Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries by Jon Ronson (PDF)

Description

The New York Times–bestselling author of The Psychopath Test, Jon Ronson writes about the dark, uncanny sides of humanity with clarity and humor. Lost at Sea reveals how deep our collective craziness lies, even in the most mundane circumstances.Ronson investigates the strange things we’re willing to believe in, from lifelike robots programmed with our loved ones’ personalities to indigo children to hypersuccessful spiritual healers to the Insane Clown Posse’s juggalo fans. He looks at ordinary lives that take on extraordinary perspectives, for instance a pop singer whose life’s greatest passion is the coming alien invasion, and the scientist designated to greet those aliens when they arrive. Ronson throws himself into the stories—in a tour de force piece, he splits himself into multiple Ronsons (Happy, Paul, and Titch, among others) to get to the bottom of credit card companies’ predatory tactics and the murky, fabulously wealthy companies behind those tactics. Amateur nuclear physicists, assisted-suicide practitioners, the town of North Pole, Alaska’s Christmas-induced high school mass-murder plot: Ronson explores all these tales with a sense of higher purpose and universality, and suddenly, mid-read, they are stories not about the fringe of society or about people far removed from our own experience, but about all of us.Incisive and hilarious, poignant and maddening, revealing and disturbing—Ronson writes about our modern world, the foibles of contemporary culture, and the chaos that lies at the edge of our daily lives.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I’m a big fan of Jon Ronson’s work; I loved Them and The Men Who Stare at Goats. Those books were funny looks at some truly strange things that go on in the world of the military and conspiracy theorists.This book is more of the same-inquiring looks into some truly puzzling people, places, and ideas-but there’s a sadness that sort of settles over the book by the end. One of the stories involves a man who killed himself because he got in way over his head with credit card debt; another story involves an inventor who murdered his whole family after his fortune evaporated. A third talks about “Indigo Children”, AKA kids affected with ADD whose parents are convinced that they are advanced spiritual beings.These stories add up to a picture of people who live under a deliberately constructed veil of self-delusion because they are unwilling to face the realities of their lives. You can argue that’s what all of Ronson’s books are about, but in this case, it stops being funny and starts being depressing.It’s still a great read, and a great job by Ronson to find these people and situations and write about them. I just wish there were fewer examples of insanity and willful self-deception out there for him to write about.

⭐7/10Lost at Sea is a compilation of some of Ronson’s pieces of research published in articles or presented in TV segments, now modified, enlarged or updated for this book. Ronson explores different fringe subjects, situations and characters, we get acquainted with ordinary people who are nothing but extraordinary, “weirdonary” I might say.This compilation is organically structured in six parts, although some of the articles could also be included in several of them.1/ THE THINGS WE’RE WILLING TO BELIEVE delves into the matter of faith, no matter is religious and accepted, just popular New-Age beliefs or Fringe Science. We get acquainted with the superstitions and pseudo-scientific beliefs that contestants in TV quiz shows have. We discover the new generation of sentient robots, Zeno, Aiko and the incredible Bina48, part of different engineering projects to create ciberconsciousness and emotional almost-human robots. Then we met a GP, Dr Munchies, who is at the core of a support group for supposedly highly evolved psychic telepathic “Indigo children” previously considered just ADHD. One of my favourite articles in the book involves Ronson (a lapse Jew) joining a group of agnostics for the Alpha Course, a 10-week course organised by celebrity pastor Nicky Gumbel in the Holy Trinity Brompton church to transform hardener believers into confirmed Christians.2/ REBELLIOUS LIVES has two articles on people who were supposed to be something but turned out to be much more or simply something different. This is the case of the broadcaster Ray Gosling who was arrested for falsely stating in front of the cameras that he had killed a former lover out of mercy a few years earlier. And also the case of the aggressive sexist racist rap duo Insane Clown Posse who turned out to be heartfelt Christians and were sending cryptic very-Christian palimpsest messages through their diabolic lyrics.3/ HIGH-FLYING LIVES showcases some interesting sides of well-known artists. We accompany the pop singer Robbie Williams to an UFO convention, and visit and open the many boxes in Kubrik’s manor house in England, and talk to his widow about family matters.4/ EVERYDAY DIFFICULTY shows apparently normal people who, all of the sudden, see themselves involved in dangerous situations. We visit the American town of North Pole to investigate why a group of teens living in town that breathes Christmas all year around were preparing a mass-shooting in their school. We attend the trial of a couple of people who won “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” apparently using a very simple but effective coughing signalling system. We witness the dirty tricks played by credit-card and loan companies, which are targeting poor people and neighbourhoods on the knowing that they won’t be able to pay their debts, and how , they use data-sucking companies like Mosaic and Acorn to map and target people in these para-scam credit business. We also attend a convention of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and met the foundational founder Richard Bandler and his business partner Paul McKenna, and experience first person (through Ronson) what NLP does to you and dig into Bandler’s not-so-well-known past.Then we move to France, where English people are retiring trying to fulfil their French Fantasy and find that France is not a fantasy of theirs, like a couple who moved to a Provencal castle and the wife ended dead. From France to the UK, to the posh country town of Maesbrook to investigate why Christopher Foster (a British self-made millionaire, who had everything one might want in life) killed his whole family, pets included, set everything on fire and then he shot himself, and why other millionaires in the area aren’t surprised about this.Faith taken to the last extreme is what Ronson explores in next chapter, which summarises the research he did for a doco on the sect called “Jesus Christians”, who decided to donate one of their kidneys as an act of love, and Ronson’s interactions with some of the donors and with their leader, the Australian Dave McKay.5/ STEPPING OVER THE LINE presents three cases in which the protagonists are doing something that is not socially acceptable, dubious or plain illegal. We learn about the world of underground euthanasia, the fraudulent “visions” of the late psychic Sylvia Browne (America’s most divisive psychic), and the paedophilia trial to Jonathan King.6/ The last part revolves about the subject of JUSTICE What is legal and not and why. Why is not legal to do chemical experiments at home when some of the major discoveries of our world were made in family garages? Is the USA system good enough for the poor and for the rich? How do the poor and the rich see the tax system applied to them? Ronson takes then a cruise to investigate the disappearance of the staff member Rebecca Coriam to learn about the many disappearances happening in International waters and how cruise companies seem to have a pact of silence. Finally, we go out late at night with some members of the Real-Life Superheroes Movement, like Phoenix Jones, to tackle night violence and prevent bad things from happening to good people. ***********There are common themes in most of the articles included in the book. Firstly, they deal with people with beliefs and ways of being and behaving that aren’t mainstream, and not always acceptable, illegal at times. They also deal with people who aren’t always what they seem to be. Many of the articles revolve about Parascience and Parapsychology subjects.Ronson is a good writer, creates a good atmosphere and is able to see the world with great compassion and proximity, even when he is examining people whose activities, opinions of preaching are very much contrary to his own views. He is very good at showcasing these characters and letting them shine without vilifying or mocking them unnecessarily; of course, at times, Ronson clearly states his liking or disliking of some people but he is not callous about anything or anybody. This is his virtue, and what allows him to enter situations and communicate with people who would, otherwise, be never able to present their side of the story or would simple not be willing to talk to a journalist. Ronson shows always respect and even empathy towards people who don’t deserve it, perhaps because it is good for the job to keep that sort of emotional detachment from their subjects, perhaps because he is a good bloke, or perhaps just both.This is the first book I read by Ronson and I’ve really enjoyed it. I found all the stories engaging and well-narrated, although many of them are about subjects and people who have appeared on TV, in current affairs’ research segments and aren’t anything new. Others certainly are, at least to me. At the same time, there is not much depth, not many things that would keep you pondering. However, if you like current affairs and research journalism with a twist, you will enjoy this book. If you like weirdos, this is definitely for you.Not a Pulitzer sort of research, more a TV show sort of exploration of human nature a la Flight of the Concords minus the guitar. Humans are Weird. One of those books perfect for long flights. It got me interested and I ended reading two other books by Ronson.TYPOBarely any! I just noticed in loc. 740: George W Bush. The dot is missing from the W.

