Letter From London: 'God Bless Us, Every One'

Ronson has made a living from meeting eccentric, obsessive characters, and his passion for such material stems from his affinity with these people, he says. His previous book, Them: Adventures With Extremists (which has its own Mike White-penned adaptation, to be directed by Edgar Wright, on the way), dealt with Bilderberg Group conspiracy theories and people who believe there are Satanic, 12-foot-tall lizards among us disguised as humans.

"I've always thought I understand eccentric people the best because I'm a bit like that, in my own way", says Ronson. "I'm much more rationalist than a lot of people I write about - I don't believe in the paranormal or conspiracy theories, and I know they're not true - but I think the general OCD nuttiness that I have is the same thing, in a way. Anything on that spectrum, OCD, paranoia, autism, it's all linked, and the people that I write about are all on that scale, and that's what makes what they do so interesting and resonant. And powerful, you can even argue; I sometimes wonder if that's what makes the world go around. If everybody was completely rational it would be a kind of still pond. It takes people like that to shake up the world."

And you can't argue with that. Personally, I'd like to see some 12-foot lizards lumbering through the streets of London, picking up cars and throwing them at the Christmas Carol lights. That would shake things up nicely.

Tally ho, bitches.

goats55.jpg

Pages: 1 2 3



Comments