Adventures with Extremists by Ronson - Jon (2002) Paperback

This work and the facts about the DSMV Ronson shares can ease any mind about its inevitable abnormalities. As far as being a psychopath, personal traits and characteristics can be brought into ones awareness, without right out causing accusations. Certainly this work can give you confidence if you want to organize or prioritize who you want to influence you most in your life's journey... what the hell am I talking about? Well, if you read this you can reflect on people you've known and fantasize them as being non-violent psychopaths

Another "Daily Show" guest author that I enjoy time and time again.

The height of absurd, chilling, and just unbelievable situations Mr Ronson finds himself in is worth the read. It is not a merely satirical piece on hate groups or conspiracy theorists, but there are some really thought provoking chapters, especially about the Ruby Ridge Siege.

HIGHLY recommended.

Although Ronson's writing is terrific and at points laugh-out-loud funny, overall this books lacks a specific coherence; it's more like a collection of essays about people, set against the backdrop of whether they are or are not psychopaths. Personally I could have used a lot more detail about the psychosis, or more of a focus on notable case studies. Regardless it was fun to read and I would recommend it to anyone that needs an interesting non-sequitor. Great beach book.

Jon Ronson writes a captivating tale here, explaining how he tried time and again without success to get "Bilderbergers" to answer his calls and letters. [He has heard that they -- "them" -- are the ones who rule the earth.]
Now these Bildies, who include David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger, Bill Clinton, and maybe ninety percent of the Big Media players -- to mention a few -- never reply. But Jon learns that they'll have their annual secret meeting 2000 in Portugal. He finds that "only one newspaper in Portugal, indeed only one in the world, as far as I could determine, was reporting the Bilderberg story." That was the "Portugal Weekly News," published and edited by Paul Luckman.
I can tell Jon how Editor Luckman got this story. And I only report it because it proves that a little nobody from Long Island, NY, can have an impact on this "secret cabal." When I learned that the Bilderbergers would meet at the "Caesar Park" resort, I input "Portugal Newspapers" into my computer search, and then sent a short story to several of them. Paul was the only one taking me up on it, and he did a lot of checking. The guy deserves a Freedom Medal or some such. Though receiving veiled threats, he fully reported the meeting.**
Jon Ronson might deserve a medal too, for -- as he explains in THEM -- trying to sneak into the meeting with indefatigible Jim Tucker of the late "SPOTLIGHT," superseded now by the improved "AMERICAN FREE PRESS." BUT Mr. Ronson throws it all over by cowtowing to Denis Healey, the British Bilderberger who assures our author that they're just a group of businessmen and financiers helping aspiring young fellows along their way....This is not to say that Ronson does not provide much to chew on -- especially the Randy Weaver story, how the Gov't sharpshooters shot Randy's son in the back and wife in the face -- and got away wiht it. Ronson not only goes to the scene (Ruby Ridge, Idaho), but interviews Randy's daughter Rachel and racist "Aryan Nation" characters in the area.
But Ronson does injustice to "conspiracy theorists" in reporting on lizards, Ku Klux Klan, and the Bohemian Grove owl-worshippers. The fact that the Kissingers, Rockefellers, Clintons, and Joseph Liebermans meet in secret every year with no mention in Big Media, is enough without bringing lizards and owls into the mix.
** When the Bilderbergers snuck off to an secluded island in Sweden the next year, I tried the same gambit for Swedish newspapers. Not a one, far as I know, carried the story -- or even dared ask about it.

An enthralling journey to the edges of human sanity. Jon Ronson is very much a character in his own story, and the tale of how his conception of the book he's writing changes over time is just as fascinating as the stories of the men and women he studies. As a fiction writer, I found this book extremely helpful in understanding the different ways that characters can be (or seem) deranged. Ronson also raises a lot of interesting food for thought about how we draw the lines between madness and sanity, between "disordered" and "normal" -- and how blurry those lines can get.

I liked the way that Ronson slowly revealed his growing realization that he and other journalists and media producers are complicit in the perpetuation of a madness industry that has gained incredible power and produced incredible fortunes over the last couple of decades. The madness of the madness-spotters is funny and scary at the same time.

I actually bought the Audible audio version of this first, and then picked up the Kindle version so I could highlight and comment. Ronson reads the book himself, which I think is brilliant, especially given the conversational tone and the ironically self-deprecating way he makes some of his most important points. One of these points is that it's rarely a question of someone else doing something, while we stand by innocently observing. For example, when (psychopathic?) Wall Streeters went on a rampage of cost-cutting that reduced workforces -- that is, closed factories and bankrupted towns across America -- Ronson describes it this way: "It was like in the Coliseum. You had the entire crowd egging him on. So who really is the villain? Is it the one who's making the cuts? Is it the analysts who are touting it? Is it the pension funds and the mutual funds who are buying?" "Of course that was all twelve years ago now," I said. "Has anything changed?" "Not anything," Jack said. "Zero. And it's not just in the U.S. It's all over the world" (pp. 166-167).

