The Psychopath Test

"Love Jon Robson’s books, this may be my favorite "

"This book is a fascinating journey. It will play with range of your emotions as you read... as you get to the end the cloud clears up! Highly recommended for all modern parents out there. "

"Enthralling read from Ronson. Non-fiction that reads like a novel and leaves you thinking. "

"Thoroughly enjoyed this read but didn’t feel any emotions finishing it. Jon is someone I feel like I’d love to sit and have a drink with. He’s an interesting guy with a unique perspective that is definitely relatable and an incredible journalist!! But not sure i’d recommend this book and felt like I needed more from the underlying message. Would read another book by him though! "

"had some really fun moments but wildly outdated and the mention of the autism epidemic came off really fear mongering and wasn’t even relevant considering kids with autism aren’t often medicated for it. also the bit about transvestites was…not it<br/><br/>edit: i just checked the publication and bruh…2012? I would have guessed 2005 considering the content. Plus he said there’s no difference between psychopaths and sociopaths which anyone who knows anything about psychology will tell you is false"

""The Psychopath Test" quixotically flits between psychological research, Scientology, mental asylums, corporate raiders, and Douglas Hofstadter's "Goedel, Escher, Bach" as Jon Ronson explores our society's relationship with madness.<br/><br/>I chose this book because I've long suspected that a fair bit of psychological research is not particularly reliable. Ronson investigates the gray areas of abnormal psychology and exposes the surprising extent to which psychopathy is socially constructed.<br/><br/>This book shines when Ronson digs into the history of psychology. I loved his account of the creation of the DSM-IV and his retelling of the Rosenhan experiment which caused a crisis in American psychology.<br/><br/>But Ronson's credibility weakens as he drags us on a gonzo journalism tour that includes visits to the Broadmoor prison for the criminally insane, the Scientology headquarters for conducting a vendetta against psychology, and a possibly-psycopathic CEO's Florida mansion. While certainly entertaining, these parts of the book feel disorganized and not particularly compelling as evidence of his main thesis. I found his TED talk to confirm my suspicion of his general flightiness.<br/><br/>He seems to have caught a lot of flack for his bits about Bob Hare's PCL-R Checklist for diagnosing psychopathy. I found Hare's own condemnation of the book unconvincing and thought that Ronson did a good job of highlighting the oddly commercial nature of Hare's research career.<br/><br/>Overall, this is a quick and fun read that raises some interesting questions about our society's handling of mental health. But I have doubts about its overall reliability.<br/><br/>Full review and highlights at: <a href="http://books.max-nova.com/psychopath-test/">http://books.max-nova.com/psychopath-test/</a>"

"Yes! I have also read So You've Been Publicly Shamed and highly recommend it."

"This book is not at all what I expected it to be, but yet I was still fascinated by the journey Ronson went through. I really enjoyed how open-minded Ronson was to all points of view he encountered and I don't feel like he pushed any particular view unto his readers. I have a feeling this novel will keep my mind pondering for quite some time."

"I’m personally not familiar with the author but I love the book. I feel any book that delves into personality disorders, while offering a digestible layman’s narrative on the myriad of personality disorders, is incredibly helpful. Personality disordered individuals are like chameleons who’ve learned to blend in beyond recognition and explanation. So to safeguard ourselves from while learning to understand these individuals is a great advantage. Books like this help assist in that regard. "

"As a person with a mild interest in psychopathy, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Not only does it contain everything you could want to know about the book, but it is very entertaining."