Ari Turunen has written 11 non-fiction books. His books have been translated to 11 different languages. Turunen is the most translated non-fiction writer in Finland. His books reveal in a hilarious way why we behave like we do. They offer a witty – and occasionally blunt –Nordic view to cultural and global history. One of his books Brute Force tells the story of the world class icebreakers for which Finland is renown.

Cross My Fingers!

The History of Lying, Misrepresentation and Deceit

In all cultures, lying is strongly reprehensible. And yet, lying, dishonesty, scheming, counterfeiting and swindling are part of human nature. Believe it or not: man lies every single day. The more opportunities and freedom to communicate we have, the more we swindle. The data network is the modern spiderweb of lies; it pumps out spam ranging from Nigerian investment tips to “free” holiday offers. How many times have they told you that the manager is “in a meeting” or that the customer service has promised to “get back to you”? How many tax forms or how many insurance claims have been fi led without misrepresentation? How many explanations does a ticket inspector or a traffi c police hear daily? How many renovators shout out to the world: the rot damage was my fault! Even though lying is morally reprehensible,the book depicts our capacity to handle the truth. After all, could it be that it might be easier to accept a nice story than the bare truth. 2nd revised edition • appr. 250 pages

Table of Contents

Ari Turunen

Ari Turunen is a Finnish writer and science editor. He is a Licentiate of Social Sciences and his thesis was a about the politics of different world maps and world views.

Archive »