The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry

by Jon Ronson

Overview

What if society wasn't fundamentally rational, but was motivated by insanity? This thought sets Jon Ronson on an utterly compelling adventure into the world of madness.

Along the way, Jon meets psychopaths, those whose lives have been touched by madness and those whose job it is to diagnose it, including the influential psychologist who developed the Psychopath Test, from whom Jon learns the art of psychopath-spotting. A skill which seemingly reveals that madness could indeed be at the heart of everything . . .

Combining Jon Ronson's trademark humour, charm and investigative incision, The Psychopath Test is both entertaining and honest, unearthing dangerous truths and asking serious questions about how we define normality in a world where we are increasingly judged by our maddest edges.

'The belly laughs come thick and fast – my God, he is funny . . . provocative and interesting' – Observer

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781447202509
Publisher:	Pan Macmillan
Publication date:	06/03/2011
Series:	Picador Collection , #108
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jon Ronson is an award-winning writer and documentary maker. He is the author of many bestselling books, including Frank: The True Story that Inspired the Movie, Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries, The Psychopath Test, The Men Who Stare at Goats,Them: Adventures with Extremists and So You've Been Publicly Shamed. His first fictional screenplay, Frank, co-written with Peter Straughan, starred Michael Fassbender. He lives in London and New York City.
Jon Ronson is an award-winning writer and documentary maker. He is the author of many bestselling books, including So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, The Psychopath Test, Lost at Sea, The Men Who Stare at Goats and Them: Adventures with Extremists. His acclaimed podcasts include Things Fell Apart and The Butterfly Effect, and he co-wrote the screenplays for the movies Okja and Frank. He lives in New York.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Because of Ronson’s relentless self-deprecation and goofy, British humor, it’s easy to tag along without fully realizing the rigor of his reporting, which is itself frenzied with compulsive questioning and obsessive research.” — The Boston Globe

“A rollicking, page-turner of a book... no ordinary piece of investigative journalism… Ronson’s storytelling skills are strong enough to enliven even the necessary reflections that would be one yawn after another if entrusted to a lesser writer.” — San Francisco Chronicle

“…A book that manages to be as cheerily kooky as it is well-researched.” — Los Angeles Times

“Engagingly irreverent…” — New York Times

“[A] fascinating and humane book…” — Washington Post Book World

“…Both terrifying and hilarious.” — O, The Oprah Magazine

Editorial Reviews

Author/documentary filmmaker Jon Ronson has made a career writing about people on the outskirts. His Them: Adventures with Extremists and The Men Who Stare at Goats have both been hits; in fact, the latter book also became a major motion picture. His latest full immersion into craziness begins when he learns of a British prisoner who, in a foolhardy plan for early release, pretends that he is insane. This foxy hoax worked so well that the convict finds himself incarcerated as incurably mad. From that dizzying takeoff, Ronson's book cruises to theories about CEO and politician psychopaths and interviews with neurologists about telltale clues of mental dysfunction. A refreshing take on the grim topic of lunacy.

In this engrossing exploration of psychiatry's attempts to understand and treat psychopathy, British journalist Ronson (whose The Men Who Stare at Goats was the basis for the 2009 movie starring George Clooney) reveals that psychopaths are more common than we'd like to think. Visiting Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital, where some of Britain's worst criminal offenders are sent, Ronson discovers the difficulties of diagnosing the complex disorder when he meets one inmate who says he feigned psychopathy to get a lighter sentence, and instead has spent 12 years in Broadmoor. The psychiatric community's criteria for diagnosing psychopathy (which isn't listed in its handbook, DSM-IV) is a checklist developed by the Canadian prison psychologist Robert Hare. Using Hare's rubric, which includes "glibness," "grandiose sense of self-worth," and "lack of remorse," Ronson sets off to interview possible psychopaths, many of them in positions of power, from a former Haitian militia leader to a power-hungry CEO. Raising more questions than it answers, and far from a dry medical history lesson, this book brings droll wit to buoy this fascinating journey through "the madness business." (May)

Publishers Weekly

A book that [is] as cheerily kooky as it is well-researched.”

|Los Angeles Times

Author/narrator Ronson’s likable personality makes the listening easy. All his wry humor, sarcasm, and droll wit are evident in his narration.”

AudioFile

A masterful storyteller who shares a compelling tale about a quest for information.”

Booklist

Because of Ronson’s relentless self-deprecation and goofy, British humor, it’s easy to tag along without fully realizing the rigor of his reporting, which is itself frenzied with compulsive questioning and obsessive research.” — The Boston Globe

“A rollicking, page-turner of a book... no ordinary piece of investigative journalism… Ronson’s storytelling skills are strong enough to enliven even the necessary reflections that would be one yawn after another if entrusted to a lesser writer.” — San Francisco Chronicle

“…A book that manages to be as cheerily kooky as it is well-researched.” — Los Angeles Times

“Engagingly irreverent…” — New York Times

“[A] fascinating and humane book…” — Washington Post Book World

“…Both terrifying and hilarious.” — O, The Oprah Magazine

From the Publisher