⭐Jon Ronson is my favourite author. His style is unique and very easy to read. It’s like when you are watching modern cartoons with kids – it has multiple layers of comprehension. He never forces his opinion on you, yet he offers the most interesting, quirky stories from everyday life, proving Freud’s theory that normality is utopia.If you have days when you wake up and like Keanu Reeves feel spat out of the Matrix (which I do most of the time) and despite the desire to try to fit in – you find it hard to live in the planet from which the Common Sense was exiled a while ago – then Ronson is the right author for you.Anything I could write about the content would grossly simplify Ronson’s work. There is only one alert. If you had read all of his books, you will find that some stories were repeated from books Out of the ordinary and What I do.I am usually very cynical critic, but this guy is disarming. Highly recommend this book.

⭐Great book! Covers a variety of interesting essays some funny some sad some thought provoking. My brother in law is not a reader but I know he will enjoy the different quirky stories with Robson’s inimitable take on things. Great selection and I don’t see where others are coming from with their poor reviews. Patchy? What does that even mean?

⭐This is a well-written and funny book but if you’ve already bought OUT OF THE ORDINARY by Jon Ronson and WHAT I DO this is just a collection of the same pieces of writing with a couple of added extra features. I kept on reading it thinking: “Hey, I’ve seen this chapter before..”I felt a bit ripped-off after buying it, to be honest. Although the feature on Sylvia Browne is fantastic and this isn’t included in the other two books.

⭐A trip through the work of Jon Ronson is like submerging yourself in some of the weirdest cultures in human existence. Real superheroes, UFO conspiracies (with Robbie Williams of all people), born again Christian hardcore rappers, from Jon Ronson you’d expect nothing less.The interesting viewpoint you get from some of these stories is the openness with which Ronson explains how the subject tries to spin his story, sometimes to the detriment of themselves. There are a couple of stories where no one comes out of it well, and you wonder how much his reputation has gone before him, and how much that has coloured the tone of the article.Of course, if you are a huge fan of printed (or online) media such as GQ or the Guardian, there’s a very big chance you’ll have read all of these, but if not, you are in for a treat. Ronson approaches the weird and wonderful with all the style of Louis Theroux, but with none of the smarm.

⭐It’s a fun read when you’ve 30 mins spare and want to wind down with some interesting content. However, the articles are just too short! You get in to them then they abruptly end with one of the author’s mundane comments about how that person/people/organisation applies to or affects his life and family, and no closure to the actual story at hand. Frustrating!I’d strongly recommend Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekend book instead. It’s the same concept, and even has one or two character crossovers, but is a lot more in depth and better written – Ronson’s penchant for simple present tense really grates (in my view) and makes it read like the witterings of a madman more often than not.Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying this, just often left feeling cut short at the end of each and every chapter.

⭐A collection of writings by Jon Ronson,an author I really enjoy. He seems to find special people and special circumstances and tells the story in around 15 pages which makes the book easy to drop in and out of. In this book he looks at the TV show Deal or No Deal, it’s contestants and Noel Edmonds. Robbie Williams and his interest in alien beings. The tragedy of people in debt which can lead to suicide ect. Ronson manages to get into people’s lifesand extract amazing,weird and interesting “stuff” about them. If you’ve read him before this is as good as his other books,if you hav’nt this would be a great way to start. Loved the book !

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