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Dec 17, 2011

Simeon rated it:

***Warning: this review is not for the fainthearted.***

Via Reddit, a video recently went viral of a Texas Judge savagely beating his disabled teenage daughter with a belt.

<spoiler> She pleads with her mother, who will not listen. The lights flicker off and a man strides into the dark. He is utterly calm. Long before he grabs her, before her mother tells her to "bend over and take it like a woman", before the man’s sadistic promise to beat her "into fucking More...

7 comments like (27 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Mike (the Paladin) rated it:

This is what I might call "an oddly interesting book". I say that because in retrospect I'm a bit surprised that it holds the interest so well. Mr. Ronson begins with a strange little mystery concerning running down the source/writer of an (to use the same word) odd book that has been mailed to certain people. From this the book springboards into a look at Psychopathy, its diagnosis and by extension the way in which psychiatric disorders are not only diagnosed but agreed on (that is ag More...

4 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 13, 2011

Cyn rated it:

Only decided to read this because I saw Jon Ronson on "The Daily Show" promoting it. He was entertaining and the book sounded interesting and I was looking for some non-fiction so all the stars aligned to get me to read it.

Because of what a fabulous storyteller Ronson is, I finished this book in one day, only putting it down for lunch, dinner and "Glee". :) It was well worth the price and the time.

1 comment like (18 people liked it)

Jun 05, 2011

Courtney rated it:

I read this in about a 4 hour span, from 12 am - 4 am. It freaked me out and I slept with the lights on. But on with the review.

So I've read things about psychopaths previously. How their brains are actually wired differently and they are unable to feel empathy, etcetc. Psychopathy is incurable. Psychopathy, in its violent and sexual strands, is outright fucking terrifying.

But Ronson's book talks more about the frequent misdiagnosis of psychopathy. And the misdiagnosis of m More...

0 comments like (16 people liked it)

Jul 16, 2011

Holly rated it:

Wonderfully droll (and sometimes hilarious) tone and thought-provoking subject matter. Listened to the audiobook read by the author himself, and was hooked after only a few minutes; then when Ronson started talking about Douglas Hofstadter and Scientologists I had to think "I am so lucky to be listening to this book!" I learned about how the original DSM was created - how arbitrary all those diagnoses are - and that's (can I say:) depressing. I should write a thoughtful review but I am More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 22, 2011

Justin rated it:

I've never read anything by Jon Ronson so I wasn't sure what to expect. I heard an interview with him about this book and was fascinated by the subject matter. I was not disappointed, this book is extremely interesting. I like Ronson's style a great deal, and his writing is very approachable. I came to respect him a lot for his ability to acknowledge his weaknesses and then go forward despite them.

Ronson has a great ability in communicating his perspective to the reader. He is very c More...

1 comment like (10 people liked it)

Jul 29, 2011

Patrick rated it:

I blame Ronson for turning me on to mega-nut David Icke and his endlessly entertaining Lizard people conspiracy theory in "Them: Adventures with Extremists."

In this one he's asked to investigate an elaborate and weird hoax involving a book called "Being or Nothingness," by Joe K. - which takes him to Indiana and Douglas Hofstadter ("Godel, Escher, Bach").

That in turn sets him off on psychopaths, the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. Lots of oddbal More...

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Feb 07, 2012

Kara rated it:

Engrossing! The narrator was surprisingly funny and entertaining throughout the book- considering the subject matter, I expected a lot more doom and gloom. But he definitely kept it light, and at times, self-deprecating (which I found endearing).

Despite the light tone, I'll admit this book did creep me out. What if someone I know is a psychopath?? Given that they are supposedly adept at faking empathy and manipulating people, it could be anyone! Very "Invasion of the Body Snatche More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 25, 2011

NerdGirlBlogger rated it:

To write something like “I loved this book” or “I found it incredibly insightful, entertaining and downright frightful” wouldn’t give you the exact depth of my passion towards it. For the past 48 hours, I’ve been thinking about the precise words I need to come up with to describe my joy with the novel Ronson has written, and I can’t. I can only tell you that if someone like me–jaded with years of dealing with mentally ill family members, overloaded with information from 6 psychology classes and More...

0 comments like (19 people liked it)

Jul 12, 2011

Lynn rated it:

If you're interested in this topic, I'd recommend starting with Martha Stout's The Sociopath Next Door rather than this book. The problem with this one is that it's more "Follow me as I delve into this crazy world and have surreal experiences" than it is a study of sociopathy. And that ultimately makes it less gripping. I remember clearly the first section of of Stout's book, as it took the reader on a tour of one man's mind as he faced a simple but telling moment of moral decision-mak More...

