What I’ve Read: The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson
This book is not your typical nonfiction examination of a certain subset of humanity. This is especially surprising because the topic of psychopathy is ripe for exploitation by writers. Think of the numbers of bad true crime nonfiction books that have been sold simply by masquerading as definitive works on the mind of a serial killer.
That’s not the case with this book. Refreshingly, it’s told from Ronson’s first-person perspective as he investigates psychopathy in both institutionalized settings and from the front-lines—with those people who may be psychopaths, but are also high-powered executives or politicians.
Much of the book is based upon Ronson’s meeting with Bob Hare, creator of the PCL-R test, which is essentially a checklist of traits that one can compare a potential psychopath too. If the score is high enough, the person being examined is more or less assumed to be psychopathic. Ronson, perhaps slightly over-confident with his newfound knowledge, goes Psychopath Hunting.
The book is surprisingly humorous and Ronson’s description of interviews (and the interview subjects) is riveting. While the topic isn’t a light one, he’s also managed to make the book nearly entertaining. This is also my slightest of criticisms: At times, I wished the book had a bit more heft or “meat.” I know the topic is overwhelmingly large, but I still felt that I wanted…more. More interviews? More examples? More…history? I can’t quite put my finger on it. Anyway, despite that one little qualm, I’d still highly recommend this book to you!
Have you read this book? What did you think?
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