Interesting to read about how close Jon was to many of the leading conspiracy theorists and extremists with different political groups/events

Can I please have a half star system????? Or a 10 star system????? Yeah, I know. Then I'd have to back and re-rate every book I've rated and probably update all the reviews. It would be a hassle, but then I wouldn't have to struggle with some of these ratings.

I'd give this one 2.5 stars. In most cases when I reach a 2 star rating it means I've pretty much decided I don't like the book, but it has something that requires I not give it the bottom of the well, 1 star. Maybe the prose has been good, or maybe it was a great idea that just crashed and burned in the execution.

Well, here, the book isn't hard to read. It will probably hold your interest (if not your thought processes) throughout. The problem is, it really doesn't go anywhere.

The writer is probably best know for The Men Who Stare at Goats. I recently read The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry. This will probably be my last foray into the writer's work.

I have been for years interested in conspiracy theories. I've known (and know) people who buy into them entirely. I've had arguments with at least one that I had to leave at "well, we'll just have to agree to disagree." as this person believes so strongly in well, what they believe.

The problem here is that Mr. Ronson's approach to book writing and reporting (basically following subjects around, recording what they do and say and what is done and said around them) doesn't boil down to anything here. He meets and interacts with several individuals and groups all of whom believe strongly in (or at least say they do) different conspiracies. Many...no, all of these tend to be contradictory theories. Mr. Ronson doesn't really make any effort to differentiate (aside from what appears to be his semi-meltdown at the end of it all), though he does play it a bit (and only a bit) for laughs. You never get a feel as to how he feels, what he thinks over all. Well, except that he ends about where he began...wondering who's screwed up and has the wrong view. "Him or them?"

We meet Islamic believers who believe they are facing an anti-Islamic conspiracy. We meet white supremacists and white separatists. These are not the same but from outside they are often confused and lumped in with Nazi and Neo-Nazi groups and the KKK. There are New age groups who believe that all religions need to be done away. There is at least one new age group (hated or at least shunned by other new age groups) who believe the world is ruled by a race of giant reptiles who can appear human. (This group is lead by David Icke and other New age conspiracy as well as conspiracy theorists in general believe he's giving them a ll a bad name. They generally hold he's crazy or a part of the conspiracy simply trying to hurt the "movement"). There are theorists who believe in a cabal of old white men (the Bilderbergers or another group). Then there are those who still hold to the Jewish conspiracy.

One of the problems in running anything down here is/was that racism tended to take center stage. Either as an actual fact or as a charge thrown at individuals or groups. Is this group antisemitic? Are they racist? was what this or that person said actually "a code word"?

All in all an interesting read if picked up as a diversion. If you really want to find out something about conspiracy theories and theorists, look elsewhere.

My god, Jon Ronson is so fucking hilarious. I've yet to run into a book by him, and not laugh almost consistently throughout. His ability to write dialogue is the best I've ever seen from a nonfiction writer, and it's so simple when you look at it. It's PERFECT though.

I can't recommend experiencing his books through audio enough either. He narrates his own books and does an absolutely superb job each time.

This is real gonzo journalism, Jon got in there and got down and dirty and didn't always reveal that he was Jewish. (Most extremists and conspiracy theorists have a strong hatred and fear of Jews or 12' shape-shifting lizards - which are possibly the same thing). The book is a little uneven and some of his adventures are more interesting than others. I suspect some of his columns have been added in to pad out the book.

What is quite interesting is that there is some truth in all the conspiracy theories but the extremists are so off-base they miss it completely. For example, the Bilderberg group who are supposed to be a bunch of Jews secretly running the world was founded by a group of people in 1954, none of them Jewish and one of them German royalty and a member of the Nazi party!

It is a cliche to say that you can't judge a book by its cover, but we all do. First impressions count tremendously. However, some of the people with the nastiest philosophies in the book are, otherwise, quite nice people, and others, perhaps more harmless or perhaps seemingly genial and helpful to the author, are real low-down, sly and skunky assholes.

If you've ever wanted to know about conspiracy theories, if you want to know if there really is a ruling elite and if you wonder that my comment about 12' shape-shifting lizards was a bit off-base, then get hold of the book and read the last few chapters. Shape-shifting lizards have nothing on the reality of those who cross-dress, sacrifice to giant owls, pee ritually in public and are certainly the ruling elite of the US. And its all on video. Mind-boggling.

Recommended to anyone wanting to understand American and global politics and anyone who has ever wondered about conspiracy theories and who wants to be amazed, amused and perhaps even a little worried too.

This book is a fascinating little investigation into what goes on behind the scenes with extremists of all different shapes and sizes, from Islamic jihadists to white supremacists. Ronson is a bit like the Louis Theroux of investigative non-fiction, adopting a similar style and even having a similar sense of humour, though one works in documentary movies and one works in books.

What’s crazy here is the lengths to which Ronson goes in his efforts to track down fundamentalists from across the spectrum. There are times at which he was genuinely in danger, and even though I knew that he must have survived if he was able to write the book, it’s still a little touch and go.

