‘I LIKE TO LULL PEOPLE WITH ABSURDITIES AND THEN HIT
THEM WITH THE BLEAKNESS'
.3.‘
f for ‘3. .‘ .
Goa busters
The crazy world of JON RONSON got even odder when he investigated the US military. Brian Donaldson hears tales of staring, supersoldiers and Sesame Street.
iii_\ in .\merica. With the hruixcx oi the Vietnam
\Vlll' \llII \Ittmlltg till the \elll'elicd I'Ie\Il til~ the
.-\mcrican hoth politic at the end ol the 7()\. the ['8 lnililar} decided it \\a\ lime l‘or ne\\ ideax. To the oulxidc \xorld. though. it seemed that little had reall_\ changed: all \\e \;t\\ \\ ere l'urlher hrutaliliex in the shape ol‘ the PR disaster in Panama. imaxion ol' (ircnada and the calamit} ol the lran/(‘ontra \candal. Yet. \\ilhin the militar} machine. there \\ ere goingx—on \xhich )ou t‘titlItI tILNc‘l'iIK‘ ;t\ .tIII-I-E‘Iik‘ITI:
.lon I\)tlll\ttll calls them ‘cra/v. 'xlapxlicIC and ‘ahxurd'. In his next hook l’l‘llt’ .tlt'n ll'lin Sit/re (ll (iitllhl and current 'l‘\’ \cricx lt'rllg'l' It’ll/cm ol the ll'ur/l/l. the ('ardill-horn. London-haxed iincxligaliw journalixl gains acccw to the arm} men \\|io shaped a hi/arre polic} inspired h_\ the (‘alil‘ornian next age thinking ol‘ the I‘Fllx. 'l‘he actix iliex concerned include \taring at goal\ until the heaxlx keel o\ er paral_\\cd under a l‘ren/ied pgchological amaull: greeting a \icioux euem_\ \\ith hah_\ Ialnhx to solicit them tip: and “alking through \\all\ to pro\c that ph}\ic\ can he tIL‘iTCd.
ll _\ou are familiar \\ilIt the Pl'L‘\ltttl\ \tork ot' .lon Ronxon. _\ou'|l he a\\are that thix catalogue ol' \lrangc acti\il_\ ix not merel} put helore u\ \o he can tune a right old laugh at men heha\ing oddl}. Serious points are there to he made as the \lor} moxex on l‘rom dallllew to tlttl‘letL‘\\. 'I III'\L‘tI it ;t\ a dc\icc. to Itlll people \tilh the ahxurdiliex and then hit them \\ilh the hleaixnexxf notes Ronxon. ~That‘x him it all actual!) occurred. holh to me as a journalist linding out ahout it and Iron it all happened in real lil‘e.‘
It‘s heen said that on the lace of them. religious laillix are line. It’s those who practise them that are \t'arped. So. “hen Lieutenant ('olonel Jim (‘hannon proposed the creation ol‘ a louchyl‘eely .ledi Supersoldier. he could harel} hare heliexed that his ideals would have heen utilised in the photographed torture of Iraqis in .'\hu (ihraih. ('hannon advocated 'lhinking otil ol‘ the hox‘.
The ['8 militar} wanted to drive the inmates oi
(iuantanamo Ba} out of their minds h} pla_\ing Barney the Dinosaur anthems and Sesame Street jinglex over and o\ er and ot'er again. ‘.-\II the evidence points to thexe programmes hating heen resurrected in the post- 0/! l eraf reckons Ronson. '.-\nd the more resurrected it gets. the more co\'ert and classified it heeomex Lt\ “CII. .\'o\\. especial!) alter .»\hu (ihraih. I'd time much more dil'licttll} in getting to these people.‘
.r\\ )ou ma} ITLIVC seen in his last TV/hook project. Secret It’ll/wax oft/1c libr/lI/I'In'm. the longer Ronson
hung out \\ ith paranoiacs. the more paranoid he himself
hecame. So. \\ hen talk Illl‘llx lo the nearly signed l‘eature lilm deal ol- '/./I(’I)I. Ronson (understandablyl gets all co\erl on us. "The idea i\ of a small. llL‘l‘Vtilh guy getting out ol' his depth in the world of international intrigue. I can't tell )‘otl just _\'et \x'ho‘x turning it into a liltt\ ie. htll I can tell _\ou that it\ someone who's really. reall} good.’ The plot trul} thickens.
The Men Who Stares at Goats is published by Picador, Fri 19 Nov; Crazy Rulers of the World is on Channel 4, Sun 21 Nov, 8pm; Jon Ronson reads from the book at Borders, Glasgow, Tue 7 Dec, 6pm.
IITI >i<
THE BEST BOOKS, COMICS & EVENTS
=i< Jon Ronson Weird goings on in the US military exposed. It's The Men Who Stare at Goats. you know. See preview. left. Picador.
>I< Andy Riley If the thought of little fluffy rabbits driving themselves to horrible self- annihilation is your idea of a good time, check out Return of the Bunny Suicides. It's absolutely hilarious. See review. Hodder & Stoughton.
>l< Philippe Vasset Sci-fl satire; Barthesian tribute; Zeitgeist thriller. ScriptGenerator©®"-’ is all that and even more. See review. Serpent’s Tail.
* Frank Hampson Dan Dare takes on the Mekons and it’s a battle to the death. The only victor is the comic-reading public with Voyage to Venus Part 2. See review. Titan Books.
ti< Greg Sadowski (ed) B Krlgsteln Comics is a collective of classic opium den confessions and parallel narratives which are nothing less than a fitting tribute to one of the early masters. See review. Fantagraphlcs.
>l< Simon Singh Some more chat about Big Bangs and other clever science stuff. In an accessible and fun way, mind. Nice haircut, too. B/ackwe/Is, Edinburgh, Thu 78 Nov; Borders, Glasgow, Sun 21 Nov.
>14 Mark Gatiss The tall chap (pictured) from the League of Gentlemen brings us some special stuff with his tales from within The Vesuvius Club. Mark claims to live in a north London lab and takes a daily 7% solution of tea. Could be true. you know. Arches, Glasgow, Thu 2 Dec.
"7 1/5. THE LIST 39