The Psychopath Test - Loved It

[slpierce]

Has anyone read The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson (the guy who wrote Men Who Stare At Goats)?  I bought it yesterday and finished it today.  It was that good.  I love the way this guy writes.  He puts a lot of himself in the book and some of it is so funny because I'm not sure he's even trying to be funny.  It's hard to describe but it's a very interesting read. 
Anyone?

[Ann in Arlington]

I think he understands it's funny. . . .he was on Jon Stewart one evening last week. . . .interesting, and amusing, interview.  Should be available on line via The Daily Show website. . .  .

[Grady Hendrix]

I really like Ronson's books - he's one of the few serious journalists who makes an effort to be entertaining and succeeds without mocking his subjects. I didn't love THEM but thought it was fine, but THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS and the piece he did for "This American Life" about the subway bombing in London are both really amazing. Looking forward to reading the new one. There's a large excerpt from PSYCHOPATH TEST in the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/may/21/jon-ronson-how-to-spot-a-psychopath

[Kenneth Rosenberg]

This does look like a really interesting read.  I saw him on The Daily Show as well last week.  It is interesting how such a large percentage of corporate CEO's are clinically psychopaths, according to what he said, because taking out the moral questions in things makes decision-making so much easier.  So the two largest populations of psychopaths, according to the interview, were prisoners and CEOs.  Go figure.  I definitely want to check this book out, though!

[L.J. Sellers, novelist]

Sounds intriguing! I just downloaded a sample. I somehow missed that Jon Stewart show.
L.J.

[tim290280]

The Daily Show Episode:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/mon-may-16-2011-jon-ronson

Gotta love that stat: 1% of the population, 4% of CEOs and 25% of prison inmates are psychopaths.

Leah Giarratano, author of the Jill Jackson mysteries, is a clinical psychologist and when she was describing how to spot a psychopath I actually said she had just described most of my bosses. Leah basically said that managers, bosses, etc, tend to exhibit more antisocial behaviour traits and psychopaths are far more common in positions of power.

Interesting aside: I really liked Leah when I met her at the Perth Writers' Festival. I bumped into one of the Perth Writers' Festival organisers this weekend and apparently she really liked her too and couldn't speak highly enough of her. She is also a good crime author.

[sighdone]

I love Jon Ronson, he's a brilliant and funny writer. Not read Psychopath Test yet though, but I will buy it this week.

His UK radio show is also fantastic listening, and they are available on his website too.

http://www.jonronson.com/ronsonon.html

[Julia444]

Thanks for this recommendation.  I saw him on Stewart, too, and thought that he was not only clever, but honest.  As an anxious person myself, I appreciated his confession that he is extremely anxious and therefore the worst person to be interviewing known psychopaths. 

Julia

[matt youngmark]

I bought the book after seeing Ronson on the Daily Show too, and devoured it in an afternoon. It's as much about our society's rush to diagnose in general as it is about identifying psychopaths -- a really great read.

[Tara Maya]

This sounds like something I must add to the "Psychopath" section of my library.