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neato 's review for:
Them: Adventures with Extremists
by Jon Ronson
I've enjoyed several of Jon Ronson's books. You can typically count on a few zany, funny adventures tied together with a thought-provoking (if not wholly convincing) thesis.
He hadn't quite gotten the formula down yet here, though.
Ronson comments sardonically on his time spent with a slew of zany people on the fringe. Besides the zaniness, there's not really anything that ties the chapters together. The one attempt at an overarching narrative is the idea that the extremists might actually be on to something - could there really be a room full of elite capitalists running the world? In the end it's just a conceit. Some of the stories (Mr Ru Ru?) don't fit in at all.
Plus, Ronson never quite seems to take his subjects seriously. Maybe that's the point, but mockery isn't really my brand of humor.
He hadn't quite gotten the formula down yet here, though.
Ronson comments sardonically on his time spent with a slew of zany people on the fringe. Besides the zaniness, there's not really anything that ties the chapters together. The one attempt at an overarching narrative is the idea that the extremists might actually be on to something - could there really be a room full of elite capitalists running the world? In the end it's just a conceit. Some of the stories (Mr Ru Ru?) don't fit in at all.
Plus, Ronson never quite seems to take his subjects seriously. Maybe that's the point, but mockery isn't really my brand of humor.