Sunday 14 October 2012

109/111 - Lost At Sea by Jon Ronson




I got the new Jon Ronson book! I only heard about its release a little while ago, and I thought that since I have read almost everything he has published in the last year, I'll complete the collection with this book.

This book is comprised of a series of essays and interviews on various subjects, from a UFO convention with Robbie Williams, to groups of vigilante superheroes in the US. Once again, I really enjoyed this book, but the only thing I didn't like so much about it was that there were about half a dozen essays I had already read in precious collections, but that's no big deal.

Among my favourites was the essay on the Insane Clown Posse after their revelation that they have been evangelical Christians the entire time.he paints a portrait of two very unhappy men who have been trying their hardest and don't understand how they could have been so badly misunderstood by the public. I also really enjoyed the piece about the Disney cruise liner and the number of deaths which are covered up each year after occurring on cruise liners. And the essay on DIY superheroes was also really good. All across America there are individuals and small groups of men who dress up in costumes and patrol their neighbourhoods looking to stamp out crimes. They refuse to be afraid. One case which has rallied them around this cause is a case of a woman being stabbed in her doorway in Queens. Thirty-odd people walk past her doorway and no one stops to help. After that, her attacker returns and finishes the job. Pretty chilling.

There are loads of the topics which I would be interested to see expanded into longer works and investigations. Almost all of them, in fact. I have really enjoyed Jon Ronson's longer books, he should write more.

Next: not sure yet, but only two books left until I reach 111...

No comments:

Post a Comment