The Confidence Game

Why We Fall for It...Every Time

By: Maria Konnikova

Narrated by: Maria Konnikova

Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Think you can’t get conned? Think again. The New York Times best-selling author of Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes explains how to spot the con before they spot you.

A compelling investigation into the minds, motives, and methods of con artists - and the people who fall for their cons over and over again.

While cheats and swindlers may be a dime a dozen, true conmen - the Bernie Madoffs, the Jim Bakkers, the Lance Armstrongs - are elegant, outsized personalities, artists of persuasion, and exploiters of trust. How do they do it? Why are they successful? And what keeps us falling for it, over and over again? These are the questions that journalist and psychologist Maria Konnikova tackles in her mesmerizing new book.

From multimillion-dollar Ponzi schemes to small-time frauds, Konnikova pulls together a selection of fascinating stories to demonstrate what all cons share in common, drawing on scientific, dramatic, and psychological perspectives. Insightful and gripping, the audiobook brings listeners into the world of the con, examining the relationship between artist and victim. The Confidence Game asks not only why we believe con artists, but also examines the very act of believing and how our sense of truth can be manipulated by those around us.

©2016 Maria Konnikova (P)2016 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"It’s a startling and disconcerting read that should make you think twice every time a friend of a friend offers you the opportunity of a lifetime.” (Erik Larson, number one New York Times best-selling author of Dead Wake and best-selling author of Devil in the White City)

“With meticulous research and a facility for storytelling, Konnikova makes this intriguing topic absolutely riveting.” (Kirkus, starred review)

"Told with vigor and enthusiasm, this study of the psychology of the con artist is riveting and cleverly told.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

A Must Read/Listen When Navigating Life

This is an EXCELLENT book. A study of the Confidence Game is a study of oneself. After listening to this book, I learned more about my nature as a human and how others operate in a world that we want to "bring structure to."

I admit, the authors voice can be lack luster at times, however, the content is captivating and riveting which will allow you to move forward with joyful listening.

Maria Konnikova is well read and studied. This is exemplified by integrating other important works such as Influence by Robert Cialdini. Not specifically referenced in her book; many concepts from the 48 Laws of Power are exemplified, for Power/Influence are key tools used in any Con. These other concepts crystalize the phycology that Confidence Men/Women weave into the various phases of the Con such as the Put-up, the Play, the Rope, ect.

This book a fantastic read/listen. Be ready to self examine yourself if you are heavily involved in a skeptical relationship, religious system, political ideology or hype spewed by corporate leaders.

I can't wait to listen to it again.

Cons

I loved this book. and enjoyed the writer reading it. it was interesting to me.

Nothing really revolutionary here

What did you like best about The Confidence Game? What did you like least?

I enjoyed the investigation into the psychology of why we fall for con games and the ways in which everyone is susceptible. What I enjoy about a good con story is the "caper" aspects, though. I enjoy knowing the ins and outs of how someone actually games the system. This book was short on those kinds of stories and highlighted long cons that primarily relied on relationship building.

Were the concepts of this book easy to follow, or were they too technical?

The concepts here were not too technical. If anything, they were too simple. It basically boils down to the fact that we have high opinions of ourselves and therefore refuse to believe that we could get conned. That said, Konnikova does a nice job in outlining the major phases of the con (the put-up, the touch, etc.).

What didn’t you like about Maria Konnikova’s performance?

Whenever possible, I do like to hear the author read her own work, but in this case Ms. Konnikova's voice became enervating. Her voice is very breathy and she tends to over-pronounce "s" or "sh" sounds. Her voice also has a lot of vocal fry and tends to fall off at the end of sentences.

Any additional comments?

I look forward to listening to most of my Audible books, but this one really felt like a slog. I kept looking at how long I had left and wishing it was less. I was really excited to get into this book, but it just did not offer me much new insight.

Great Listen!

I notice many reviewers stating they didn’t like the author / narrator’s voice. Personally, I had no problem with either the sound of her voice or the cadence of it. My husband and I both listened to the entire book together & we both enjoyed her performance.

Just listen to the sample of the book prior to purchasing to make sure her voice isn’t bothersome to you.

All in all I thought this was a great book & very good performance.

Science and anecdotes about pursuasion

The book is largely anecdotes, nicely written and accurate, about the science of persuasion and behavioral economics. It is not likely meant to impart new information or really recast any of the information in a new light. The author seems to derive most information from already well-circulated academic research. There are occasional literary flourishes, and she is a good writer. The narration was not a strong point.

A Good Book

This could have been a great book. However the stories were broken up and research findings (which are excellent in themselves) interspersed - or there was another aside. It took excellent materiel and broke it up into a bit of a rambling. Excellent narrator. Excellent materiel presented in a sub-optimal way. Perhaps the printed version is better.

Required reading for all humans!

This is the kind of book everyone should read at some point in their lives. We all fall victim to some kind of con at some point in our lives and understanding our weaknesses can help avoid them or at least extricate ourselves.

Voice Quality Unlistenable

Whether or not this book is as insightful and entertaining as it is purported to be…. I will never know as a result of the harsh, brittle and over-compressed quality of the recording. I found the narration grating and irritating and ultimately unlistenable.

Not as good as her poker book

To me, this book seemed to wander, without any great organization or conclusions. Her poker book is much better.

Well Researched, Story Bit Scattered, Narrator Sad

Unfortunately Konnikova kills her own book by narrating it herself. Her style of speaking is sleepy, sad and almost distracted or vacant. As much as a I found the content fascinating I would get lost listening or even forget to listen. Her voice lacks variation in pitch and suggests she doesn't find the material interesting herself. Clearly she does find it interesting as do I but hiring a narrator who understands her voice but modulates it for audiences would be a more successful solution. Generally I enjoyed the writing, insight, links and research....especially the psychological insight. One quality in her writing i disliked was the jumping around from story to story...explaining a bit then transitioning. My suspicion is this was a tactic to allow it seem like a full "book" rather than a colleciton of essays. It works for sales I guess but does the reader little advantage especially for an audio book.