Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries

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The poet and musician Anthony Joseph met and spoke to Lord Kitchener just once, in 1984, when he found the calypso icon standing alone for a moment in the heat of Port of Spain s Queen’s Park Savannah, one Carnival Monday afternoon. These stories range from an investigative profile of an assisted suicide practitioner to coverage of a pop star’s paedophilia trial. Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries is a 2012 book by Jon Ronson which highlights and further elaborates many of Ronson's magazine articles.

Here I felt that Ronson was laughing at a group of odd religious people who meant well, albeit in a rather strange way by offering to donate their kidneys to strangers. This collection of non-fiction stories takes a look at both those on the fringe of society (other-worldly Indigo children, psychics, robot-enthusiasts, and Jesus Christian cults) as well as issues that affect more ordinary people (like the economic collapse, unequal taxation as well as crime and punishment). Jon interviews Ray Gosling, a legendary Northern filmmaker who admitted on BBC East Midlands television to mercy killing his boyfriend decades before.He tracks down Mingering Mike, the draft-dodging creator of many soul albums that exist only as cover art. But Ronson blithely observes: "Frantz talks a lot about respect and the opposite of respect--humiliation. The underlying thread is "Ronson’s desire to report on and attempt to explain human dysfunction in its various, colorful forms. His ability to self-appraise, and layer the narration with his observations and reflections, are fascinating in their honesty. Well, I'm sure Ronson has spoken to a lot of black people at any rate, and therefore is very well equipped to tell the world in his books what men like Frantz should and should not be worried about.

Published two years before the financial crisis, this investigation (obviously couched in the most accessible and human terms possible) of subprime lending and credit culture was extremely perspicacious.

This book reveals the influences that shaped his life and career and looks at his strengths and weaknesses. I've been a fan of Ronson's written work since coming across Them some years ago, his style of writing always seems to bring the subject alive without indulging in any deep seated judgement. Each mystery unfolds with a perfect balance of humor and depth, making it an enjoyable read that prompts reflection on the quirks of society. In this short journalistic story, Ronson interviews the Insane Clown Posse about their recent claim that, for the last 20 years, they have been promoting Christianity through their music.

Or, you can be like me (and my partner) on our recent roadtrip, and just listen to the whole thing straight through - definitely gave us some things to talk about later! 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. As with the Chris Foster chapter, the chapter on Jonathan King ends not with any kind of sympathetic statement for the victims, but with a sentimental statement on the difficulties faced by people who are attracted to underage boys and who are willing to abuse and sexually assault them for their own gratification: "Chris Denning asked me if I wanted to know the worst thing about being attracted to underage boys. This is, in reality, a collection of Ronson's writings from the past few years - some of the articles are dated so that they refer to the start of the recession in 2008, for example. I saw the film version of The Men Who Stared at Goats, though it was awful, but the writing in Lost at Sea is so good, I might change my mind about reading Goats.The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. 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. I loved reading about real life "superhero" Phoenix Jones as he patrols the streets of Chicago, trying to make drunk drivers eat tacos before getting behind the wheel, or discovering that the rap duo Insane Clown Posse have been covert Christians their entire careers, believing they were making converts of their listeners subliminally for 20 years. But Ronson's description of his own muddled feelings towards this leader does perhaps a better job of portraying the problematic dynamics one inevitably finds in groups like this than any objective reporter ever could. There are some really funny pieces included such as Ronson’s recreation of James Bond’s car journey from Ian Fleming’s “Goldfinger”, eating and drinking everything Bond did on the journey and making himself very sick (Bond, it turns out, was a glutton alcoholic chain smoker who rarely exercised).

A couple of the pieces could have used more information, one could have been cut in half, but on the whole a very enjoyable, informative read and worthy of your time.

He goes to a UFO convention in the Nevada desert with Robbie Williams, asks Insane Clown Posse (who are possibly America's nastiest rappers) whether it's true they've actually been evangelical Christians all along and rummages through the extensive archives of Stanley Kubrick. This book is a series of articles by journalist Ron Jonson, who I had no experience of before downloading this audiobook. When I saw that this book opens with Ronson's Insane Clown Posse interview (which is one of my favorite things ever), I was afraid it would be downhill from there.