Claire Messud's new novel, The Woman Upstairs, is fiercely intelligent and urgently intimate, written with precision, humor, and an incredible...
Continue »
ronald, January 19, 2012 (view all comments by ronald)
Another engrossing and fun read in the land of the strange and weird. Ronson is a master at writing about the extremes of human behavior while making his quest reliable, entertaining, and educating.
katoast, January 9, 2012 (view all comments by katoast)
An in-depth look into diagnostic criteria for "psychopaths" combined with witty commentary based on personal experience. This journalist tells a great story and has the research experience needed to validate his observations and opinions. Captivating even for a kid with unmediated ADD (me)
ashevillelibrarian, January 9, 2012 (view all comments by ashevillelibrarian)
This, like all Jon Ronson books, is a must-read. You will look at the world and people around you differently and question basic notions of virtue and responsibility. Weighty as it sounds, it's also a really enjoyable read.
Robin Nelson, January 1, 2012 (view all comments by Robin Nelson)
Psychopaths are everywhere and on every path of life. This is an interesting look into the eerie moods and careers of psychopathic individuals. Does a person know they are narcissistic or psychopathic? No, because it is a brain function and or personality disorder that contains pieces of madness. They lack human empathy, yet can be charming and intelligent. Psychopaths can be successful in their profession or in a mental institution. It depends on the degree of illness and a bit of luck. Jon Ronson discusses and explains how psychopaths are in every corner of society and how to spot them. With a psychological profile and checklist containing 20 items that may point a finger to the madness that makes the world go around.
"Publishers Weekly Review"
by Publishers Weekly,
"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 Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
"Synopsis"
by Penguin,
The memoir of a neuroscientist whose research led him to a bizarre personal discovery
James Fallon had spent an entire career studying how our brains affect our behavior when his research suddenly turned personal. While studying brain scans of several family members, he discovered that one perfectly matched a pattern hed found in the brains of serial killers. This meant one of two things: Either his familys scans had been mixed up with those of felons or someone in his family was a psychopath.
Even more disturbing: The scan in question was his own.
This is Fallons account of coming to grips with this discovery and its implications. How could he, a happy family man who had never been prone to violence, be a psychopath? How much did his biology influence his behavior?
Fallon shares his journey to answer these questions and the discoveries that ultimately led to his conclusion: Despite everything science can teach, humans are even more complex than we can imagine.
"Synopsis"
by Firebrand,
New York Timesand#150;bestselling author of The Psychopath Test Jon Ronson writes about the dark, uncanny sides of humanity with clarity and humor. Lost at Seaand#151;now with new materialand#151;reveals how deep our collective craziness lies, even in the most mundane circumstances.
Ronson investigates the strange things weand#8217;re willing to believe in, from robots programmed with our loved onesand#8217; personalities to indigo children to the Insane Clown Posseand#8217;s juggalo fans. He looks at ordinary lives that take on extraordinary perspectives. Among them: a pop singer whose greatest passion is the coming alien invasion, assisted-suicide practitioners, and an Alaskan townand#8217;s Christmas-induced high school mass-murder plot. He explores all these tales with a sense of higher purpose and universality, yet they are stories not about the fringe of society. They are about all of us. Incisive and hilarious, poignant and maddening, revealing and disturbingand#151;Ronson writes about our modern world, and reveals how deep our collective craziness lies, and the chaos stirring at the edge of our daily lives.
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.
