Synopses & Reviews
For more than two years, author and psychotherapist Gary Greenberg has embedded himself in the war that broke out over the fifth edition of the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disordersthe DSMthe American Psychiatric Associations compendium of mental illnesses and what Greenberg calls the book of woe.”
Since its debut in 1952, the book has been frequently revised, and with each revision, the official” view on which psychological problems constitute mental illness. Homosexuality, for instance, was a mental illness until 1973, and Aspergers gained recognition in 1994 only to see its status challenged nearly twenty years later. Each revision has created controversy, but the DSM-5, the newest iteration, has shaken psychiatry to its foundations. The APA has taken fire from patients, mental health practitioners, and former members for extending the reach of psychiatry into daily life by encouraging doctors to diagnose more illnesses and prescribe more therapiesoften medications whose efficacy is unknown and whose side effects are severe. Criticsincluding Greenbergargue that the APA should not have the naming rights to psychological pain or to the hundreds of millions of dollars the organization earns, especially when even the DSMs staunchest defenders acknowledge that the disorders listed in the book are not real illnesses.
Greenbergs account of the history behind the DSM, which has grown from pamphlet-sized to encyclopedic since it was first published, and his behind-the-scenes reporting of the deeply flawed process by which the DSM-5 has been revised, is both riveting and disturbing. Anyone who has received a diagnosis of mental disorder, filed a claim with an insurer, or just wondered whether daily troubles qualify as true illness should know how the DSM turns suffering into a commodity, and the APA into its own biggest beneficiary. Invaluable and informative, The Book of Woe is bound to spark intense debate among expert and casual readers alike.
Review
Praise for The Psychopath Test “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
“Engagingly irreverent.”—The New York Times
“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] fascinating and humane book.”—The Washington Post Book World
“Both terrifying and hilarious.”—O: The Oprah Magazine
Review
Praise for The Psychopath Test “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
“Engagingly irreverent.”—The New York Times
“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] fascinating and humane book.”—The Washington Post Book World
“Both terrifying and hilarious.”—O: The Oprah Magazine
Review
“Gary Greenberg is a thoughtful comedian and a cranky philosopher and a humble pest of a reporter, equal parts Woody Allen, Kierkegaard, and Columbo.
The Book of Woe is a profound, and profoundly entertaining, riff on malady, power, and truth. This book is for those of us (i.e. all of us) who've ever wondered what it means, and what's at stake, when we try to distinguish the suffering of the ill from the suffering of the human.”
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, author of A Sense of Direction
Review
and#8220;Profoundly weird...wonderfully twisted...extremely satisfying.and#8221;and#8212;
Boston Globe and#8220;Initially, it seems that oddities are what...Jon Ronson is after. Heand#8217;s actually really just trying to understand the irrational hopes and desires that drive us all.and#8221;and#8212;The Daily Beast
and#8220;Eclectic and fascinating...Ronson treats his subjects fairly but skeptically...his view always framed by an appropriately cocked eyebrow.and#8221;and#8212;Entertainment Weekly
and#160;
and#8220;Absurdly entertaining.and#8221;and#8212;Publishers Weekly (starred review)
and#160;
and#8220;A sterling collection of amazing stories from an offbeat journalist at the top of his game.and#8221;and#8212;Kirkus Reviews
Review
“[I]ndustrious and perfervid... Mr. Greenberg [argues] that the [DSM] and its authors, the American Psychiatric Association, wield their power arbitrarily and often unwisely, encouraging the diagnosis of too many bogus mental illnesses in patients (binge eating disorder, for example) and too much medication to treat them....Mr. Greenberg argues that psychiatry needs to become more humble, not more certain and aggressive....Greenberg is a fresher, funnier writer. He paces the psychiatric stage as if he were part George Carlin, part Gregory House.”
—Dwight Garner, The New York Times
“Greenbergs documentation of the DSM-5 revision process is an essential read for practicing and in-training psychotherapists and psychiatrists and is an important contribution to the history of psychiatry.”
