Library:Bibliography of Bullshit
The Bibliography of Bullshit is Bullshitopedia's founding reading list: 76 books that document, analyze or practice deception. Each book has its own Library page with a summary and links into the taxonomy.
Books are marked by role: Analysis (studies deception) or Primary source (written by a practitioner). Some are also flagged as a Specimen, meaning the work or its author has its own documented credibility problem.
Browse by domain: Politics & Elections · Health & Medicine · Science & Environment · History · Business, Finance & Scams · Technology & Media · Crime & Public Safety · Culture, Religion & Society
| # | Title | Author | Year | Role | Domains |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | On Bullshit | Harry G. Frankfurt | 2005 | Analysis | Culture, Religion & Society |
| 2 | Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World | Carl T. Bergstrom & Jevin D. West | 2020 | Analysis | Science & Environment, Technology & Media |
| 3 | How to Lie with Statistics | Darrell Huff | 1954 | Analysis · Specimen | Science & Environment |
| 4 | The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark | Carl Sagan | 1995 | Analysis | Science & Environment, Health & Medicine |
| 5 | Merchants of Doubt | Naomi Oreskes & Erik M. Conway | 2010 | Analysis | Science & Environment, Health & Medicine |
| 6 | Bad Science | Ben Goldacre | 2008 | Analysis | Health & Medicine |
| 7 | Bad Pharma | Ben Goldacre | 2012 | Analysis | Health & Medicine, Business, Finance & Scams |
| 8 | Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds | Charles Mackay | 1841 | Analysis · Specimen | History, Business, Finance & Scams |
| 9 | Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science | Martin Gardner | 1952 | Analysis | Science & Environment, Health & Medicine |
| 10 | Why People Believe Weird Things | Michael Shermer | 1997 | Analysis | Culture, Religion & Society, Science & Environment |
| 11 | Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media | Edward S. Herman & Noam Chomsky | 1988 | Analysis | Politics & Elections, Technology & Media |
| 12 | Propaganda | Edward Bernays | 1928 | Primary source | Business, Finance & Scams, Politics & Elections |
| 13 | Public Opinion | Walter Lippmann | 1922 | Analysis | Politics & Elections, Technology & Media |
| 14 | The Hidden Persuaders | Vance Packard | 1957 | Analysis · Specimen | Business, Finance & Scams, Technology & Media |
| 15 | Amusing Ourselves to Death | Neil Postman | 1985 | Analysis | Technology & Media, Politics & Elections |
| 16 | Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator | Ryan Holiday | 2012 | Primary source | Technology & Media |
| 17 | The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread | Cailin O'Connor & James Owen Weatherall | 2019 | Analysis | Science & Environment, Technology & Media |
| 18 | Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare | Thomas Rid | 2020 | Analysis | Politics & Elections, History |
| 19 | This Is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality | Peter Pomerantsev | 2019 | Analysis | Politics & Elections, Technology & Media |
| 20 | Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible | Peter Pomerantsev | 2014 | Analysis | Politics & Elections, Technology & Media |
| 21 | Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup | John Carreyrou | 2018 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams, Health & Medicine |
| 22 | The Smartest Guys in the Room | Bethany McLean & Peter Elkind | 2003 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams |
| 23 | The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine | Michael Lewis | 2010 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams |
| 24 | Doubt Is Their Product | David Michaels | 2008 | Analysis | Health & Medicine, Science & Environment |
| 25 | Toxic Sludge Is Good for You! | John Stauber & Sheldon Rampton | 1995 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams, Technology & Media |
| 26 | The Death of Expertise | Tom Nichols | 2017 | Analysis | Culture, Religion & Society, Science & Environment |
| 27 | Post-Truth | Lee McIntyre | 2018 | Analysis | Politics & Elections, Culture, Religion & Society |
| 28 | Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science | Alan Sokal & Jean Bricmont | 1998 | Analysis | Science & Environment, Culture, Religion & Society |
| 29 | The Honest Truth About Dishonesty | Dan Ariely | 2012 | Analysis · Specimen | Business, Finance & Scams, Culture, Religion & Society |
| 30 | Trick or Treatment: Alternative Medicine on Trial | Simon Singh & Edzard Ernst | 2008 | Analysis | Health & Medicine |
| 31 | The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man | David W. Maurer | 1940 | Analysis | Crime & Public Safety, Business, Finance & Scams |
| 32 | The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It … Every Time | Maria Konnikova | 2016 | Analysis | Crime & Public Safety, Business, Finance & Scams |
| 33 | Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory | Deborah E. Lipstadt | 1993 | Analysis | History |
| 34 | The Paranoid Style in American Politics | Richard Hofstadter | 1965 | Analysis | Politics & Elections, History |
| 35 | Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History | David Aaronovitch | 2009 | Analysis | History, Politics & Elections |
| 36 | Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth | Stuart Ritchie | 2020 | Analysis | Science & Environment, Health & Medicine |
| 37 | Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) | Carol Tavris & Elliot Aronson | 2007 | Analysis | Culture, Religion & Society |
