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Lost At Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries [Hardcover]

Jon Ronson
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
RRP: £14.99
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Book Description

11 Oct 2012
A collection of mini-adventure stories from the bestselling author of The Psychopath Test and The Men Who Stare at Goats.

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Lost At Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries + Them: Adventures with Extremists + The Men Who Stare at Goats
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Picador (11 Oct 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1447222571
  • ISBN-13: 978-1447222576
  • Product Dimensions: 22.5 x 14.4 x 3.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 88,282 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

‘Ronson is one of the finest comic writers working today’ Will Self, Guardian

‘Ronson is a tenacious, often courageous reporter, whose keen sense of humour never detracts from the integrity of his journalism’ Sunday Times

‘Simultaneously frightening and hilarious’ The Times

‘Funny and thought-provoking’ Financial Times

‘Compelling and eye-opening . . . hugely compulsive reading’ Psychologies

‘Comic and entertaining, but with a serious effect as we catch glimpses of the odd things ticking away inside some real characters’ Scotsman

Book Description

Jon Ronson has been on patrol with America’s real-life superheroes and to a UFO convention in the Nevada desert with Robbie Williams. He’s interviewed a robot and asked her if she has a soul. He’s travelled to the Alaskan theme town of North Pole (where every day is Christmas Day) to investigate a high school mass-murder plot. He’s met a man who tried to split the atom in his kitchen and another who’s preparing to welcome the aliens to earth. Jon Ronson is fascinated by madness, strange behaviour and the human mind, and he has spent his life exploring mysterious events and meeting extraordinary people. Collected here from various sources (including the Guardian and GQ) are the best of his adventures. Frequently hilarious, sometimes disturbing, always entertaining, these compelling stories of the chaos that lies on the fringe of our daily lives will have you wondering just what we’re capable of.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Lost in a good book 19 Oct 2012
By Noel TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
In nearly every article of the book, journalist Jon Ronson is able to pick an extraordinary subject to write about in an interesting and engaging way. 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. Other subjects are equally fascinating such as finding out pop star Robbie Williams is a UFO enthusiast and that Stanley Kubrick was a hoarder of everything related to his film career.

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). Ronson also goes on a cruise to meet psychic Sylvia Browne, a woman who goes on TV to tell parents of missing children (often incorrectly) their kids are dead, and finds out, surprise surprise, she's not just a fake but an unpleasant old bag as well.

Religion and pseudo-religious beliefs play a big part in the articles where Ronson meets the Jesus Christians, a fringe Christian group with a membership of 24 people worldwide, most of whom have decided that as well as giving away most of their possessions that they will give away a kidney as well! He meets the UK's biggest atheist-converter Nicky Gumbel, meets TV hypnotist Paul McKenna and his colleague Richard Bandler who admits to being a sociopath and has a sketchy past involving murder but who now makes millions teaching people something called neurolinguistic programming (NLP) which promises to make you a better salesperson.

The other side of the book take a sobering look at the dark side of humanity. They include a couple of murder/suicide cases, the economic class issues in America, and the sad story of Richard Cullen who committed suicide after becoming hopelessly in debt. Richard Cullen took out numerous credit cards which gave him money with crippling interest rates and was approved for various loans different banks approved, leaving Richard with a six figure debt and no way out. From this one man, Ronson follows the trail back to the banks and exposes the fiasco that was the sub-prime market. This article came out 2 years before the sub-prime crash of 2007.

My favourite piece in the book, "Santa's Little Conspirators", is the story of a group of 13 year old high-school students in the town of North Pole, Alaska, accused of conspiring to commit a Columbine-style massacre at their school (they were stopped before anyone was hurt). North Pole is unique as a town where it is Christmas 365 days of the year and everything in the town is Christmas themed. The would-be killers, like all students in North Pole high school, answered letters from children all over the world addressed to "Santa, North Pole" under elfish pseudonyms. Some of the letters written by small children and given to them to answer are heart breaking like "please make mummy and daddy stop fighting" and "I would like to wear more clothes this year".

