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JON RONSON discusses his book SO YOU'VE BEEN PUBLICLY SHAMED

So You've Been Publicly Shamed (Riverhead Books)

From the internationally bestselling author of The Psychopath Test, a captivating and brilliant exploration of one of our world's most overlooked forces.

Now in So You've Been Publicly Shamed, Ronson investigates the world of public shaming, where social media has made everyone a vigilante and where a poorly phrased tweet or comment can catapult a person to Public Enemy No. 1 overnight. Shaming moves with lighting speed and has a terrifyingly powerful effect, sometimes destroying a person’s entire life. In his inimitable “Ronsonian” style, Jon Ronson follows up with those whose lives have been left in tatters, and questions those being most cruel in the anonymous internet playground, resulting in a powerful and very humane dispatch from the front line of the escalating war on human nature and its flaws.

As Ronson says of his meeting with the recipient of one shaming, “Over the years I’ve sat across tables from a lot of people whose lives have been destroyed. Usually the people who did the destroying were the government, or the military, or big business. This felt like the first person I had ever interviewed who had been destroyed by us.”

Ronson’s “hilarious and unsettling” (Boston Globe) storytelling has made him a favorite of readers & critics alike. He is a regular on This American Life and critics have deemed his work “beguiling” (New York Times), “both terrifying and hilarious” (O, The Oprah Magazine) and “entertaining and alarming in equal parts” (Kirkus).  And Salon praised: “Ronson’s touch is light and he’s not afraid to play the feckless neurotic for laughs, but that doesn't obscure the serious questions raise by his investigations.” It is this deft mix of comedy and rigorous reporting that make Ronson’s work equal parts entertainment and essential reading and he is at the height of his powers in this new book.

Praise for Jon Ronson:

"You have developed something...it's almost like a new category of investigative satire. You go and you explore with great intellectual curiosity, but you find a way to make it very funny."--Jon Stewart to Jon Ronson, on "The Daily Show"

"So entertaining...a smarter, nuttier version of The Tipping Point or Blink...Mr. Ronson...follows his trail of bread crumbs to the realms that really matter...Somehow he is able to keep his book both light and nightmarish...He remains terrifically adept at capturing the horror of these developments without losing track of their lunacy." --Janet Maslin, The New York Times

"Jon Ronson's writing is so charming, so entertaining and strange I would follow him anywhere, including a maximum security prison." --Sarah Vowell, New York Times-bestselling author of Unfamiliar Fishes

“A work of original, inspired journalism.”  –The Financial Times

“[So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed] is both entertaining and fair — a balance we could use a lot more of, online and off.”  –Vulture

“Ronson is a fun writer to read…fascinating.” –Fast Company

“[So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed] promises to be the most relevant book of the year.” –Flavorwire

“[Ronson is] an endlessly curious author…I sped through this book.” –Elisabeth Donnelly for FlavorWire

“I was sickly fascinated by the book. I think it's Ronson's best book.” –Mark Frauenfelder for BoingBoing

Jon Ronson's books include the New York Times bestsellers The Psychopath Test and Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries,  and international bestsellers Them: Adventures with Extremists and The Men Who Stare at Goats. He also cowrote the screenplay for Frank, which was released in theaters August 2014, and starred Michael Fassbender and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Ronson is a regular contributor to This American Life and lives in London and New York City.

Photo by Emli Bendixen

Event date: 
Monday, April 6, 2015 - 7:30pm
Event address: 
1818 N Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
So You've Been Publicly Shamed By Jon Ronson Cover Image
$27.95
Possibly out of print. Email or call to check availability and price.
ISBN: 9781594487132
Published: Riverhead Books - March 31st, 2015

Frank: The True Story That Inspired the Movie By Jon Ronson Cover Image
$14.95
Possibly out of print. Email or call to check availability and price.
ISBN: 9781594633713
Published: Riverhead Books - June 26th, 2014

Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries By Jon Ronson Cover Image
$18.00
Possibly out of print. Email or call to check availability and price.
ISBN: 9781594631955
Published: Riverhead Books - October 1st, 2013

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry By Jon Ronson Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781594485756
Availability: Not in Stock. Available to Order.
Published: Riverhead Books - May 1st, 2012

The Men Who Stare at Goats By Jon Ronson Cover Image
$15.00
Possibly out of print. Email or call to check availability and price.
ISBN: 9781439181775
Published: Simon & Schuster - October 13th, 2009

Them: Adventures with Extremists By Jon Ronson Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780743233217
Availability: Not in Stock. Available to Order.
Published: Simon & Schuster - January 7th, 2003