In 2023, while recovering from surgery at his home in upstate New York, Jon Ronson woke up to a series of texts from his adult son about a strange evening he’d just spent at a stranger’s castle in Connecticut. His son had gone along with a friend who was invited to a party there, and upon arriving, found a few confused-looking young women with the host, Chris Mark—a steel heir in his sixties who was filming a reality show about “101 princesses.” The show’s first rule was “Never say no to King Chris.”
As a parent, Ronson felt worried; as a journalist with over 30 years of experience covering oddballs and criminals, he was already on the case. After digging through online rumors of sinister activities at the castle, he decided to visit Mark. Mark proudly showed off the stalactites and waterfall in his “cave-themed” bedroom, then explained how he picks up women on dating apps to “adapt” them into “princesses.” He said, “The only girls that really work are drug addicts… they don’t know what’s going on.” Almost touchingly, Mark asked Ronson to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and when Ronson declined, Mark flooded his phone with threats.
Ronson knew he had a story, but wasn’t sure what kind. A disgruntled associate leaked Mark’s private messages, revealing plans for a floating brothel costing $2,500 an hour, lit with purple LEDs, and suggesting Mark once paid for a woman to fly from Poland to the US, only for authorities to send her back out of concern for her safety. More dirt came from an ex-fiancée after Ronson, somewhat two-facedly, told her he was “really, really sorry” their relationship ended (he’d already admitted to us that “a break-up can be good news for a journalist”). As allegations piled up, he imagined—maybe even hoped—that Mark had murdered his own father, who drowned in a boating accident in 2009.
While Ronson ultimately concluded Mark didn’t do that, his willingness to poke fun at his own ego—he wants “to be better than every other nonfiction writer”—adds a welcome dose of comic charm to this creepy, unpredictable investigation. But gonzo detective work is only part of The Castle. The subtitle, Adventures in a World of Unravelling Men, hints at its somewhat scattered nature, as Ronson jumps between case studies meant to illustrate the struggles of post-industrial men. These men are told to open up and be vulnerable, yet also pressured to avoid giving women “the ick” by snoring or missing a crumb in their beard.
One might say “boo hoo,” but Ronson makes a convincing case about the problems of treating masculinity as inherently wrong. He talks to an Australian man whose teacher gathered all the boys at his school to make them “apologise for rape,” and meets a single father who was courted by YouTube for the lucrative videos he posted of his daughters’ food fights, only to be dropped when online detectives wrongly accused him of kidnapping.
Ronson makes these and other bizarre tales feel symbolic of a world turned upside down. But when he says Chris Mark is just one of many men “discovering there were things they’d once done that they couldn’t do anymore,” you sense an overly excited logic at work. He tells us, “I was reminded a little of America in Iraq,” when Mark can’t decide what to do with his castle, torn between housing OnlyFans models or setting up an orphanage. Mark’s “insatiable… self-gratification” leads to a section on the controversial actor Armie Hammer, who seems to be mentioned only so Ronson can let us know Hammer gave him an exclusive interview he chose not to publish.
Ronson’s constant comparisons don’t always help us understand his elusive subjects. Mark also reminds him of Graham Linehan, co-creator of Father Ted and a former friend. Ronson had compared Linehan’s online posts about transgender people to bullying, and, he tells us, Linehan then started sending him multiple abusive messages. Ronson interviews him to try to understand what fueled his obsession, but it’s typical of…Typical of The Castle’s nervous, analytical tone, Ronson’s final conclusions rest less on their six hours of video calls than on a shaky comparison he draws from the tragic story of Brandi Bragg, a West Virginia teenager who died of a drug overdose in 2004 after winning the lottery sent her into a spiral of paranoia.
Near the end, he describes the fatal shooting of Renée Good by an ICE agent who muttered “fucking bitch.” It’s unclear why he brings this up, until he points out that Linehan—the only man in the book described as “unravelling”—apparently took to X to repost a tweet calling her “the face of chaos” and “the epitome of the modern-day liberal white woman.” “Graham’s slide into disinhibition, his obsessive anti-wokeness, had clearly become so overwhelming that it overshadowed his role as a self-appointed defender of women.” This gotcha moment, tucked into a footnote seven pages from the end, makes you wonder if The Castle was built not just as an exploration of 21st-century masculinity, but as an act of slow-burning revenge—though maybe that says something about men either way.
The Castle: Adventures in a World of Unravelling Men is published by Viking (£20). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs about Jon Ronsons book The Psychopath Test written in a natural clear tone
General Beginner Questions
1 What is The Psychopath Test about
Its a nonfiction book where journalist Jon Ronson investigates the concept of psychopathy He starts by looking at a mysterious book sent to academics and ends up exploring how the psychiatric industry defines and diagnoses psychopaths and whether the label is even reliable
2 Who is Jon Ronson
Hes a British journalist author and documentary filmmaker known for his humorous and often unsettling deep dives into fringe cultures conspiracy theories and the darker sides of human behavior He also wrote So Youve Been Publicly Shamed
3 Is this book a scientific textbook or a selfhelp guide
Neither Its a narrative journalism book Ronson tells a story about his journey meeting real people and psychiatrists rather than providing a clinical manual or advice on how to spot a psychopath in your life
4 What is the Psychopath Test mentioned in the title
It refers to the Hare Psychopathy Checklist a clinical diagnostic tool created by psychologist Robert Hare It uses a 20item checklist to score someone on traits like lack of empathy grandiosity and impulsivity Ronson learns how to use this checklist during the book
5 Is the book funny or scary
Its both Ronsons writing is very witty and selfdeprecating which makes the dark subject matter accessible However the book raises genuinely disturbing questions about how easily peopleespecially powerful onescan be labeled as mentally abnormal
Advanced Analytical Questions
6 What is the main thesis or argument of the book
Ronson argues that the diagnosis of psychopathy is highly subjective and potentially dangerous He suggests that the checklist can be used to pathologize normal behavior and he questions whether the psychiatric industry creates madness by defining it so broadly He also explores the idea that some traits of psychopathy like fearlessness are actually rewarded in society
7 Who is the Troubled Help figure in the book
Thats the alias for a man Ronson meets who is a patient in a secure psychiatric
