The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
They say one out of every hundred people is a psychopath. You probably passed on on the street today. These are people who have no empathy, are manipulative, deceitful, charming, seductive, and delusional. The Psychopath Test is the New York Times More They say one out of every hundred people is a psychopath. You probably passed on on the street today. These are people who have no empathy, are manipulative, deceitful, charming, seductive, and delusional. The Psychopath Test is the New York Times bestselling exploration of their world and the madness industry.
When Jon Ronson is drawn into an elaborate hoax played on some of the world's top scientists, his investigation leads him, unexpectedly, to psychopaths. He meets an influential psychologist who is convinced that many important business leaders and politicians are in fact high-flying, high-functioning psychopaths, and teaches Ronson how to spot them. Armed with these new abilities, Ronson meets a patient inside an asylum for the criminally insane who insists that he's sane, a mere run-of-the-mill troubled youth, not a psychopath-- a claim that might be only manipulation, and a sign of his psychopathy. He spends time with a death-squad leader institutionalized for mortgage fraud, and a legendary CEO who took joy in shutting down factories and firing people. He delves into the fascinating history of psychopathy diagnosis and treatments, from LSD-fueled days-long naked therapy sessions in prisons to attempts to understand serial killers.
Along the way, Ronson discovers that relatively ordinary people are, more and more, defined by their most insane edges. The Psychopath Test is a fascinating adventure through the minds of madness. Less
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Simeon rated it it was amazing
about 1 year ago
A video recently went viral of a Texas judge savagely beating his disabled teenage daughter with a belt.
(view spoiler) [ Her mother tells her to "bend over and take it like a woman" moments after the man's sadistic promise to beat. (hide spoiler) ] Read full review
Lynn Weber rated it it was ok
over 3 years ago
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 sociop. Read full review
Courtney Lindwall rated it really liked it
about 6 years ago
Recommends it for: People who want to learn to spot Psychopaths
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. Read full review
Ariel rated it liked it
My first read of the year and it isn't what I was hoping for 3 I decided to jump on this because of my crazy love for Jon Ronson's newest book, So You've Been Publicly Shamed. but I realize now that I underestimated just how much the subject matter of that book contribute. Read full review
Bill Kerwin rated it really liked it
A breezy, entertaining journey through the public effects of madness, with particular attention to the impact of the psychopath on society.
Ronson is an excellent writer with a fine sense of humor who knows how to tell a good story in plain language. That he is able to do. Read full review
G rated it it was amazing
over 3 years ago
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. Read full review
Stephanie rated it it was amazing
over 3 years ago
“There is no evidence that we've been placed on this planet to be especially happy or especially normal. And in fact our unhappiness and our strangeness, our anxieties and compulsions, those least fashionable aspects of our personalities, are quite often what lead us to d. Read full review
Jason rated it liked it
over 3 years ago
I thought this would be a great tool for self-diagnosis, but actually Ronson skitters from one case to another without really making any definitive point. But maybe that’s the point. Psychopathy is probably not an absolute for most people, as there are many among us who e. Read full review
Mike (the Paladin) rated it really liked it
over 5 years ago
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. Read full review
Maxwell rated it it was ok
This was a bit of a disappointment. I found the first 50% of the book to be a bit forgettable. It was hard for me to see where Ronson was going with each chapter. Though I found the examination of mental illness, especially the stigmas around it and the potential harms of. Read full review