2 comments like (24 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2012

Ryan rated it:

Jon Ronson is a Welsh journalist most noted for his "self deprecating" style according to Wikipedia. This is the same stylized approach that Rodney Dangerfield, Tine Fey, and Conan Obrien use. I think this style works for Jon and makes for entertaining reading. Jon wrote the "The Men Who Stare At Goats" as well as "Them: Adventures With Extremists." While I have not read either of those two, I have seen the movie for "The Men Who Stare At Goats" an More...

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Feb 20, 2012

Madelle rated it:

Wearing my author hat, I read this book for research. Little did I know that it would impact my personal life.

Warning: after evaluating egregious behaviour of people in your world against Bob Hare's checklist you will start looking at them in a new light. Could he or she be a psychopath? Apparently just under one percent of the population are psychopaths. While reading this book a light bulb went on. I know a person who has generated havoc in his professional environment. And now I k More...

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Feb 20, 2012

Barbara rated it:

A quirky, personal, sideways look at psychopathy as classified by the Hare Psychopathy Checklist and at the categorisations of the psychiatric bible - the DSM (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

The author meets and reflects on the degree of psychopathy displayed by various perpetrators of violent crime and we are introduced to a famously tough minded CEO of a large company. Our attention is drawn to some of the controversial categories of the DSM and the way c More...

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Feb 14, 2012

SandHouse rated it:

I had to realize halfway through the book that the subtitle (A Journey Through the Madness Industry) was a clue that this book wasn’t entirely about psychopaths. When he seems to be rambling about a barely related topic he is actually getting into the subject in the subtitle. It is about crazy folks or just different people in general, and about the little bit of craziness that we have in us all.

Ronson, quite bravely actually, delves into the ethical questions of his own career, having More...

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Feb 09, 2012

Melissad rated it:

This book is funnier that the title suggests. The author is a British journalist who pokes fun at himself. He read the DSM (Diagnostic Manual for those in the mental health field) and within in 15 minutes had diagnosed himself with 12 mental disorders. As a psychology major, it sounded like my abnormal psychology class. His contact with some real psychopaths was interesting. He sounds a little whimpish, but had the guts to go to several hospitals for the criminally insane and even more scary to More...

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Jan 03, 2012

Lavender rated it:

This book was interesting enough for me tom complete in one day. The writing style was palatable for me (I am terribly picky about writing style!!) but the subject matter felt like it had only scratched the surface of what interested me.

Ronson had interesting experiences that he compiled into one book, but it felt like he'd watched some of the same documentaries (e.g. Frontline: The Medicated Child) I've watched and pieced some in to his book, then some interesting anecdotes and mus More...

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Dec 21, 2011

David rated it:

Numerous case studies of psychopaths -- mostly criminal but some of the "successful" corporate-CEO variety. connecting thread is Robert Hare's revised Psychopathy Check List (PCL-R), the most commonly used measure of psychopathy. Author takes a workshop on how to use the PCL-R to assist him in his psychopath-spotting.

Diverts for one chapter to a general critique of the DSM as a compendium of psychiatric diagnostic criteria, focusing especially on childhood bipolar disorder. More...

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Dec 16, 2011

James rated it:

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book from Jon Ronson, author of The Men Who Stare At Goats.

What made me pick up this book in the first place was hearing of the dilemma of one of the people in it, a man who'd been locked up in a notorious psych ward after apparently faking that he was psychotic (I won't give away why). Realizing his mistake, he'd tried for years to prove his sanity in order to be released - trying to demonstrate how sane he was by simply acting like any other s More...

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Dec 07, 2011

Irene rated it:

I highly suggest reading this book in crowded coffee shops. I received many strange looks, but no one wanted to talk to me. While I made a trip to the restroom, one other customer actually picked up my book and started reading it. I did not know her, so upon my return I was momentarily distressed at missing my book. My mindset: "Impulsivity? Need for stimulation? Poor behavioral controls? Did a psychopath grab my book? Seriously?"

I haven't read anything by Jon Ronso More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 03, 2011

Shawn rated it:

This is the best book I've read all year. There is so much interesting information, I cannot begin to say, he's interviewing psychopaths in maximum security prisons, asking them if they think they are psychopaths. He interviews the person (Skinner) who took the DSM from a 65 page pamphlet to it's current form, 884 page DSM-V. From when 1 in 1000 people were autistic to today, when 1 in 10 children are diagnosed as such, from when psychiatry included naked 2-day LSD psychotherapy sessions up u More...

