The Elephant in the Room by Jon Ronson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is going to be one hell of a mess of a review. Short version: go read The Elephant in the Room. Jon Ronson is always worth reading.
Now, let’s see. I was in between books. I was not at home, and therefore could not download a book from the library onto one of my “authorized readers.” But, Amazon made me create a Prime account in order for me to do something with Twitch (free for 30 days, and my wife has Prime already, so that’ll be cancelled in a few weeks). So I took a look at that new Prime Reading thing, and there was a “Kindle Single” by Jon Ronson. And it was about Trump. And it was super brand-spanking new. I had a flight to catch, so I downloaded it.
That’s more information than you need in a “review,” but maybe also more information than you’re going to get out of Elephant. I didn’t learn anything, except that there’s this guy called Alex Jones who herds the nutjobs in America, and he’s driving those doggies to Trump ranch.
And THAT’s a terrible piece of writing I just threw at you in the last paragraph, and not at all indicative how very readable and enjoyable Ronson’s writing is. I was being sincere when I said, above, “Jon Ronson is always worth reading.” Even if you end up paying two bucks for what reads like an over-long character piece that couldn’t find a reputable magazine to get published in.
Ronson writes about weird people without being judgmental, but also without championing them; but I have no doubt his books are picked up and read by snarky hipsters like myself who smugly chortle at these outsiders, outliers, outcasts… I called them “nutjobs” above, and that’s my word, not Ronson’s.
Trump’s a nutjob, and so is Alex Jones, and his handler, Roger Stone. But you already knew that. Read Elephant anyway.