychology, cons, or just the needs of the human mind. And for those of us who are fans, this is most definitely not bullsh!t!

I really like this book, or more specifically the audiobook. The only knock on it, and it might just be that I didn't have a physical copy, is that I could never fully grasp an outline of the process. The author would refer to certain steps, but the order of the steps and how many steps there were was hard to understand.

If you're into messaging, selling (or simply not being conned) this is absolutely worth reading.

A fascinating examination on the subject of cons. She looks over some great case studies and cross examines them. It's an interesting book if you're curious about cons and how they continue to subject people people to their game.

I absolutely love Maria Konnikova's work. She clearly expresses everything she's talking about, uses dozens of real life examples of the cons. This is a wonderful read. Also look into buying her other book "Mastermind."

Excellent summary of previous scams, the psychology of both the scammers and the scammed, however, I find the reading a bit dry at times. I would have liked to see more concerning present day scams.

Worth realizing that we are susceptible to so many scams. However, the author did not always make her point about the techniques. Some of her examples caused confusion. Also, I would describe scammers as sociopaths and not psychopaths.

Enjoyable and educational read. I enjoyed both the individual stories and the explanations of relevant psychological experiments. Good comparisons of similarities between different categories of confidence games and comparisons to all other social interactions.

In this book, accounts of scamming cases are interleaved with discussions of studies that seek to better understand several techniques and tactics that con artists tend to employ against their victims, including the kinds of victim vulnerabilities they seem to be tailor-made for. The interleaving sometimes involves the breaking up of a scamming case account into spread out fragments that readers may sometimes find difficult to rethread or piece back together in order to get to the narrative whole, but the case studies and psychological theories discussed are interesting.

The best cons are those happening unnoticed in front of our eyes. Today, those are primarily of the corporate variety. Flocks of gullible folks still line up for newest Apple technological twist, provide personal information that Facebook sells, etc. And don't get me started about an entire generation of college kids going deeply into debt in order to participate in an American Dream that no longer exists. I will still read the book, but wish the author had touched on this.

Good book,, but chapters too long and information too repetitive. It could have been shorter and more to-the-point in information covered. I really lost my interest in the first chapter Each chapter runs 30-40 pages. Even bold font would have made it more enjoyable reading, hghlighting ideas and breaking up too many lines of text/reading.. This may be her writing style based on some other reviews of other books of hers.

I agree with other commentators that said that 303 page opus could be expressed in a 20 page or less op ed piece. I stopped reading near the end of the first chapter. Maybe because I'm a lawyer who tries get to the heart of an issue quickly the book seemed extremely repetitive.