—Library Journal
“The rewriting of the bible of psychiatry shakes the field to its foundations in this savvy, searching exposé. Deploying wised-up, droll reportage from the trenches of psychiatric policy-making and caustic profiles of the disciplines luminaries, Greenberg subjects the practices of the mental health industry—his own included—to a withering critique. The result is a compelling insiders challenge to psychiatrys scientific pretensions—and a plea to return it to its humanistic roots.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Greenberg is an entertaining guide through the treacheries and valuable instances of the DSM, interviewing members on both sides of the divide and keeping the proceedings conversational even when discussing the manuals pretensions toward epistemic iteration. He also brings his own practice into [The Book of Woe], with examples of the DSM falling woefully short in capturing the complexity of personality. Bright, humorous and seriously thoroughgoing, Greenberg takes all the DSMs for a spin as revealing as the emperors new clothes.”—Kirkus Reviews
“[A] brilliant look at the making of DSM-5...entertaining, biting and essential...Greenberg builds a splendid and horrifying read....[he] shows us vividly that psychiatrys biggest problem may be a stubborn reluctance to admit its immaturity.”
—David Dobbs, Nature.com
“Gary Greenberg is a thoughtful comedian and a cranky philosopher and a humble pest of a reporter, equal parts Woody Allen, Kierkegaard, and Columbo. The Book of Woe is a profound, and profoundly entertaining, riff on malady, power, and truth. This book is for those of us (i.e., all of us) who've ever wondered what it means, and what's at stake, when we try to distinguish the suffering of the ill from the suffering of the human.”
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, author of A Sense of Direction
“This could be titled The Book of ... Whoa! An eye-popping look at the unnerving, often tawdry politics of psychiatry.”
—Gene Weingarten, two-time Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Fiddler in the Subway
“Bringing the full force of his wit, warmth, and tenacity to this accessible inside account of the latest revision of psychiatrys diagnostic bible, Gary Greenberg has written a book to rival the importance of its subject. Keenly researched and vividly reported, The Book of Woe is frank, impassioned, on fire for the truth—and best of all, vigorously, beautifully alive to its storys human stakes.”
—Michelle Orange, author of This Is Running for Your Life
“Gary Greenberg has become the Dante of our psychiatric age, and the DSM-5 is his Inferno. He guides us through the not-so-divine comedy that results when psychiatrists attempt to reduce our hopelessly complex inner worlds to an arbitrary taxonomy that provides a disorder for everybody. Greenberg leads us into depths that Dante never dreamed of. The Book of Woe is a mad chronicle of so-called madness.”
—Errol Morris, Academy Award-winning director, and author of A Wilderness of Error
“In this gripping, devastating account of psychiatric hubris, Gary Greenberg shows that the process of revising the DSM remains as haphazard and chaotic as ever. His meticulous research into the many failures of DSM-5 will spark concern, even alarm, but in doing so will rule out complacency. The Book of Woe deserves a very wide readership.”
—Christopher Lane, author of Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness
“Gary Greenbergs The Book of Woe is about the DSM in the way that Moby-Dick is about a whale—big-time, but only in part. An engaging history of a professions virtual bible, The Book of Woe is also a probing consideration of those psychic depths we cannot know and those social realities we pretend not to know, memorably rendered by a seasoned journalist who parses the complexities with a pickpockets eye and a menschs heart. If I wanted a therapist, and especially if I wanted to clear my mind of cant, Id make an appointment with Dr. Greenberg as soon as he could fit me in.”
—Garret Keizer, author of Privacy and The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want
“The Book of Woe is a brilliant, ballsy excursion into the minefield of modern psychiatry. Greenberg has wit, energy, and a wonderfully skeptical mind. If you want to understand how we think of mental suffering today—and why, and to what effect—read this book.”
—Daniel Smith, author of Monkey Mind
“[Greenbergs] fascinating history of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSM)...show[s] just how muddled the boundaries of mental health truly are.”
—Chloë Schama, Smithsonian
“Greenberg argues persuasively that the current DSM encourages psychiatrists to reach beyond their competence....Im impressed by Greenbergs reporting, his subtlety of thought, his dedication to honesty, and his literacy....a very good book.”
—Benjamin Nugent, Slate.com
“The process of assembling [DSM-5] has been anything but smooth, as The Book of Woe relates....Greenberg argues—persuasively—that this fifth edition of the DSM arises not out of any new scientific understanding but from one of the periodic crises of psychiatry....invaluable.”
—Laura Miller, Salon.com
“In The Book of Woe, Greenberg takes the lay reader through a history of the DSM, which is really a history of psychiatry....[a] fascinating and well-researched account.”