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Nov 20, 2011

C.w. rated it:

This being my first run-in with Jon Ronson (unless you count The Men Who Stare at Goats film adaptation, which I won't), I was impressed with his variation on the "gonzo" reporting style. What Hunter S. Thompson's brashness and recalcitrance brought to his writing, Ronson's gullibility, self-doubt and aloofness brings to his. Prior to reading The Psychopath Test, I saw reviews criticizing Ronson for failing to provide a takeaway. The Psychopath Test isn't an academic study or an evalua More...

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Nov 11, 2011

Elizabeth rated it:

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson (pp. 288)

Jon Ronson has a knack for tackling fringe subject matter and finding the hook. The Psychopath Test follows his pursuit of answers surrounding a bizarre unsolved puzzle sent anonymously to some of the renowned academic minds and leads him into some of very up close and personal interactions with the modern madmen. Threaded through Ronson ruminates on “What is a Psychopath?”

The story g More...

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Nov 03, 2011

Rebecca rated it:

This is the first Jon Ronson book I've read and I enjoyed his style immensely. He takes you on quite a journey and you feel like you're right there beside him when he's interviewing psychiatrists, patients, inmates, wealthy businessmen, etc. In a relatively short book there was a lot of thought provoking, and often challenging information to mull over. Ronson doesn't shy away from asking his interviewees tough questions, while also identifying his own possible shortcomings as he learns about t More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Nov 02, 2011

Leo rated it:

This is a great book. Jon Ronson, author of the equally zany "Men who Stare at Goats" is a quirky journalist with an enxiety complex. Think a British Woody Allen. And, his research into the psychology/ psychiatry industry leads him inadveratntly into the realm of psychopaths, and psychopathic researcher Bob Hare.

I think that this is the charm of the book. The nervous, andt-sociopath learns a psychologically valid way yo test for sociopathy. And, as one would expect, he begi More...

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Oct 25, 2011

Emily rated it:

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson is a non-fiction book that details the world of insanity from the inside. While roaming the halls of insane asylums and conversing with convicted psychopaths, Ronson provides a new insight into the workings of this industry and the controversy that surrounds it. Through his many stories of various "crazy" people, Ronson provides enough information and opinions to allow the reader to develop their own stance on th More...

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Oct 22, 2011

Ken rated it:

This is a clever book, but I think that when all is said and done, the real culprit, and the source of all of the confusion, is not really the test to determine psychopathy, but the entire 'Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV)'. Suddenly, health care professionals were provided a way to categorize hundreds of conditions by simply applying a checklist which was vague and misleading at best. And, coupled with voracious drug companies looking to incre More...

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Oct 14, 2011

Patrick rated it:

The Psychopath Test is a fascinating journey through the minds of madness. Jon Ronson's exploration of a potential hoax being played on the world's top neurologists takes him, unexpectedly, into the heart of the madness industry. An influential psychologist who is convinced that many important CEOs and politicians are, in fact, psychopaths, teaches Ronson how to spot these high-flying individuals by looking out for little telltale verbal and nonverbal clues. And so Ronson, armed with his new psy More...

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Oct 09, 2011

Elmwoodblues rated it:

A recent NPR program, 'This American Life', featured a light-hearted and humorous piece on the subject of psychopathology, (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-ar...), and author Jon Ronson was included in a segment that explored how many of the 'traits' of a psychopath can be found in powerful CEO's in American industry.

Ronson's writing tone is very akin to that of his turn on 'This American Life': intelligent, wry, ironic without being snarky or dismissive. He conveys with More...

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Oct 04, 2011

Nancy rated it:

I'm not sure if Jon Ronson's (isn't that a strange name? Don't you intuitively feel it should actually be Ron Johnson?) The Psychopath Test is really THAT GOOD, or if it is simply the exact antidote I needed to Pete Earley's book Crazy. I finished The Psychopath Test in about three hours - it's not very long - and was left feeling as satisfied as if I had just finished a very healthy and tasty meal.

Ronson is fascinated by (you guessed it) the psychopath test, a clinical checklist o More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 17, 2011

Nathan rated it:

I suppose it's appropriate that "A Journey Through the Madness Industry" should be maddening. This book describes the way the author's knowledge of the latest test for psychopathic behaviour has changed the way he sees people. On the one hand, this test does characterise psychopaths. However, it's also treacherously easy to find matches in people you know, successful business people, doormen, airport checkin agents, etc. Are they pyschopaths? It's this question that the book skirt More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)