| 38 | Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions | James Randi | 1980 | Analysis | Culture, Religion & Society, Science & Environment |
| 39 | The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe | Steven Novella et al. | 2018 | Analysis | Science & Environment, Health & Medicine |
| 40 | Bullshit Jobs: A Theory | David Graeber | 2018 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams |
| 41 | A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age | Daniel J. Levitin | 2016 | Analysis | Science & Environment, Technology & Media |
| 42 | Proofiness: How You're Being Fooled by the Numbers | Charles Seife | 2010 | Analysis | Politics & Elections, Science & Environment |
| 43 | The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security | Kevin D. Mitnick & William L. Simon | 2002 | Primary source | Technology & Media, Crime & Public Safety |
| 44 | LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media | P. W. Singer & Emerson T. Brooking | 2018 | Analysis | Technology & Media, Politics & Elections |
| 45 | Network Propaganda | Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris & Hal Roberts | 2018 | Analysis | Politics & Elections, Technology & Media |
| 46 | The Hype Machine | Sinan Aral | 2020 | Analysis | Technology & Media |
| 47 | Truth Decay | Jennifer Kavanagh & Michael D. Rich | 2018 | Analysis | Politics & Elections, Technology & Media |
| 48 | The Cigarette Century | Allan M. Brandt | 2007 | Analysis | Health & Medicine, Business, Finance & Scams, History |
| 49 | Duped: Truth-Default Theory and the Social Science of Lying and Deception | Timothy R. Levine | 2019 | Analysis | Culture, Religion & Society |
| 50 | Liars: Falsehoods and Free Speech in an Age of Deception | Cass R. Sunstein | 2021 | Analysis | Politics & Elections, Technology & Media |
| 51 | The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit | John V. Petrocelli | 2021 | Analysis | Culture, Religion & Society, Business, Finance & Scams |
| 52 | Where Are the Customers' Yachts? Or, A Good Hard Look at Wall Street | Fred Schwed Jr. | 1940 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams |
| 53 | The Great Crash, 1929 | John Kenneth Galbraith | 1955 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams, History |
| 54 | A Random Walk Down Wall Street | Burton G. Malkiel | 1973 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams |
| 55 | Catch Me If You Can | Frank W. Abagnale with Stan Redding | 1980 | Primary source | Business, Finance & Scams, Technology & Media |
| 56 | Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street | Michael Lewis | 1989 | Primary source | Business, Finance & Scams |
| 57 | Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco | Bryan Burrough & John Helyar | 1990 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams |
| 58 | Den of Thieves | James B. Stewart | 1991 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams, Crime & Public Safety |
| 59 | F.I.A.S.C.O.: Blood in the Water on Wall Street | Frank Partnoy | 1997 | Primary source | Business, Finance & Scams |
| 60 | Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation | Edward Chancellor | 1999 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams, History |
| 61 | When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management | Roger Lowenstein | 2000 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams |
| 62 | Fooled by Randomness | Nassim Nicholas Taleb | 2001 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams, Culture, Religion & Society |
| 63 | Ponzi's Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend | Mitchell Zuckoff | 2005 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams, History |
| 64 | The Wolf of Wall Street | Jordan Belfort | 2007 | Primary source | Business, Finance & Scams, Crime & Public Safety |
| 65 | Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower | Cynthia Cooper | 2008 | Primary source | Business, Finance & Scams |
| 66 | No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller | Harry Markopolos | 2010 | Primary source | Business, Finance & Scams |
| 67 | All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis | Bethany McLean & Joe Nocera | 2010 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams |
| 68 | The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust | Diana B. Henriques | 2011 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams, Crime & Public Safety |
| 69 | The Spider Network | David Enrich | 2017 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams |
| 70 | Black Edge | Sheelah Kolhatkar | 2017 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams, Crime & Public Safety |
| 71 | Lying for Money: How Legendary Frauds Reveal the Workings of the World | Dan Davies | 2018 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams |
| 72 | Billion Dollar Whale | Tom Wright & Bradley Hope | 2018 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams, Politics & Elections |
| 73 | The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion | Eliot Brown & Maureen Farrell | 2021 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams |
| 74 | Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty | Patrick Radden Keefe | 2021 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams, Health & Medicine |
| 75 | Money Men: A Hot Startup, a Billion Dollar Fraud, a Fight for the Truth | Dan McCrum | 2022 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams |
| 76 | Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall | Zeke Faux | 2023 | Analysis | Business, Finance & Scams, Technology & Media |