—Suzanne Koven, The Boston Globe
“[E]ngaging, radical and generally delectable...Greenberg is a practicing psychotherapist who writes with the insight of a professional and the panache of a literary journalist....[a] brilliant take-down of the psychiatric profession...The Book of Woe offers a lucid and useful history.”
—Julia M. Klein, The Chicago Tribune
“This is a landmark book about a landmark book....Greenberg paints a picture so compelling and bleak that it could easily send the vulnerable reader into therapy....takes the reader deep inside the secretive world of the panels and personalities that have spent years arguing about which disorders and symptoms they would keep and which they would discard in the new DSM.”
—Robert Epstein, Scientific American
Review
Praise for Jon Ronson
“You have developed something…its almost like a new category of investigative satire. You go and you explore with great intellectual curiosity, but you find a way to make it very funny.”—Jon Stewart to Jon Ronson, on The Daily Show
“So entertaining…a smarter, nuttier version of The Tipping Point or Blink…Mr. Ronson…follows his trail of bread crumbs to the realms that really matter…Somehow he is able to keep his book both light and nightmarish…He remains terrifically adept at capturing the horror of these developments without losing track of their lunacy.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“Jon Ronsons writing is so charming, so entertaining and strange I would follow him anywhere, including a maximum security prison.” —Sarah Vowell, New York Times-bestselling author of Unfamiliar Fishes
Review
“
The Psychopath Inside is a deeply compelling personal story of an eminent scientists discovery of his own psychopathy. Jim Fallon confesses the sins of his biology and in doing so receives the absolution of being human. I couldnt put it down.”
—PAUL J. ZAK, PhD, author of The Moral Molecule: The Source of Love and Prosperity
“As comprehensive as it is compelling, essential reading for understanding the genetic and neuroscience underpinnings of psychopathy.”
—M. E. THOMAS, author of Confessions of a Sociopath
“Just the word ‘psychopath is enough to grab anyones attention and it has inspired numerous TV shows and films for many decades. In truth, I believe the word itself does little to wrap its arms around the infinite behavioral traits psychopaths possess, for good and bad. Fallon lets us inside his mind as he takes us on a deftly woven journey, breaking down every convention of psychopathic behavior.”
—SIMON MIRREN, former executive producer of Criminal Minds
“In a thought-provoking account of self-exploration, Fallon puts himself ‘under the microscope in an attempt to make sense of how his own biological and developmental history has shaped his life. His perspective on psychopathy pushes us to consider the important roles of nature and nurture, and the fine line between adaptive and maladaptive personality traits.”
—JOHN F. EDENS, PhD, professor of psychology, director of clinical training, and Cornerstone Faculty Fellow, College of Liberal Arts, Texas A&M University
"An intriguing look into the dark side of the brain. A must-read for anyone curious about why our brains think our darkest thoughts and how many of us go into states of psychosis without even realizing it. Dr. Fallon's study of my own brain helped me come to terms with my strangest ideas and why I function the way I do. Few people understand the brain as well as Dr. Fallon, and can write about it in such a fun and engaging way. A fascinating read."
—ELI ROTH, writer, director, and producer
Synopsis
In this madcap journey, a bestselling journalist investigates psychopaths and the industry of doctors, scientists, and everyone else who studies them. The Psychopath Test is a fascinating journey through the minds of madness. Jon Ronson's exploration of a potential hoax being played on the world's top neurologists takes him, unexpectedly, into the heart of the madness industry. An influential psychologist who is convinced that many important CEOs and politicians are, in fact, psychopaths teaches Ronson how to spot these high-flying individuals by looking out for little telltale verbal and nonverbal clues. And so Ronson, armed with his new psychopath-spotting abilities, enters the corridors of power. He spends time with a death-squad leader institutionalized for mortgage fraud in Coxsackie, New York; a legendary CEO whose psychopathy has been speculated about in the press; and a patient in an asylum for the criminally insane who insists he's sane and certainly not a psychopath.
Ronson not only solves the mystery of the hoax but also discovers, disturbingly, that sometimes the personalities at the helm of the madness industry are, with their drives and obsessions, as mad in their own way as those they study. And that relatively ordinary people are, more and more, defined by their maddest edges.
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Synopsis
They say one out of every hundred people is a psychopath. You probably passed one on the street today. These are people who have no empathy, who 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 with 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.