He concludes that passage by observing (and my Kindle informs me this has been highlighted 197 times so far): "If you have the ambition to become a villain, the first thing you should do is learn to be impenetrable. Don't act like Blofeld--monocled and ostentatious. We journalists love writing about eccentrics. We hate writing about impenetrable, boring people. It makes us look bad: the duller the interviewee, the duller the prose. If you want to get away with wielding true, malevolent power, be boring" (p. 168).

Between the funny bits, Ronson uncovers some really important stuff. He gets an admission from Dr. Allen Frances, the editor of the diagnostic manual DSM-IV, that "There's a societal push for conformity in all ways," he said. "There's less tolerance of difference...It's very easy to set off a false epidemic in psychiatry...And we inadvertently contributed to three that are ongoing now." "Which are they?" I asked. "Autism, attention deficit, and childhood bipolar," he said. (pp. 243-245) Another quotable bit (with 251 highlighters to date, according to Kindle): "Serial killers ruin families." Bob shrugged. "Corporate and political and religious psychopaths ruin economies. They ruin societies." (p. 112) Whether you call them psychopaths or vampire squids, he's got a point.

Ronson is a wonderful writer, he is very smart and has a great sense of humor, and his observations about people, our culture and human nature are keen and insightful. This is a quick read and thought provoking, I am looking forward to reading Ronson's new work.

i have been a psychiatric nurse for twenty years including four at a facility like Broadmoor. i have read this book twice and a enjoyed it both times. i will probably read it a third time eventually. ronson is a great writer but so much more. i highly recommend all his books

I recommend this book to anyone fascinated or interested in the human psyche. It is well written. The author kept me interested through his very personal style. It was in narrative, which I like, but there were times when I wondered if it were fiction. When I viewed the photo of one of his characters, I was astounded that the book really was mostly non fiction. Very good read.

I like Jon Ronson's books (preferred Them) and of course the tv show Secret Rulers of the World. I bought this book at least a year ago and have not yet even read that much - The book them was interesting from the get go - this one I think you need to get into - I can't provide an honest review as I haven't read the whole book, but so far not my favorite from Jon.

Review of The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
If you know the Humm-Wadsworth, The Psychopath Test is both an interesting and easy read. If you don't know the Humm this book will come across, as many reviewers have stated, as a number of interesting strands which don't fully integrate.
The Humm is based on two theorems:
* The first is that we are all slightly mad, in that mental illness is not a matter of black or white but various shades of gray.
* The second is that while there are many physical illnesses there are few mental illnesses. Six mental illnesses and one controlling component comprise the seven factors that define our temperament.
The book begins, as the title suggests, as an investigation into psychopaths. Not only does he meet several psychopaths, he attends a three-day seminar conducted by Bob Hare, creator of the PCL-R Test, a 20-step Psychopath Checklist. The PCL-R Checklist is used by law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and elsewhere to evaluate offenders. Hare reveals that inmates at prisons and psychiatric institutions aren't the only ones who score highly on his 'psychopath test': many CEOs and directors of corporations qualify as psychopaths too. This prompts Ronson to wonder 'if sometimes the difference between a psychopath in Broadmoor and a psychopath on Wall Street was the luck of being born into a stable, rich family.'
To answer this question Ronson then spends time with Al Dunlap, aka "The Chainsaw." Dunlap was known as a turnaround specialist, who used ruthless methods to streamline ailing companies, most notably Scott Paper. However, his reputation was ruined after he engineered a massive accounting scandal at Sunbeam-Oster. After his meeting with Dunlap, who gives very rational explanations for his actions, Ronson wonders if there are corporate psychopaths. However if you understand the Humm, you soon realise that Dunlap is one of the great Hs or Hustlers of our time. There are some great giveaways, massive statues of birds of prey in gardens, huge self-portraits filled with gold paint, displays of ostentatious wealth, etc.
What I did find interesting was the story behind the development of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, known as DSM which was once a slim volume outlining 30 or so mental disorders and is now a 886-page beast boasting 374 disorders. It turns out the editor who oversaw this expansion, Robert Spitzer, was captivated by the concept of Hare's PCL-R checklist and decided to extend the use of checklists to other mental illnesses. Ronson promptly starts investigating the descriptions of various disorders and instantly diagnoses himself with twelve different ones." When Ronson asks Spitzer, who in Humm terms is raging E or Engineer, whether it's possible that "he'd inadvertently created a world in which some ordinary behaviours were being labelled mental disorders"; Spitzer weakly answers: "I don't know."
Ronson argues that the psychopath checklist and DSM-IV are dangerous weapons. If more and more fine-tuned mental disturbances can be diagnosed as legitimate, patients wind up in Catch-22 situations. (How do they do anything that is not suspect?) Drug companies thrive on the dual creation of a new mental illness and the drug to cure it. And children get books like "My Bipolar, Roller Coaster, Feelings Book," whose author, Bryna Herbert, is also interviewed. She earns her place in Mr. Ronson's world for having given her baby son the nickname Mister Manic Depressive. However if you know the Humm, you will understand.[...]

