The Psychopath Test

This is a story about madness. It all starts when journalist Jon Ronson is contacted by a leading neurologist. She and several colleagues have recently received a cryptically puzzling book in the mail, and Jon is challenged to solve the mystery behind it. As he searches for the answer, Jon soon finds himself, unexpectedly, on an utterly compelling and often unbelievable adventure into the world of madness. Jon meets a Broadmoor inmate who swears he faked a mental disorder to get a lighter sentence but is now stuck there, with nobody believing he's sane. He meets some of the people who catalogue mental illness, and those who vehemently oppose them. He meets the influential psychologist who developed the industry standard Psychopath Test and who is convinced that many important CEOs and politicians are in fact psychopaths. Jon learns from him how to ferret out these high-flying psychopaths and, armed with his new psychopath-spotting abilities, heads into the corridors of power...Combining Jon's trademark humour, charm and investigative incision, "The Psychopath Test" is a deeply honest book unearthing dangerous truths and asking serious questions about how we define normality in a world where we are increasingly judged by our maddest edges.

ISBN 0330492268   DEWEY edition DC22 ISBN13 9780330492263 (What's this?)   Pages 304 Publisher Pan Macmillan   Published in London Imprint Picador   Height (mm) 216 Format Hardback   Width (mm) 135 Publication date 03 Jun 2011   Academic level General DEWEY 362.2

"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 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"."..A book that manages to be as cheerily kooky as it is well-researched." -- "Los Angeles Times""Engagingly irreverent..." -- "New York Times ""[A] fascinating and humane book..." -- "Washington Post Book World"."..Both terrifying and hilarious." -- "O, The Oprah Magazine"

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