Actually, this is one of Ronson’s earlier books, and there are a few bits here and there that make it feel dated. I mean, it was first published in 2001, which means that he must have written the thing in a pre-9/11 world. For a book that’s about extremism, that’s quite remarkable, although it also means that it’s kind of frozen in time. It works, and it still feels as relevant now as it would have done when it was first written.

So all in all, I was pretty impressed with this, and it’s definitely made me want to read some more of Ronson’s stuff. He has some recent releases that I’ve had my eye on for a while, and eventually I’d like to work my way through his back catalogue. He really is a very talented writer, and I don’t think he gets the credit that he deserves because he works in non-fiction instead of writing novels.

Would I recommend this? Definitely, especially if you’re interested in the ongoing fight against extremism in all of its many forms. You’re going to struggle to find a book that’s better than this at what it does. Happy reading!

Funny, bizarre, eye opening and troubling book about the author’s encounters with extremists of various stripes (including White separatists, Middle Eastern and Ku Klux Klan members), many labeled “terrorists” during the late 1990’s and early 21st century. Difficult to summarize and well worth reading.

I really enjoyed The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry, but sadly did not feel the same about Them. I thought the first chapter was funny, but it quickly went downhill from there. The connections felt forced and convoluted. Maybe I'm just not paranoid enough?

It's hard to argue that this is anything but the age of extremists. We have Islamic and other religious extremists, far-right, Neo-Nazi and white supremacist extremists, separatist extremists, capitalist extremists, even liberal extremists and Jon Ronson talks to representatives of several of these fields. It's interesting to hear the pedestrian details surrounding such people. It humanizes people who seem larger than life or too small to be real. Many questions are explored. Does the Bilderberg Group rule the world between orgies and holidays? Are American law enforcement agencies working for twelve-foot lizards? Are cults really slandered, misrepresented freedom fighters and separatists? Do Klansmen and ISIS know how much they have in common and what do they think of each other? For that matter, how much do an extreme Islamic cleric and a fiery Irish preacher have in common? Everyone in the world has a point of view, but some are viewing from some very different ground indeed. Very interesting to hear some of these points of view, many of which are less predictable and more ordinary than you might expect. Amusing.

Jon Ronson’s writing is everything u want gonzo journalism to be, great page-turner. I had a weird time w certain chapters about people who are objectively engaged in terrorism, domestic or international, and sometimes felt dissatisfied with the levity Ronson employs to describe them BUT u kinda have to remember that, in a very Louis Theroux esque way, Jonson simply provides us with impartial, sometimes absurd observations, and whatever conclusions u want to make from them, u can. Weird, but really enjoyed it! Will defo be reading more of his books

I mean, duh, we all know the Bilderberg isn't running the world (as Wikileaks has proved by publishing their most boring meeting recordings ever), but then who is?

Why is there no data of China's military spending? How come the average age in Russia is so much higher than the rest of the world? Is Glenn Beck a lizard? Who's controlling the chupacabra? Is Hollywood a Jewish conspiracy? Is that why Michael Bay keeps doing sequels? Is the Transformer actually a symbol of satanic worship? Is there why there's always the word 'moon' in those movies? Is Justin Bieber going to be bring forth the second rapture? What am I reading? Is Ronson behind all this? Is he actually a prop by Obama to divert our attention from Area 51? What happened to the last piece of chocolate mud cake in my fridge? Did the secret service hypnotise my dogs into eating it after they were planted with surveillance laser things with red blinking light?

My head hurts.

Entertaining, but felt often unfocused. It was fascinating to hear about the variety of extremists Ronson encountered over this period of his career (especially his encounters with a young Alex Jones, which I wasn't even previously aware of), but I felt like the book could have done with being better structured and more progressive. Why was Ronson getting involved with extremists in the first place, where did his interest spark from? What was the progression of getting to know these people? I felt like the jumping around in time and going back and forth between certain people made it just feel muddled in its execution. Still, it did make me chuckle quite a few times, and Ronson's writing does make me smile so there was a lot of enjoyment to be had from this even though it didn't fully hit the mark for me.

Recommended by Adela!

This is a disconcertingly jolly deep dive into the world of conspiracy. What was for the Ronson of 20 years ago a sinister yet ultimately fringe array of beliefs, now feels bordering on mainstream. Ronson meets Alex Jones (the conspiracy theorist not the Welsh lady from the One Show) and the leader of the KKK to name a few. He speaks to them in a non-adversarial manner, which on the one hand might leave you feeling a bit uncomfortable, on the other hand, it provides an insight into the subjects where they are being unusually non-adversarial also. Ronson wins their trust, if only for a few days and becomes part of their worlds. As Ronson goes deeper, he’s left questioning his own world view. You can feel him momentarily slide into conspiratorial suspicion at the Bilderberg Group, and tying himself in knots, wondering whether he, a Jew, might actually be anti-Semitic.

This book was written in 2001 way before social media made any of these extreme views a true part of public discourse. Simpler times. To hear how the culture wars spiralled, I’d really recommend Ronson’s podcast ‘Things Fell Apart.’