First time I read something like this, and like it. It puts your mind on thinking or simply trying to understand why people live their lives on extreme ideals. And how different people can witness the same event and always adapt the events to their believes.

I would recommend this to anyone who finds the title interesting, it's an easy read, it's very informative, with observations and conclusions drawn from a myriad of encounters and historical events; psychopathy aside you find yourself learning some pretty interesting stuff along the way.
If you enjoyed reading any of Malcolm Gladwell's books, you'd definitely enjoy this one. They've got a similar style in the way they present their arguments from very diverse sources, and they way their conclusions present us with new eye-opening ideas.
I gave it a 4 rather than a 5, because I felt like it sometimes left me hanging. It sorta feels like reading a series of articles rather than the natural flow of a book.
If I were to describe it in one word, I would say it was intriguing!

Mr. Ronson's "The Psychopath Test" is more about his adventures in learning about psychopathy. The book jumps about as he follows one piece of information to another. Add to this his intelligence, investigative skills as a reporter of the abnormal, his own personal anxiety's, and a sharp sense of humor and you wind up with a delicious, quirky story that is informative, sometimes scary and other times balls out funny.

"The Psychopath Test" gives you a general overview of how it's determined if someone is plagued with the condition. I cannot stress enough that this is not some in-depth, academic dissection of the condition. The author describes the Robert Hare Checklist that is used as the diagnostic test and takes a course taught by Mr. Hare about how to detect psychopaths. Needless to say, armed with this new information, Mr. Ronson takes his new-found knowledge out for a spin by interviewing such people as Sunbeam's ex-CEO Al "Chainsaw" Dunlap; an ex-British agent; conspiracy theorists obsessed with 9/11 and a British terrorist attack known as 7/7; an ex-Haitian leader of a paramilitary group who murdered oodles of Aristide supporters; how producers select contestants for reality TV shows and an extremely odd bird named David Shayler. The author also describes the creation of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders currently known as DSM-IV which is the reference book used by the medical community.

Some of this stuff sounds like it would be quite dry reading, but due to Mr. Ronson's self-deprecating, witty delivery, I found myself completely captivated by this easy-to-read book. I finished it a little better informed about psychopathy and the murky world of mental illness as well as with a smile on my face.

This is a good book. It gives you some perspective on what it's like to be persecuted, and perhaps, what it's like to do the persecuting. But I think, the book is most notable for a very sympathetic portrayal of people that we are not meant to be sympathetic to. While always sympathetic, the author never seems apologetic, and never glosses over some of the ugly details that make "them" so hated. All in all, a good casual read.

I enjoyed this book because this journalist's mind works like mine. He is curious about something, researches it. That information leads him to something else he researches, and so on. He also takes this new info he learned and applies it to himself and questions how his new knowledge changes his pre-concieved notion of things. It is an informative and interesting book.

A great journey into the world of psychopaths. Not only does Jon go on a strange 'round the world wild goose chase in search for the author of a strange book that was anonymously mailed to professionals all over the globe, but he finds himself delving into the psychology of psychopaths along the way and is captivated by it, much as I was by this book. If you have any interest in psychology you will not be able to put this book down.

If you have any interest at all in studying human behavior then you should read this book. If you've ever suspected that your boss, or representative in government or pesky neighbor might be a Psychopath then use this book to inflate those suspicions whether they're accurate or not. It's a great and revealing read about the potentially dangerous people living among us.

Ronson's book is a good read, and an entertaining exploration of the classification process that's taken precedence in the field of mental health. It is, somewhat strangely, an almost whimsical voice at times, and includes a lot of the author's personal asides and anecdotes--some of them more relevant than others. Ultimately, I found the book somewhat disappointing. Perhaps I expected something a bit more serious.

