Customer Reviews
Amusing way to learn stats, but don't expect it to be too easy. - By: Marshall Lord, 28 Jul 2008 
I got hold of this book because I was looking for a textbook I could recommend to colleauges who needed to boost their stats knowledge but who were definately not expert statisticians. I thought that the more amusing presentation might hold the interest of non-mathematicians better than most textbooks.
It's aimed at the kind of reader who needs to use statistics but has the attitude to them which one of my colleagues at an Economics department meeting at University once parodied by saying of the title of a stats course, "That'll sound to most students like 'Come & stick your handin a bowl of piranha fish!'"
Well, this book does cover the materialin an entertaining way, & the cartoons are both relevant & amusing.
But don't imagine that this will make statistics easy. It's a reasonably good presentation of the principles of statistical analysis, put togetherin a humorous way. My colleagues did find it easier to pick up & read. In that sense I would guardedly describe this as a success & I'd give it four stars.
While the book does make it easier to make the effort to apply yourself to the subject, it does not magically eliminate any requirement for that intellectual effort & never could have.
In fact, if you are looking for an applied statistics or Econometrics textbook which expresses the equations & what you need to do clearly &in relatively simple language, I have read one or two - Yeomans "Studiesin Applied Statistics" or Maddala's "Econometrics" spring to mind - which are easier to follow.
My main minor irritation with this book is that it is printedin a font which looks like handwriting, presumably to match the cartoons, & I find this slightly harder to read than standard typescript.
Nevertheless, it's entertaining, the stats is sound, & if you want to a stats textbook for someone who would have difficulty making themselves even pick up the average maths book, never mind read it, this may be what you're looking for.
The Cartoon Guide to Statistics - By: , 25 Feb 2003 
While The Cartoon Guide to Statistics looked very promising to begin with, it soon became quite confusing. Ultimately & unfortunately, The Cartoon Guide to Statistics was of no real use, at least not for a beginer. In particular, the priciples were not explaindin enough detail. The authors tends to jump from one point to the next without adequate explaination. Although it is a cartoon guide, the cartoons often have little to do with the statistics & were only used for humerous effect. Speaking of humour, the book is amusing, but after a while, not being able to understand the statistics is too frustrating to enjoy the humour. Allin all, this book is not really for the beginer.
The Cartoon Guide to Statistics - By: , 25 Feb 2003 While The Cartoon Guide to Statistics looked very promising to begin with, it soon became quite confusing. Ultimately & unfortunately, The Cartoon Guide to Statistics was of no real use, at least not for a beginer. In particular, the priciples were not explaindin enough detail. The authors tends to jump from one point to the next without adequate explaination. Although it is a cartoon guide, the cartoons often have little to do with the statistics & were only used for humerous effect. Speaking of humour, the book is amusing, but after a while, not being able to understand the statistics is too frustrating to enjoy the humour. Allin all, this book is not really for the beginer.
Excellent and Practical... but don't be fooled! - By: , 04 Aug 1999 
This book is exceptionalin its ability to communicate difficult conceptsin a light & entertaining manner. It seems to me that those who gave this book low ratings seem to think that the book should have magically imparted its knowledge upon them with no effort on their part.
Indeed, although Gonick presents the details via cartoons, that does not change the fact that "Sigma" is still "Sigma", & if you don't understand exactly what "Sigma" represents before moving on to the next concept, then you will not understand the subsequent lessons.
ie. Just because cartoons tell the tale, it doesn't mean that you will breeze through this book as you might a comic book. The individual concepts must be read & reread & perhaps even contemplatedin order to truly understand each one before moving on to the next concept. If you do not do this, then, of course, nothing will make sense.
This is a book of statistics, not miracles...thus work will still be necessaryin order to absorb the basic concepts within it.
Nevertheless, this book is far clearer & much more fun to read than any other stat book I've opened before. Very highly recommended.
Excellent for a refresher on Statistics - By: , 01 Jun 1999 I graduated with an Engineering Degree having taken three statistics classesin College, getting solid B'sin each. Yet after being out of school for a while & needing to brush up, I picked up this book & found it very good at reminding me of the major concepts. Excellent book.
