I got this for a friend because I joke that she is a
psychopath, and she read it and liked it and passed it back onto me.
The book isn’t just about psychopaths, though it is the frame
the whole book hangs on. It is more a look into the various people who try to
peer into other people’s minds and try to know them – from the creator of the psychopath
test to criminal profilers to the compilers of the DSM.
Overall, Ronson is an engaging writer, putting it all together
in a readable, conversational manner. The problem is that he is so focused on
some individual examples and hits the surface on a lot of things, but doesn’t
establish the depth really needed to draw grand conclusions.