Jon Ronson has a way of providing information in such a way that the reader experiences the learning process through his eyes, and witt. This information is so important today. An inside look at the influence of New World Order plots and accusations against the global elite are very dangerous. Ronson has done a supurb job of presenting the anguish this misleading propaganda can cause as well as the humor in the insanity of such notions. Ronson does not make accusations of any kind. He simply presents his experience among both those who promote these conpsiracy theories and those impacted by them. The events at Ruby Ridge is a tragedy that resulted as a result of New World Order propaganda, the racist idiology of the Aryan Nation, and the ignorance of those with a power trip and badges. Ronson has presented the facts as they are, from his experience among the players. Honesty is a most powerful tool, and Ronson uses it well. Reality can be both tragic and humorous. It is a tribute to Ronson that as a Jew he has the capacity to see so objectively the perspective of those trapped in the propaganda of Nazi ideology and how it is manipulated and developed. "Them" is an honest look at where the evidence lies, and where it does not.

The subject of psycopathy interests me greatly so the story drew me in easily. The author has a quest that is never really clear but takes us to some dark places and disturbed people across the globe. Yet the telling is almost lighthearted like a good "yarn" that you would tell at a dinner party.

His style of writing is very engaging. He tells good stories and his descriptions are very vivid. It's an interesting subject. I would have liked it to be longer, and maybe more detailed about what actually happened to these people, but I guess that's what Google is for.

The collection of stories and the way each topic was tied together made this difficult to put down. My one complaint would be that there isn't a whole lot of current science in the theories. Plenty of historical aspects and the author's opinions to keep you entertained.

i was intrigued by ronson's premise that many CEO's and other influential persons may, in fact, be psychopaths. Unfortunately ronson only applies the psychopath test to one person and spends the rest of the time flitting from subject to subject, leaving one to wonder just what the point of the book is.

Lest I drag you through the depths of the department of redundancy department, may i direct you to Fred Moramarco's review: 'On the right track, but never reaches the depot.' Mr. Moramarco says everything i believe about this book, and far more eloquently and succinctly than i ever could.

'The Psychopath Test' could have been a fascinating journey into the minds of some truly deranged individuals, many of whom influence the world around us in unsavory and dangerous ways. It is a shame that Ronson barely scratches the surface, and perhaps some day he or someone else will revisit this subject and give it the thorough examination it deserves.

I couldn't stop reading.
Informative, scary and sad.
I would recommend everyone read this book.

Parents of children being diagnosed with psychological disorders should definitely be aware of these findings.

A truly great book. Jon Ronson goes deep in among the sorts of people that are usually ignored by the media. The still is always light and witty, and the stories he experiences will shock and puzzle you

_Them_ is not a thorough expose of popular extremist groups or conspiracy theories.

This book (like so much of Ronson's work) is a character study. Or rather, a study of characters. _Them_ is a first-hand account of one man's experience with some of the people closest (in one capacity or another) to these groups. And taken as such (instead of as an encyclopedic analysis of the groups themselves), it's an absorbing read.

If you're a conspiracy monger on a singular hunt for his next fix, you probably won't get much out of _Them_. But if you appreciate well-written narratives about interesting people in particular social contexts, I recommend it.

Frankly, after reading this, I'm not certain on which side of the bars I feel safer and I only scored a...no, wait, I'm not saying. I lived through this era and had no idea. Quite an awakening. Will definitely read again. Mr. Ronson is a braver man than I.

Interesting read, I remember the rise of Psychology in the late sixties early seventies and this book brings that all to life and connects lots of dots from that era.

The real question remains, did the Psychopaths decide who was sane and who wasn't by deciding the rules or laws of Psychology.

I finished this book within the day it was downloaded on my Kindle. The author took me on a crazy, quickly paced journey involving a most interesting collection of people. The first chapter hooked me and I could not help but wonder where Jon was going to go with his early thesis. The book revealed some startling revelations about the field of psychology. In the end, Jon Ronson achieved for himself and the reader a subtler, humanized perspective regarding some of the outer fringes of human behavior.

Ronson is a great character and has a devious sense of humour. He is a pleasure to listen to and read. I was looking forward to this book for ages so perhaps I set it up too high in my mind. Still - it's Ronson. I enjoyed it.

Very interesting read! For me, this was the first non-fiction page-turner I've read.

This isn't some scholarly journal or psychology text to analyze as your earn your degree. And it also isn't a way to see which of your friends is psychopathic (though I can't blame you if you make comparisons to those you know while reading!) It is, however, a captivating story with elements of psychology, intrigue, and insightful observations of people that go deeper than face-value.

Ronson has iron balls!! The Borat of serious journalism and heir to the throne of Hunter S. Thompson. You do not have to be a conspiracist to enjoy this work... Ronson isn't one himself. He just followed the bizarre trail of crumbs left by all the nuts he interviewed...and learned they were not so crazy after all.