MischaS_'s Reviews > So You've Been Publicly Shamed

Last October I read The Psychopath Test, I had no idea what to expect, and I was blown away. And Goodreads being the amazing place it is, I had people recommending me to read this one.

It sounded very interesting, so, I went and bought it straight away!

And let me tell, I maybe liked it even more than I did the Psychopath Test? It might be due to the fact that I already read Jon Ronson's book, and it made more sense this time around. It was easier to see how it all connected. Plus, I already knew it was not a fiction story. (Yeah, I had a bit of dumb moment with the Psychopath test.)

The story was great; I have to say that I generally stay away from Twitter because I always get angry there and/or disappointed with the world. So, I did not know any of those stories the book mentioned. It was all new to me. I'm honestly thinking about reading up more about some of them because it will be very interesting to compare the initials feelings which I had after reading about them in this book with those I'll have then.
I felt sorry for several people.
I wanted to ask what they were thinking.
One broke my heart.
Some "culprits" were not exactly sympathetic to me.
And I had a very hard time feeling anything toward them.
Then, they were those people who inspired me a bit. They looked the shame in the eyes and remained unbowed.

“As soon as the victim steps out of the pact by refusing to feel ashamed,” he said, “the whole thing crumbles.”

“I suppose that when shamings are delivered like remotely administered drone strikes nobody needs to think about how ferocious our collective power might be.”


I liked the complexity of the story. How those people were shamed. How they dealt with it. What's behind the "public shaming mentality". Also, how differently men and women are usually shamed, which I never really realised but thinking now about it, it's pretty terrifying truth. And I have to say that I enjoyed the little tidbits where Ronson explained how he identified with those who shamed them.

"I consider myself a social justice person. It was my people, abusing our power,[...]"

It was not a crucial part of the book. But it's still my favourite.

Anyway, the important question is which Ronson book I should read next?