Ronson Notes
From hanging out at a UFO convention with Robbie Williams to working with movie star Michael Fassbender Jon Ronson has seen it all. His latest collection chronicles several of his more lurid escapades.
Roisin Dwyer, 25 Oct 2012

"Happy James Bond Day to you too,” booms Jon Ronson. Hot Press feels it is important to acknowledge the occasion as, in his captivating latest collection, Lost At Sea, Ronson recreates Bond’s journey from London to Geneva in an Aston Martin DB3. The event, as with all Ronson’s writing, is narrated in his trademark humorous self-deprecating style, replete with laser-beam insight.
“I found out that, contrary to what I always thought about myself, I was not cracked up to be James Bond,” he deadpans. “I did have to wonder at the time, how many women will I decide not to take to bed on this journey?!” (laughs)
The journalist and documentary filmmaker has been a tireless crusader in the world of the weird and the wonderful since the publication of The Clubbed Class in 1994, which saw him finagle his way into the jetset lifestyle. Since then titles such as Them: Adventures With Extremists, The Men Who Stare At Goats (brought to screen starring George Clooney) and last year’s compelling The Psychopath Test have secured his position as chronicler-in-chief of the misunderstood outsider. His latest work is a collection of his published articles which includes his coverage of the infamous coughing trial of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? contestants, a hilarious account of hanging out with Noel Edmonds and the Deal Or No Deal participants, and the titular article which deals with the disturbingly large number of disappearances from cruise ships.
One of the most fascinating sections in the book concerns his time spent in Stanley Kubrick’s abode examining the contents of the approximate 1,000 boxes the director collected throughout his life.
“He was sort of creating the internet in his home with all this knowledge and all this information stored in different parts of this giant house,” reflects Jon. “Kubrick anticipated a lot of things, for instance different colour post-it notes – he was a stationery freak! Once he also sent his nephew out to Commercial Road to photograph it in its entirety and then sellotape all the photos together to form a perfect panorama, a bit like Google Streetview before Google Streetview!”
Page 1/3 <Previous 1 2 3 Next>