ALSO BY JON RONSON

Them: Adventures with Extremists

The Men Who Stare at Goats

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry

RIVERHEAD BOOKS

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA • Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) • Penguin Group (Australia), 707 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3008, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) • Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi–110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) • Penguin Books, Rosebank Office Park, 181 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North 2193, South Africa • Penguin China, B7 Jaiming Center, 27 East Third Ring Road North, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100020, China

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

Copyright © 2012 by Jon Ronson, Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

Published simultaneously in Canada

Previously published pieces: “Have You Ever Stood Next to an Elephant, My Friend?” (Guardian, October 9, 2010); “Doesn’t Everyone Have a Solar?” (US GQ, March 2011); “The Chosen Ones” (Guardian, August 5, 2006); “A Message from God” (Guardian, October 21, 2000); “The Name’s Ronson, Jon Ronson” (Guardian, May 10, 2008); “I Looked into That Camera. And I Just Said It” (Guardian, October 2, 2010); “I’m Loving Aliens Instead” (Guardian, April 19, 2008); “First Contact” (Guardian, March 6, 2010); “Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes” (Guardian, March 27, 2004); “Santa’s Little Conspirators” (Guardian, December 23, 2006); “Phoning a Friend” (Guardian, April 19, 2003); “Who Killed Richard Cullen?” (Guardian, July 16, 2005); “The Sociopath Mind Guru and the TV Hypnotist” (Guardian, May 20, 2006); “Death at the Château” (Guardian, January 8, 2011); “I’ve Thought About Doing Myself in Loads of Times . . .” (Guardian, November 22, 2008); “Blood Sacrifice” (Guardian, April 6, 2002); “I Make It Look Like They Died in Their Sleep” (Guardian, May 12, 2008); “Is She for Real?” (Guardian, October 27, 2007); “The Fall of a Pop Impresario” (Guardian, December 1, 2001); “Amber Waves of Green” (US GQ, July 2012); “The Man Who Tried to Split the Atom in His Kitchen” (Guardian, February 3, 2012); “Lost at Sea” (Guardian, November 11, 2011)

ISBN 978-1-101-61242-2

To Sarah Vowell

Contents

Also by Jon Ronson

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

 

PART ONE

THE STRANGE THINGS WE’RE WILLING TO BELIEVE

Have You Ever Stood Next to an Elephant, My Friend?

Doesn’t Everyone Have a Solar?

The Chosen Ones

A Message from God

PART TWO

HIGH-FLYING LIVES

The Name’s Ronson, Jon Ronson

I Looked into That Camera. And I Just Said It

I’m Loving Aliens Instead

First Contact

Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes

PART THREE

EVERYDAY DIFFICULTY

Santa’s Little Conspirators

Phoning a Friend

Who Killed Richard Cullen?

The Sociopath Mind Guru and the TV Hypnotist

Death at the Château

“I’ve Thought About Doing Myself in Loads of Times . . .”

PART FOUR

STEPPING OVER THE LINE

Blood Sacrifice

“I Make It Look Like They Died in Their Sleep”

Is She for Real?

The Fall of a Pop Impresario

PART FIVE

JUSTICE

Amber Waves of Green

The Man Who Tried to Split the Atom in His Kitchen

Lost at Sea

 

About the Author

PART ONE

THE STRANGE THINGS WE’RE WILLING TO BELIEVE

“Have you ever stood next to an elephant, my friend?”

—Violent J, Insane Clown Posse

Have You Ever Stood Next to an Elephant, My Friend?

Milwaukee. A bad part of town. From all around, thousands of young men and women, wearing clown face paint, are descending upon a disused indoor swimming pool that has been transformed into a music venue. They are juggalos, fans of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope, the rap duo known as Insane Clown Posse.

At first glance, it might not be obvious why I’m so excited about meeting them. You might dismiss them as just unbelievably misogynist and aggressive, and it is true that their lyrics are indeed incredibly offensive. Take, for instance, at random:

I’m hating sluts

Shoot them in the face, step back and itch my nuts

Unless I’m in the sack

Cos I fuck so hard it’ll break their back.

ICP have been going for twenty years, always wearing clown makeup, which looks slightly lumpy because it’s painted over their goatees. They’ve been banned from performing in various cities where juggalos have been implicated in murders and gang violence. ICP have a fearsome reputation, fostered by news reports showing teenagers in juggalo T-shirts arrested for stabbing strangers and lyrics like “Barrels in your mouth, bullets to your head / The back of your neck’s all over the shed / Boomshacka boom chop chop bang.”

All of which made Violent J’s announcement a few years ago really quite astonishing: Insane Clown Posse have this entire time secretly been evangelical spiritualists. They’ve only been pretending to be brutal and sadistic to trick their fans into believing in God. They released a song, “Thy Unveiling,” that spelt out the revelation beyond all doubt:

Fuck it, we got to tell.

All secrets will now be told

No more hidden messages

. . . Truth is we follow GOD!!!

We’ve always been behind him

The carnival is GOD