The Confidence Game cover art

The Confidence Game

The Psychology of the Con and Why We Fall for It Every Time

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The Confidence Game

By: Maria Konnikova
Narrated by: Maria Konnikova
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About this listen

Con men are artists of persuasion and exploiters of trust. They hold a deep, enigmatic fascination for us. But how do they do it? Whether it's a suspicious-looking email or a multimillion-dollar global swindle, Maria Konnikova investigates the psychological principles that underlie each stage of the confidence game and the profile of both the con artist and his mark.

We learn how grifters can be so persuasive, even to those of us who consider ourselves immune, and how we can train ourselves to discern the signs of a story that isn't quite what it seems.

Insightful and entertaining, telling fascinating stories about some of the most seductive imposters in history, The Confidence Game takes us into the world of the con to examine not only why we believe in confidence artists but how our sense of truth can be manipulated by those around us.

©2016 Maria Konnikova (P)2015 Canongate Books Ltd Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Social Psychology & Interactions Game
All stars
Most relevant
Great narrator (author) and use of psychology and behavioural economics to explain the how and why of con artist and victims.

Great book

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Very well written book, with great examples of cons and the psychology behind it. Maria Konnikova has definitely put a lot of effort into the research of this book. I enjoyed reading it immensely.

However...

The author narrator mispronounces the word 'thousand". It sounds really petty to call it out, and I get that everybody has their own idioms but this is a book about cons, and as a result the word thousand comes up frequently. When the rest of the narration is so well done it's jarring to hear this one word out of place. Every time I hear it I imagine Ms Konnikova in the audio booth narrating the book saying "and as a result he made off with thouthands upon thouthands of" and the producer saying "Wait, what did you say? Ah, nevermind. Just keep going.".

I don't mean to make fun of anybody's speech impediment or anything like that but the whole job description for narration is reading fluently and pronouncing words properly. It's such a weird thing to get all hung up on. Hopefully it's just me and nobody else thinks it's a big deal because all other aspects of the book are great.

Thouthand

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This is an incredible exploration of an uncomfortable topic that was full of lightbulb moments for me of how extremely naive I am and therefore it was well worth the effort of reading it as it has great depth on this anything but binary subject. Excellent.

Riveting.

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This is actually a psychology or even a bit of philosophy book that is very accessible, understandable, give me a surprising insight about myself and humanity overall

Fantastic psychological book

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