The Elephant in the Room

A Journey into the Trump Campaign and the "Alt-Right"

By: Jon Ronson

Narrated by: Jon Ronson

'But Hillary is a known Luciferian,' he tried.
'She's not a known Luciferian,' I said.
'Well, yes and no,' he said.

In The Elephant in the Room, Jon Ronson, the New York Times best-selling author of The Psychopath Test, Them and So You've Been Publicly Shamed, travels to Cleveland at the height of summer to witness the Republican National Convention. Along the way he reunites with an old acquaintance - the influential provocateur and conspiracy talk-show host Alex Jones - who draws him, unexpectedly, into one of the most bizarre presidential campaigns in American history.

From the private Winnebago where conspiracy theorists and fearmongers discuss key campaign decisions to a chance encounter with notorious political operative Roger Stone, Ronson's picaresque journey into Donald Trump's atmosphere introduces us to the people who orbit the campaign machine and discovers what makes them tick - and what ticks them off.

Whimsical, hilarious and often downright terrifying, The Elephant in the Room captures a defining moment in our time as only Jon Ronson could see it.

©2016 Jon Ronson (P)2016 Audible, Ltd.

Another incredible journey with Jon

Jon Ronson is so insightful and takes the reader right into the heart of whatever he researches.

In this case, it was more of a frightening experience, because Ronson, himself, did not realize how big the issue was.

Now, we're sadly living the results.

Ronson does it again

The author takes on Alex Jones and his influence on Trump’s election and on society as a whole: misogyny, racism, outrageous lies and bullying have been cultivated and normalized in the USA. Ronson manages to make the story interesting and funny without trivializing events.

Brilliant insight into the inception

Ronson does a great job of bringing you with him on his journey. This is a prequel. I’m no longer searching for a person to blame. I do think it’s important to understand the problem it aimed to fix. This is a direct look into the faces and an opportunity to peek behind the curtain to catch small glimpses of the personalities of the characters cast in whatever hellscape this is.
I no longer see it as exploitation. It was group of conductors waving a baton and the racists, the bigots, the misogynist voices rose. That’s the awful screeching that seems endless. Good to know.

Great Voice

Jon has such a great voice, love this guy! His adventures outlined in this book are fascinating and enlightening. Great listen!

Compelling Story, Great Narrator

This is a really compelling story. Jon Ronson is a great storyteller regardless of the subject matter. In this case he's weaving gold into even more gold. For those expecting outrage journalism and shock reporting, you're going to be deeply disappointed. His main subject, Alex Jones, points out that Ronson is likely writing an elaborate hit piece on him but Ronson is always so tasteful and diplomatic in how he does it that Jones doesn't mind granting him exclusive access and interviews. Jones is right. Ronson is very tasteful.

The narration as always is spectacular. You can hear him reliving the story in his voice, but he never step away from his role as observer of history. I think if Ronson read an encyclopedia I'd even listen to that.

One criticism is that this book focuses more on Alex Jones than Trump. It felt like the central goal shifted from meeting and understanding Trump to reuniting with and interviewing Alex Jones.