Synopsis
The New York Times–bestselling author of
The Psychopath Test, Jon Ronson writes about the dark, uncanny sides of humanity with clarity and humor.
Lost at Sea reveals how deep our collective craziness lies, even in the most mundane circumstances.
Ronson investigates the strange things we’re willing to believe in, from lifelike robots programmed with our loved ones’ personalities to indigo children to hypersuccessful spiritual healers to the Insane Clown Posse’s juggalo fans. He looks at ordinary lives that take on extraordinary perspectives, for instance a pop singer whose life’s greatest passion is the coming alien invasion, and the scientist designated to greet those aliens when they arrive. Ronson throws himself into the stories—in a tour de force piece, he splits himself into multiple Ronsons (Happy, Paul, and Titch, among others) to get to the bottom of credit card companies’ predatory tactics and the murky, fabulously wealthy companies behind those tactics. Amateur nuclear physicists, assisted-suicide practitioners, the town of North Pole, Alaska’s Christmas-induced high school mass-murder plot: Ronson explores all these tales with a sense of higher purpose and universality, and suddenly, mid-read, they are stories not about the fringe of society or about people far removed from our own experience, but about all of us.
Incisive and hilarious, poignant and maddening, revealing and disturbing—Ronson writes about our modern world, the foibles of contemporary culture, and the chaos that lies at the edge of our daily lives.
Synopsis
An exposé of the psychiatric profession’s bible from a leading psychotherapist, The Book of Woe reveals the deeply flawed process by which mental disorders are invented and uninvented—and why increasing numbers of therapy patients are being declared mentally ill.
Synopsis
The New York Times–bestselling author of
The Psychopath Test, Jon Ronson writes about the dark, uncanny sides of humanity with clarity and humor.
Lost at Sea reveals how deep our collective craziness lies, even in the most mundane circumstances.
Ronson investigates the strange things we’re willing to believe in, from lifelike robots programmed with our loved ones’ personalities to indigo children to hypersuccessful spiritual healers to the Insane Clown Posse’s juggalo fans. He looks at ordinary lives that take on extraordinary perspectives, for instance a pop singer whose life’s greatest passion is the coming alien invasion, and the scientist designated to greet those aliens when they arrive. Ronson throws himself into the stories—in a tour de force piece, he splits himself into multiple Ronsons (Happy, Paul, and Titch, among others) to get to the bottom of credit card companies’ predatory tactics and the murky, fabulously wealthy companies behind those tactics. Amateur nuclear physicists, assisted-suicide practitioners, the town of North Pole, Alaska’s Christmas-induced high school mass-murder plot: Ronson explores all these tales with a sense of higher purpose and universality, and suddenly, mid-read, they are stories not about the fringe of society or about people far removed from our own experience, but about all of us.
Incisive and hilarious, poignant and maddening, revealing and disturbing—Ronson writes about our modern world, the foibles of contemporary culture, and the chaos that lies at the edge of our daily lives.
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
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
From the internationally bestselling author of The Psychopath Test, a captivating and brilliant exploration of one of our worlds most overlooked forces.
For the past three years, Jon Ronson has been immersing himself in the world of modern-day public shamingmeeting famous shamees, shamers, and bystanders who have been impacted. This is the perfect time for a modern-day Scarlet Lettera radically empathetic book about public shaming, and about shaming as a form of social control. It has become such a big part of our lives it has begun to feel weird and empty when there isnt anyone to be furious about. Whole careers are being ruined by one mistake. A transgression is revealed. Our collective outrage at it has the force of a hurricane. Then we all quickly forget about it and move on to the next one, and it doesnt cross our minds to wonder if the shamed person is okay or in ruins. Whats it doing to them? Whats it doing to us?
Ronsons book is a powerful, funny, unique, and very humane dispatch from the frontline, in the escalating war on human nature and its flaws.
Synopsis
A legendary journalist explores the cult of conspiracy perpetrated by Milton William Cooper, and how it has contributed to the malignant threat of American paranoia.
About the Author
Jon Ronsons books include the
New York Times bestsellers
The Psychopath Test and
Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries, and international bestsellers
Them: Adventures with Extremists and
The Men Who Stare at Goats. He also cowrote the screenplay for
Frank, which will be released in theaters August 2014, and which stars Michael Fassbender and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Ronson is a regular contributor to
This American Life and lives in London and New York City.