Marginal Revolution Book Rankings

Tyler and Alex's favorites from Marginal Revolution

How it works: I scraped every post categorized under 'books'. Then extracted book titles and relevant review context from each post. I then submitted a couple million pairs of reviews to an LLM to compare and determine which book review had more positive sentiment. I used these comparisons to fit a Bradley-Terry model which produces these rankings. I racked up a gemini bill so stopped shy of exhaustive 16 million comparisons, so it's not perfect, but roughly accurate.

Genre: American Studies ×
Showing 46 books in American Studies
Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore’s Eastern District
1. Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore’s Eastern District
BT: 7.80 91 comparisons
american studies law enforcement memoir non-fiction +3
MR Post
I
2. Imperial
BT: 4.92 164 comparisons
agricultural economics american studies economics environmental studies +4
MR Post
T
3. The Age of the Crisis of Man: Thought and Fiction in America, 1933-1973
BT: 3.56 195 comparisons
american history american studies cultural studies history +4
MR Post
M
4. Masters of Craft: Old Jobs in the New Urban Economy
BT: 3.54 169 comparisons
american studies cultural studies economics gender studies +4
MR Post
P
5. Planet of Cities
BT: 2.26 253 comparisons
american studies demography economics geography +1
MR Post
T
6. The Road Ahead for America’s Colleges & Universities
BT: 2.19 258 comparisons
american studies economics economics of education education +2
MR Post
T
7. The Immigrant Superpower: How Brains, Brawn, and Bravery Make America Stronger
BT: 2.07 260 comparisons
american studies economics immigration politics +1
MR Post
T
8. The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind
BT: 1.81 546 comparisons
american studies economics family studies social policy +1
MR Post MR Post
T
9. The Twilight of the Non-Elites
BT: 1.59 304 comparisons
american studies current events politics social commentary +1
MR Post
T
10. Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class
BT: 1.40 278 comparisons
american studies biography memoir social commentary +1
MR Post
T
11. The Overlooked Americans: The Resilience of Our Rural Towns and What it Means for Our Country
BT: 0.57 396 comparisons
american studies politics rural studies sociology
MR Post
D
12. Dignity: Seeing Respect in Back Row America
BT: 0.50 364 comparisons
american studies poverty social issues sociology
MR Post
T
13. The City that Became Safe: New York’s Lessons for Urban Crime and its Control
BT: 0.19 335 comparisons
american studies criminology public policy sociology +1
MR Post
O
14. Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis
BT: 0.19 381 comparisons
american studies economics non-fiction public policy +2
MR Post
T
15. The Next American Economy: Nation, State, and Markets in an Uncertain World
BT: 0.06 363 comparisons
american economics american studies economics politics +2
MR Post
B
16. Big Business: Love Letter to an American Anti-Hero
BT: -0.09 4090 comparisons
american studies business economics political economy +2
MR Post MR Post +11 more
M
17. Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town
BT: -0.14 370 comparisons
american studies cultural studies economics non-fiction +2
MR Post
A
18. At the Same Time: Essays and Speeches
BT: -0.32 395 comparisons
american studies cultural criticism essays philosophy +3
MR Post
G
19. Good and Plenty: The Creative Successes of American Arts Funding
BT: -0.41 1458 comparisons
aesthetics american art american studies art +7
MR Post MR Post +3 more
C
20. Chic Ironic Bitterness
BT: -0.52 326 comparisons
american studies cultural criticism philosophy politics +1
MR Post
T
21. The Complacent Class
BT: -0.56 5710 comparisons
american studies economics political science social commentary +1
MR Post MR Post +16 more
A
22. American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us
BT: -0.80 371 comparisons
american studies religion social science sociology
MR Post
T
23. The Free-Market Family: How the Market Crushed the American Dream (and How It Can Be Restored)
BT: -0.80 364 comparisons
american studies economics politics public policy +2
MR Post
I
24. Inside U.S.A.
BT: -0.99 534 comparisons
american history american studies journalism politics +2
MR Post MR Post
L
25. Land of the Fee: Hidden Costs and the Decline of the American Middle Class
BT: -1.30 384 comparisons
american studies economics public policy social issues
MR Post
B
26. Brides, Inc.: American Weddings and the Business of Tradition
BT: -1.74 388 comparisons
american history american studies business cultural studies +3
MR Post
T
27. The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream
BT: -1.79 733 comparisons
american studies economics political economy social science
MR Post MR Post
C
28. Class: A Guide Through the American Status System
BT: -1.89 337 comparisons
american studies cultural studies non-fiction social commentary +1
MR Post
B
29. Better Together: Restoring the American Community
BT: -2.05 327 comparisons
american studies political science social science sociology
MR Post
S
30. State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America
BT: -2.18 354 comparisons
american culture american society american studies geography +1
MR Post
T
31. The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture
BT: -2.44 338 comparisons
american studies cultural criticism non-fiction political commentary +1
MR Post
T
32. The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity
BT: -2.45 344 comparisons
american studies economics politics public policy +1
MR Post
T
33. The American Religion
BT: -2.49 334 comparisons
american religion american studies cultural studies history +2
MR Post
A
34. American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword
BT: -2.55 335 comparisons
american studies comparative politics history political science +2
MR Post
T
35. The Narcissism of Minor Differences: How American and Europe are Alike
BT: -2.55 649 comparisons
american studies comparative studies cultural studies european studies +3
MR Post MR Post
T
36. The Warhol Economy: How Fashion Art & Music Drive New York City
BT: -2.60 296 comparisons
american studies art cultural economics cultural studies +4
MR Post
F
37. From Immigrant to Public Intellectual: An American Story
BT: -2.65 313 comparisons
american studies biography memoir politics
MR Post
L
38. La Classe Compiaciuta
BT: -2.66 496 comparisons
american studies economics political science social science +1
MR Post
T
39. The Left Behind: Decline and Rage in Rural America
BT: -2.74 326 comparisons
american politics american studies politics rural studies +2
MR Post
G
40. Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect
BT: -3.06 362 comparisons
american studies social science sociology urban sociology +1
MR Post
T
41. The Liberal Tradition in America
BT: -3.09 604 comparisons
american history american studies history political philosophy +1
MR Post MR Post
O
42. One Billion Americans
BT: -3.74 324 comparisons
american studies demographics economics non-fiction +2
MR Post
T
43. The Meritocracy Trap: How America’s Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, and Devours the Elite
BT: -3.74 296 comparisons
american studies economics politics social inequality +1
MR Post
C
44. Conspiracies of Conspiracies: How Delusions Have Overrun America
BT: -3.95 275 comparisons
american history american studies cultural studies politics +1
MR Post
W
45. What’s the Matter with Kansas?
BT: -4.50 214 comparisons
american politics american studies politics social commentary +1
MR Post
A
46. American Mythos: Why Our Best Efforts to Be a Better Nation Fall Short
BT: -4.86 149 comparisons
american studies cultural studies politics sociology
MR Post