Post by Gilberto on Nov 19, 2011 7:51:00 GMT -5
Jon Ronson is my new hero. He's like Vonnegut, except his stories aren't fiction (Vonnegut's aren't strictly fiction either, when you think about it).
I like "The Psychopath Test" better because the subject matter led to more interesting places, but "Them" is definitely worth the trip. I hoped that exploring the lunatic fringe would be a little wackier, but he spends a lot of time with political extremists. There's a lot of interesting stuff about the Bilderberg Group and the lizard people who rule the world, but he spends more time with KKK members and Islamic extremists than he does with conspiracy wackos. That's a bit disappointing because I'm more interested in them than the political extremists. There's an interesting overlap in all their mindsets that I think he illustrates fairly well.
What I love about Ronson is not just his sense of humor, but his sense of humanity. He finds a way to embed himself into anyone's world without judgment and to record their viewpoints without abridgment. Unfortunately for most of them, getting an uncensored look at these people stands to hurt their credibility more than help it.
I like "The Psychopath Test" better because the subject matter led to more interesting places, but "Them" is definitely worth the trip. I hoped that exploring the lunatic fringe would be a little wackier, but he spends a lot of time with political extremists. There's a lot of interesting stuff about the Bilderberg Group and the lizard people who rule the world, but he spends more time with KKK members and Islamic extremists than he does with conspiracy wackos. That's a bit disappointing because I'm more interested in them than the political extremists. There's an interesting overlap in all their mindsets that I think he illustrates fairly well.
What I love about Ronson is not just his sense of humor, but his sense of humanity. He finds a way to embed himself into anyone's world without judgment and to record their viewpoints without abridgment. Unfortunately for most of them, getting an uncensored look at these people stands to hurt their credibility more than help it.