His contention: experts are a big reason we’re in this mess, and the asterisk in his title refers to scientists, finance wizards, doctors, relationship gurus, celebrity CEOs, high-powered consultants, health officials and other “trusted” authorities. “Wrong” reveals the dangerously distorted ways in which experts come up with their advice and why the most heavily-flawed conclusions generally get the most attention.

But Freedman also offers hope, spelling out the means by which every individual and organization can do a better job of unearthing the crucial bits of rightness within a vast avalanche of misleading pronouncements.

Freedman and other competition winners, runners-up and honorable mentions will be honored at a private reception in San Francisco on May 15.

Other winners of the competition:

NON-FICTION

WINNER: “Wrong,” David H. Freedman

RUNNERS-UP:

• “In Cheap We Trust,” Lauren Weber
• “Connected,” Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler
• “Cold,” Bill Streever

HONORABLE MENTION:

• “Just Food,” James McWilliams
• “Creature Comfort,” Meredith Kennedy
• “The Age of the Unthinkable,” Joshua Cooper Ramo
• “Crow Planet,” Lyanda Lynn Haupt
• “Balance is a Crock,” Amy Eschliman and Leigh Oshirak
• “Escape from Dubai,” Herve Jaubert

FICTION

WINNER: “Model Home,” Eric Puchner

RUNNER-UP: “The Blue Orchard,” Jackson Taylor

HONORABLE MENTION:

• “Seen The Glory,” John Hough, Jr.
• ”Shanghai Girls,” Lisa See
• “Into The Beautiful North,” Luis Alberto Urrea
• “Men and Dogs,” Katie Crouch
• “This Wicked World,” Richard Lange
• “Alice I Have Been,” Melanie Benjamin
• “Moonlight in Odessa,” Janet Skeslien Charles
• ”The Guilty Client,” Roberta Rogow
• “The Language of Bees,” Laurie R. King
• “Blackbelly,” Heather Sharfeddin
• “It Never Stays in Vegas,” Lindy Hughes
• “Under The Table Books,” Todd Walton
• “White Seed,” Paul Clayton
• “Manifest Destiny,” Rick Robinson

COMPILATIONS/ANTHOLOGIES

WINNER: “Belief: Readings on the Reason For Faith,” Francis S. Collins

HONORABLE MENTION:

• “Second Grace,” Candace Leigh Coulombe
• “Akademia Cartonera: A Primer of Latin America Cartonera Publishers,” edited by Ksenija Bilbija and Paloma Celis Carbajal
• “Silhouette: Bold Lines and Voices from WriteGirl,” edited by Keren Taylor

CHILDREN’S

WINNER: “I Wish All Your Wishes and Mine,” Vaeta Zitman

RUNNERS-UP:

• “My Bag and Me,” Karen Farmer, illustrated by Gary Currant
• “Quiet Bunny,” Lisa McCue

HONORABLE MENTION:

• “Safe For Life,” Katherine Reynolds
• “Friends with a Difference,” Ellen Dittman Pope, illustrated by Carol Dixon
• “Curio A Shetland Sheepdog Meets The Cat,” Jeanette A. Griver and Phyllis L. Milway
• “Just A Walk,” Jordan Wheeler
• “Chuck in the City,” Jordan Wheeler
• “Nick and Slim: The Legend of the Falcon Mine,” Pamela Henn
• “Hooray for Heroes,” Mollie Ostroski
• ”Viola Vincent Reporting,” Anna Kenna

BUSINESS

WINNER: “The One Page Business Plan for Women in Business,” Jim Horan and Tamara Monosoff

HONORABLE MENTION: “Bad Bosses, Crazy Coworkers & Other Office Idiots ” Vicky Oliver

POETRY

WINNER: “In Praise of Falling,” Cheryl Dumesnil

HONORABLE MENTION:

• “Mystique,” Clara Hsu
• “Love and Strange Horses,” Nathalie Handal

GAY

WINNER: “The Lost Library,” edited by Tom Cardamone

HONORABLE MENTION:

• ”Music Box Danseur,” Marlene K. Slade
• “Gay San Francisco: Eyewitness Drummer,” Jack Fritscher
• “XOXO Hayden,” Chris Corkum

BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY

WINNER: “Letters to Zerky,” Bill Raney and JoAnne Walker Raney

RUNNERS-UP:

• ”Birth of a Psychedelic Culture,” Ram Dass andRalph Metzner with Gary Gravo
• “Portrait of an Addict As A Young Man,” Bill Clegg

HONORABLE MENTION:

• “Sinner Takes All,” Tera Patrick with Carrie Borzillo
• “The Art of Making Money,” Jason Kersten
• “In Hanuman’s Hands,” Cheeni Rao
• “That Bird Has My Wings,” Jarvis Jay Masters
• “Children of Dust,” Ali Eteraz
• “Deathreats: The Life and Times of a Comic Book Rock Star Drew Hayes,” edited by Mark. C. Bellis
• ”Take Me With You,” Carlos Frias
• ”Street Shadows,” Jerald Walker
• “Rosie’s Daughters,” Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett
• “Lighting Out For The Territory,” Roy Morris, Jr.

SCIENCE FICTION

WINNER: “Winward Passage,” Jim Nisbet

HONORABLE MENTION: “Tau 4,” VJ Waks

SPIRITUAL

WINNER: “An Altar in the World,” Barbara Brown Taylor

RUNNER-UP: “God, The Universe and Where I Fit In,” Laurie Ann Levin

HONORABLE MENTION:

• ”Sacred Wisdom,” H. Schroder
• “It’s All Thought,” Terry L. Neal
• “Breathing in the Buddha,” Alan Brigish
• “The Garden That Grew Her,” Leslie Bradford

HISTORY

WINNER: “Unbound,” Dean King

RUNNER-UP: “The Tattooed Lady: A History,” Amelia Klem Osterud

HONORABLE MENTION:

• “Broadway North Beach,” Dick Boyd
• “What Would Jane Say?” Janice Metzger

COOKBOOKS

WINNER: “400 Sensational Cookies,” Linda J. Amendt

HONORABLE MENTION:

• “Get Cooking,” Mollie Katzen
• “Recipes From Camp Trillium,” Louise Gaylord
• “How To Lower Your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food,” Chef Alain Braux

TEENAGE

WINNER: “Nonna’s Book of Mysteries,” Mary Osbourne

HONORABLE MENTION: “Deadly Loyalties,” Jennifer Storm

HOW-TO

WINNER: “Your Money Ratios: 8 Simple Tools for Financial Security,” Charles Farrell

HONORABLE MENTION:

• ”Parenting Without Stress,” Dr. Marvin Marshall
• “Dr. Greg’s Dog Dish Diet,” Greg Martinez, DVM
• “The Fairway Within,” Peter Lightbown and Cecilia Croaker
• “Slob Proof!” Debbie Wiener

WILD CARD

WINNER: “187 Iz An Art,” Richard L. Brown and Mikal H. El-Amin

HONORABLE MENTION:

• “Tales of the Express,” Ellen Wight
• “The Ice Cream Theory,” Steff Deschenes
• “Autism ABC,” Dr. Sherry L. Meinberg, pictures by Rachael Mahaffey

PHOTOGRAPHY/ART

WINNER: “People of the Land,” Aaron Nelson-Moody, Debbie Sparrow, Deborah Jacobs, Gary Fiegehen, Johnny Abraham, and Zach George

HONORABLE MENTION:

• “In This My Beautiful Egypt,” Natalie Hoogasian, Sandra Lehti-Culjak
• “Opening the Gates of the Heart,” Carolyn CJ Jones
• “Diamonds, Gold and Ice Road Truckers,” Vanessa M. Truter

AUDIO/SPOKEN WORD

WINNER: “Spa Deadly,” Louise Gaylord

HONORABLE MENTION: “Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry & Music,” Janet Grace Riehl

UNPUBLISHED

WINNER: “Gone,” Dana Ellingwood

HONORABLE MENTION:

• “Unruly,” Jennifer Caloyeras
• ”Dog Eat Dog,” Josiah Ogholi