Nonfiction Navigators discussion

For every reader who is an aspiring psychiatrist at heart, The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson needs to be the next book you pick up from your local bookstore. Through Ronson’s investigative journalist writing style, he will take you through the crazy world of psychopathy with various interviews and a deep analysis of day-to-day interactions. Ronson’s understanding of how psychopath’s work deepens alongside his readers’ which allows for this book to be an addictive and informative read you will not be able to put down.
Right off the bat, Ronson introduces readers to a story that involved strange packages that were mailed to several academics around the world. Each package contained the same expensively produced book with many cryptic messages. Ronson dives deep into his investigation surrounding the book and tries to find the sender of the packages. Along the way, Ronson presents to readers that one man’s madness can have such a dramatic effect on our world and how it works. Ronson stated, “I remember those psychologists who said psychopaths made the world go around. They meant it: society was, they claimed, an expression of that particular sort of madness” (Ronson 31).
Throughout his entire book, Ronson is trying to prove just that; that there is a possibility that psychopaths could be running our world. He takes his readers into the realm of psychology and discusses the Hare PCL-R Checklist, a checklist was created by a group of experts that would set the guidelines for diagnosing someone with psychopathy (Ronson). He conducts numerous interviews with various psychiatrists, psychologists, and many actual psychopaths. As a result of Ronson’s intensive investigations and research, he presents to his readers an excellent look into the world of psychopathy in his book readers will not want to put down.