Jon Ronson possesses a distinctive knack for uncovering the hidden currents beneath seemingly ordinary events, exploring the fringes of society and the psychology of belief. His work often blurs the lines between journalism and documentary, delving into unusual subcultures and unconventional ideas with a keen, investigative eye. Ronson's approach is characterized by his willingness to ask uncomfortable questions and explore complex phenomena with a blend of curiosity and critical analysis. He invites readers and viewers to consider the stranger aspects of human behavior and the narratives we construct.
From the Sunday Times top ten bestselling author of The Psychopath Test, a captivating and brilliant exploration of one of our world's most underappreciated forces: shame. 'It's about the terror, isn't it?' 'The terror of what?' I said. 'The terror of bei
In the late 1980s Jon Ronson was the keyboard player in the Frank Sidebottom Oh Blimey Big Band. Frank wore a big fake head. Nobody outside his inner circle knew his true identity. This became the subject of feverish speculation during his zenith years. Together, they rode relatively high. Then it all went wrong. Twenty-five years later and Jon has co-written a movie, Frank , inspired by his time in this great and bizarre band. Frank is set for release in 2014, starring Michael Fassbender, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Domhnall Gleeson and directed by Lenny Abrahamson. Frank: The True Story that Inspired the Movie is a memoir of funny, sad times and a tribute to outsider artists too wonderfully strange to ever make it in the mainstream. It tells the true story behind the fictionalized movie.
A collection of mini-adventure stories from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Psychopath Test. Now including two new stories.
In this madcap journey, a bestselling journalist investigates psychopaths and the industry of doctors, scientists, and everyone else who studies them.
In part one, read about the time Jon inadvertently made a lewd gesture to a passing fourteen-year-old girl late at night in the lobby of a country-house hotel. And about his burgeoning obsession with a new neighbour who refused to ask him what he did for a living, despite Jon’s constant dropping of intriguing hints. And about the embarrassment of being caught recycling small talk at a party. In part two, read some of Jon’s longer stories, which explore manifestations of insanity in the wider world: the tiny town of North Pole, Alaska, where it’s Christmas 365 days of the year; behind the scenes at Deal or No Deal, which Jon likens to a cult with Noel Edmonds as its high priest; a meeting with TV hypnotist Paul McKenna, who has joined forces with a self-help guru who once stood trial for murder – but can they cure Jon of his one big phobia? As hilarious as it is perturbing, Jon Ronson’s new collection is a treat for everyone who has ever suspected themselves to be at the mercy of forces they can barely comprehend.
Jon Ronson’s subjects have included people who believe that goats can be killed by the power of a really hard stare, and people who believe that the world is ruled by twelve-foot lizard-men. In Out of the Ordinary, a collection of his journalism from the Guardian, he turns his attention to irrational beliefs much closer to home, investigating the ways in which we sometimes manage to convince ourselves that all manner of lunacy makes perfect sense – mainstream, domestic, ordinary insanity. Whether he finds himself promising his son that he will be at his side for ever, dressed in a Santa costume, or trying to understand why hundreds of apparently normal people would suddenly start speaking in tongues in a Scout hut in Kidderminster, he demonstrates repeatedly how we all succumb to deeply irrational beliefs that grow to inform our everyday existence. Out of the Ordinary is Jon Ronson at his inimitable best: hilarious, thought-provoking and with an unerring eye for human frailty – not least his own. Praise for The Men Who Stare at Goats: ‘Not only a narcotic road trip through the wackier reaches of Bush’s war effort, but also an unmissable account of some of the insanity that has lately been done in our names’ Observer Praise for Them: Adventures with Extremists: ‘A funny and compulsively readable picaresque adventure through a paranoid shadow world’ Louis Theroux, Guardian
Why are Iraqi prisoners of war forced to listen to Barney the Purple Dinosaur's theme tune repeatedly, at top volume? Why have a hundred de-bleated goats been secretly placed inside the Special Forces command centre at Fort Bragg, North Carolina? Has the US Army really enlisted the help of Uri Geller?In The Men Who Stare at Goats, Jon Ronson searches for answers to these and many other questions, revealing some of the extraordinary beliefs at the core of the War on Terror.So unbelievable that it has to be true – this is the real-life account that inspired the film.
In this eye-opening portrait of extremist groups--75 percent of which are located in this country--Jon Ronson takes readers inside the hearts and minds of people often summarily dismissed as kooks and crazies.