Monoray wins auction for ‘groundbreaking’ investigation into how figures control our lives

Monoray has scooped a “timely and powerful investigation” by economics professors Micael Dahlen and Helge Thorbjørnsen into the trouble numbers can bring us, following a three-way auction.

World English rights were sold by literary agent Paul Sebes of Sebes & Bisseling Scandinavia for More. Numbers. Every. Day. How figures control our lives, after a joint offer from Hachette UK and US. 

Publisher Jake Lingwood acquired UK and Commonwealth rights for Monoray while Sam Raim bought US rights for Hachette Books. There were three publishers in the UK auction and four in the US. German, Japanese, Korean and Norwegian rights were also sold; the Swedish publisher will be Volante. The book will be published in spring 2023.

The synopsis reads: “We all strive to quantify everything: calories, likes, website traffic and even friends. And then we rate things, too: movies, restaurants, taxi drivers, experiences, professors and dates. We measure ourselves against others and compare our real experiences to imagined averages. But in our rush to measure, we can lose sight of what matters.”

Lingwood hailed the book as a “sharp, entertaining, big-think manifesto that tells us so much about the times we live in and the future we face”.

Raim said: “Whether we’re tracking our sleep, diet and fitness or facing a daily, overwhelming deluge of data and statistics, it’s clear our lives have been completely overrun by numbers. I didn’t realise just how much it was affecting me (and us all) until I read this fascinating, delightful book, and I’m so glad these rockstar Scandinavian economists are here to help us find a better way to live.”

Sebes added: “Micael Dahlen and Helge Thorbjørnsen show how we’re exposed and infected by an ever-more contagious pandemic of numbers. With groundbreaking, empowering, sometimes frightening, and sometimes funny research, they help us see how numbers creep into our heads and bodies, affecting how we think and feel. I am delighted Jake and Sam decided to publish this important book together.”