As the title suggests, this is journalist Jon Ronson’s account of his time spent with different extremists, including Omar Bakri, outspoken American radio show host Alex Jones, David Icke, Thom Robb (a KKK leader, who is trying to improve the KKK’s public image), and others. While Ronson remains generally respectful of each person, and tries to remain somewhat neutral, his opinions do occasionally filter through.
It is difficult to read about what some of these people believe without squirming, or becoming angry, but what most of them have in common is a conviction that the world is being run by a secret elite group, who decide who will be president and prime minister of various countries, amongst other things. While their claims smack of the ridiculous, there were a couple of scenes which did give me pause for wonder – just who WAS trailing Ronson in Portugal? And the final chapter was almost unbelievable. Except that it was believable (and the events apparently captured on videotape).
Ronson writes with (much-needed) patience and wry humour, and is a likeable narrator. The book is humorous, but he seems to laugh at the situations, rather than the people he is spending time with. I admire him being able to stick it out. Some of the people he was spending time with were so objectionable in their beliefs that I think I would have jacked it in much sooner!
I enjoyed his style of writing, and will definitely be reading more by this author.
(Author’s website can be found here.)
Between the Pages 
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