So because of my insane travel schedule lately, there will be no book club in April. The next book club will be in May and held on May 25th. We’re going to be reading Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.
For June, we’re reading The Travels Of A Tee Shirt In A Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli. In July, we’re reading Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.
I heard about this book when the author, Jon Ronson, appeared on The Daily Show. Ronson also wrote Men Who Stare At Goats. This book chronicles Ronson interviewing a variety of alleged psychopaths, from a Haitian death squad captain to the former CEO of Scott Paper. He also discusses various methods of determining psychopathy and different treatments of the disorder throughout history.
As someone with a slight obsession with psychopaths (currently, my favorite TV show is Criminal Minds), I understand Ronson’s interest in the subject matter. Unlike Criminal Minds, the book doesn’t focus on the violent details of any crimes. Instead Ronson questions how we discover who around us are psychopaths and whether or not treatment is effective. The book focuses on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, the standard bearer for determining psychopathy. Ronson applies to the test to the people he interviews in the book. Ronson also questions if he or the people around him are psychopaths as well.
The book isn’t an academic work. Ronson spends a good portion of the book discussing his own problems with anxiety as well as an investigation into a mysterious package received by a friend. The book is, however, very entertaining and raises a number of questions about what, exactly, is a psychopath.
Don’t forget that we’re talking about The Psychopath Test by Ron Jonson on March 30th. Also, if you have any ideas for books for April, May and June, leave them in the comments.
For February, we talked about Tess Gerritsen’s The Surgeon. For March, we are discussing The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson.
We need to pick books for April, May, and June so leave your suggestions in the comments.
This review is from @erindoxtater.
I voted for this book and volunteered to write a review because I’m a fan of the television show “Rizzoli and Isles”, which is based on the book. After the first few chapters, I was devastated that my favorite character from the show, Dr. Isles, was nowhere to be found and showed no sign of appearing in this book. However, I enjoyed the book so much that I got over it and finished the book in less than three sittings.
The differences between the TV show and the book got me thinking about the audiences for books and TV or movies. In the show, Rizzoli is played by Angie Harmon: leggy, sultry, and pursued by multiple suitors. But, in the book the character is completely unappealing, both socially and sexually. How often does this happen? Take the Harry Potter series as an example. The characters were very similar to that of the book, but often details and events of the book were changed to make the movies shorter and more action packed.
Do we look for different things when we reach for a book vs a movie or a TV show? Do authors play to an audience more willing to accept and enjoy unsexy characters? Aren’t the audiences often the same? (Everyone I know reads both good and crappy books and watches both good and crappy TV.) Have TV and movie producers sold out, refusing to produce main characters that don’t inspire sexual fantasies?
Not your every day, run-of-the-mill ginger.
Wanna know more?
| Need More? | Like What You See Here? | Copyright | |
| E-Mail RSS Feed Google Plus | Powered By Wordpress Need More By Social Media Widget Social Media Icons Are Magic Marker Twitter Feed By Xhanch TwitPics By My Pictures Widget Share Bar By Sexy Bookmarks | © 2008 - 2012 Neamhspleachas.Com All Rights Reserved |
Need More?