# Three Felonies a Day by Harvey Silverglate

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Three Felonies a Day by Harvey Silverglate and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend this book for explaining how US law became so broad that ordinary people commit crimes without knowing it.

## Why people recommend it

- Recommended reading on federal overcriminalization (2 comments): "You should read: Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47344278)) "There is a book titled Three Felonies A Day that explains this." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48475759))
- Explains how the legal state arose (2 comments): "The law is so bloated now that we all do illegal things all the time, we can't help it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49381704)) "consider how this legal state of affairs could come about" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48801748))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuckoo-s-egg.md): 40 recommend
- [Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amusing-ourselves-to-death.md): 36 recommend
- [The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anxious-generation.md): 24 recommend
- [Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bullshit-jobs.md): 20 recommend
- [Enshittification by Cory Doctorow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enshittification.md): 19 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594035229?tag=YOURTAG-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/YOURID/9781594035227) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Three Felonies a Day by Harvey Silverglate", https://hackerapproved.com/p/three-felonies-a-day/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).