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 … 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.
more
I can’t recommend books by Jon Ronson enough. The Psychopath Test is his journey into the origins of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) by Scientology, the psychopath test by Bob Hare, people potentially trapped by the boxes of mental illness checklists, alternative attempts to “cure” psychopathy, and conversations with people like R.D. Laing’s son about a problematic room of a schizophrenic. Read it all, and take in the absurdity around the birth of the DSM and children (as young as four years old) being diagnosed with bi-polar disorder.
Funny, worrying, absurd, and a good read.
This book delves into the profession of psychiatry and how easily “group think” can lead to unintended consequences. What I found particularly interesting is how the same personality traits found in a psychopathic killer are also found in some supposedly successful business people as well as politicians. The book also pointed out our collective interest in people who “aren’t normal” as evidenced by reality tv shows yet we become uninterested if that abnormality is too far off the conventional norm. It became quite clear, how hard it is to determine if someone is psychopathic when by their very nature, these people are very charismatic and usually quite smart at justifying their behavior in a very logical well thought out argument. Unless they do something very terrible, they can live among us successfully manipulating the unsuspecting. The author does go a bit off course from what I thought was the primary aim of the book into the current habit of the psychiatric profession today labeling almost everything as some sort of disorder. By these standards no one I know is “normal” if it exists at all. It does make you think.
This is one of the most fascinating books I have read in quite some time. Being a journalist, Ronson weaves a balanced narrative with his gift as a storyteller as he leads the reader on a journey investigating how we view, and attempt to treat mental illness. He presents his sources, warts and all, and is willing to question his own motives, which is rare. He doesn’t have all the answers, but he is asking the right questions, and is willing to make a joke at his own expense. A great read!
This book was a bit disappointing for me. I thought I would leave it with a better understanding of the actual psychopath test created by Robert Hare but the author didn’t spend all that much time on it. I did however enjoy the authors writing style and his journey through trying to better understand psychopaths / confirm whether or not the people he was meeting were actual psychopaths was fun to follow.
Its a really easy, light, and quick read so I would recommend it, maybe as a weekend read.
Thoroughly entertaining and well researched look at the field of psychology studying the branches of sociopathy and psychopathy, and real-life impact of both criminal and socially established psychopaths. Written with the engaging easy-to-read style of a popular journalist, Ronson makes the intriguing case that many of the most ruthless and effective people in the upper reaches of the business and political world may in fact have achieved their “success” and positions due to their psycopathic inability to understand or empathize with “normal” people and civilized life.
A treatise not only on Psychpaths but on Psychiatry for the past 40 years. Scary since it sounds like one could roam Wall Street, Corporate headquarters, maximum security prisons or the white house
Very interesting.
Readable research based discussion of the psychopathic personality written by a psychologist who has spent his career studying this population in the criminal justice system
Perhaps I had unrealistic expectations, but I didn’t really understand the relationship of the book mentioned in the first chapter to the rest of the subject matter. The prose wandered a bit and I was glad to be done with it.
It starts a bit slowly, but when the author starts interviewing psychiatrists and psychologists about determining if a person is a psychopath or just your regular miscreant, he finds there are characteristics of the psychopath that don’t show up in others. There was a list of 20 characteristics that could be observed. Things such as habitual lying, self agrandisement, superficial charm, prone to boredom, manipulative, lack of remorse, impulsive, etc. Not many criminals are psychopaths, but among government, clergy, and business there are higher rates than the public at large. It makes me wonder what kind of person could tear children out of the arms of their parents. Though I haven’t finished the book yet, it seems to be answering the question. Highly recommended reading.
Very valid read in this era of Trump.
I lived this book and want to read his other books!
It had some good information but the author seemed to have an anti-psychiatric agenda
Learned a lot about psychopathic behavior.
the entire book had me on the edge of my seat had to read it thru asap. The ending blew me away
Although I’m not quite finished…I have reached the point where I know this guy has it figured out. (about half way) I am incredibly impressed and to tell the truth, frightened by his findings. This study should be required reading for high school students, college students, and any other group you could make a required reading assignment. Psychopaths/Sociopaths make up a huge part of our world…we should be able to spot them before they do their damage. Thanks to the author for his fascinating take on seriously mentally ill people who pass for normal.