I wasn't sure what to expect from this book; the subject matter has the potential to be very disturbing. But I was pleasantly surprised to find it quite readable. Ronson's writing is often light-hearted, but this is no lightweight book. There is plenty to think about here. ( )

This was certainly an interesting and enlightening read. From the dangerous to the harmless to the just plain wacky, Jon Ronson gives a humourous insight into those the world call 'extremist'. By spending time with these people and quoting their own words and deeds, Jon shows that that not all 'extremists' are as extreme as they are portrayed, and sometimes those who do the accusing are, themselves, 'extreme'. This book is definitely worth the read. ( )

I remember attending a reading Ronson gave from this book at a festival some years ago, and seeing most of the Channel 4 TV series, but it took me a while to get around to reading it. The book is a funny and sometimes unsettling series of reports of encounters with various types of extremist. The author's pleasant, unprepossessing manner evidently makes him approachable to just about anyone, and he skillfully entices ever-stranger stories and admissions out of the subjects of this collection. ( )

If you enjoy tasting the forbidden via The Devil's Picinic, perhaps you'll enjoy talking to the forbidden, too. Jon (Jew, true) decides to find out who THEM is and why THEY are persecuting him/us?
Mr. Ronson is the author of the equally cool and brilliantThe Men Who Stare At Goats, the tale of our military psychics and remote viewers who trained themselves to kill goats just by glaring purposively at them.
THEM began as a book about different kinds of extremists, but after Ronson had got to know some enemies of western democracy - Islamic fundamentalists, neo-Nazis Ku Klux Klan - he found that they had one belief in common: that a tiny elite, which meets in secret, determines the course of global events.
(Bilderberger Group, Illuminatis, Madison City Council, etc)
Ronson's quest to locate these secret rulers of the world was both hazardous and hilarious. He was chased by men in dark glasses; he was unmasked as a Jew in the middle of a Jihad training camp; he was forced to listen to David Icke expound his theory that the world is controlled by 12-foot lizards; he witnessed international CEOs and politicians participate in a bizarre pagan ritual in the forests of Northern California. He also learned some alarming things about the looking-glass world of 'them' and 'us'. Were the extremists right? Or had he become one of THEM?

BUY, BORROW, or BURN?
BUY ( )

Nearly perfect. I came to this book after hearing the author read the first chapter on public radio's "This American Life". Jon has a funny way of flatly and simply reporting the statements and circumstances surrounding the big conspiracies.
Yes, the leaders of the world do get together to worship a stone owl in the woods, but no, they aren't plotting all that much. It's a trip through cynicism and paranoia and is surprisingly laffy all the way. ( )