The Confidence Game

Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time

By: Maria Konnikova

Narrated by: Maria Konnikova

"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, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake and bestselling author of Devil in the White City

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

“[An] excellent study of Con Artists, stories & the human need to believe” –Neil Gaiman, via Twitter


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 book brings readers 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.

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.

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.