The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry

Author: Jon Ronson

I am a big fan of “This American Life” (TAL) radio show on NPR and stumbled on the episode where Ira Glass and the rest of the TAL cast take the Psychopath Test. I got a quick introduction to the famous PCL-R test created by Canadian Psychologist, Bob Hare and how it is in widespread use by the Prison system in deciding whom to let out on parole. While the episode was eye-opening, I was hugely impressed by the section where Jon Ronson narrates his interview with Al Dunlap, the former CEO of Sunbeam corporation, to make the connection on whether there were traits of psychopaths that were beneficial to business leaders.  I quickly decided that I had to read his book and was so drawn in by his narration, that I was determined to make it my first audio book.

When I first got the 6 CD-set from the library, I was concerned that with all the advancements in audio streaming, my new car may not be equipped with a CD player. On opening the glove compartment, I discovered that there was a DVD player in there and it hungrily accepted the CDs. Apart from the hassle of changing the CD while driving, the entire experience was a very pleasant one, with Jon Ronson’s paranoid voice walking me down the memory lane of psychologists attempt to detect and classify pschyopaths.

The cover very aptly describes the book as a "a wild romp through the madness industry”.  I highly recommend the audio book as Ron Johnson tell’s the story with that “fear” in his voice that reaches out through the speakers and grabs you. Apart from the Al Dunlap story, there are many that will make you wonder whether this is all really non-fiction. There’s the story of Tony who faked madness to escape a prison sentence and now can’t get the authorities at his mental hospital to be convinced that he is sane. When you listen to how hard it is for someone who is declared a psychopath to get out of a mental institution, you begin to wonder how many sane people might be trapped in there.  You hear about Ron’s interviews with the Haitian extremist Toto Constant the founder of a Haitian Death Squad that terrorized supporters of Jean Bertrand Aristide.  There’s also a story about David Shayler, an ex-MI5 operative who keeps raising the bar with more and more outlandish conspiracy theory claims. Most of these folks come across as fairly normal human beings and it is hard to reconcile their past activities. 

Ron wavers in his quest to become the perfect Psychopath decoder, and starts questioning whether he himself might not be a little insane. Maybe we all have a bit of insanity in us and it is just a question of what is socially acceptable and what is not.