While parts of "Lost at Sea" have been published in Ronson's other books - more than half have been printed in "Out of the Ordinary" and all but one have been printed in "What I Do" - and numerous other articles have appeared in GQ magazine and the Guardian newspaper, for those who've not read Jon Ronson extensively, this is an excellent collection of his journalism in one handy volume. Like most of Ronson's journalism, the articles feel too strange to be real, this mixture of strangeness and truth adding to the readability of the articles and lending them an air of surreal-ness. "Lost at Sea" is a fascinating collection of oddball human stories that offers hours of riveting reading pleasure and is a must-read for all readers looking for extraordinary and entertaining non-fiction stories written in an accessible and compelling style.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Louis Ther-who? 9 Oct 2012
Format:Hardcover
Yet another quality offering of articles from Ronson, collected in hardback format. The other reviews here summarise the style and content of the stories well and I won't bother covering the same ground.

I feel compelled to mention to potential buyers that 'Lost at Sea' is only roughly 50-60% material not found in Ronson's two other collections of stories 'Out of the Ordinary...' and 'What I do...'. I was totally unaware that this was the case and was a bit saddened to be flicking through almost half the book because I had read it recently. Still, I feel on balance that it is a worthwhile purchase for those who already own the two previously mentioned books due to the quality of the additional content.

This is an essential purchase for those curious about or unfamiliar with Ronson's writing, and a good buy for old fans who have been waiting for the latest collection.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Lost track of time 31 Jan 2013
By I. Curry VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've been a fan of Jon Ronson since reading Them: Adventures with Extremists. He has a highly idiosyncratic writing style that really appeals; he is half childlike wonderment and half neurotic, sceptical journalist. He almost never comes across as a judgemental writer and always tries to understand and empathise with his subjects. Perhaps it is this willingness to believe or at least try to believe that means he gets to know some of life's stranger characters. Lost at Sea is stuffed with strange characters. From Noel Edmonds and the devotees of Deal or No Deal to Robby Williams and the true believers of alien abduction.

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. So if you've been following Ronson in print, you might be disappointed that there is nothing new here. But, if you haven't, and you enjoy Ronson's style then you'll be utterly gripped.

I personally finished this in a series of concentrated bursts over a 24 hour period. If you haven't come across Ronson yet then you might like his writing if the weird and wonderful interests you or if you like the documentary style of Louis Theroux (who Ronson is inevitably compared with).
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and entertaining
This is a brilliant collection of articles written by Jon Ronson for magazines and newspapers, so the episodic style won't appeal to everyone. Read more
Published 23 hours ago by Peter Lee
5.0 out of 5 stars Consistantly good writing
A collection of Jon Ronson' s articles. Never lets you down. Always engaging and the Jonathan King articles make compelling reading.
Published 2 days ago by gary
1.0 out of 5 stars Lost at sea
Not my sort of book I am afraid I will see it it appeals to mu husband but I never got through it I gave up early on
Published 6 days ago by hosay
5.0 out of 5 stars Ronson at his best.
A great read after the Psychopath test.
Some very disturbing facts, and truths are exposed, but written in Jon Ronsons anxious style.
Published 18 days ago by BobD
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but not bogged in the detail.
I really like Jon's witty about the serious style of writing and never got bored reading this book as it doesn't get bogged in the detail.
Published 1 month ago by James Dermody
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting book
Well written enjoyable book. I really liked the 'bite sized' chapters which covered a variety of subjects . Book was amusing and interesting - would recommend .
Published 1 month ago by Lindsey
4.0 out of 5 stars jon Ronson book
Birthday present for my daughter.
She was pleased, it looked ok and had words in it to read...
came in good time...
Published 2 months ago by sarah
1.0 out of 5 stars Boringly tedious!!!
Rambling, boring, unfunny - it's a real effort to read. Littered with some big names and deified personalities these oddball stories simply don't say anything, or take you... Read more
Published 3 months ago by comm88
4.0 out of 5 stars Enthralling and educational
I loved this book and couldn't put it down. Every chapter peeked your attention as Jon took you on a whirlwind and whistle stop tour of his most influential work as a journalist. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Stuart Hall
5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent read from Ronson
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... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jon MDC
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