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The Elephant in the Room

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

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The Elephant in the Room

By: Jon Ronson
Narrated by: Jon Ronson
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About this listen

'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.
Elections & Political Process Social Sciences Scary Witty Thought-Provoking Funny Elephant
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What listeners say about The Elephant in the Room

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Short, but sweet. /worrying.

This book gives good Ronson. I look forward to an update post-election, and maybe a broader exploration of the current rise of the Right in the USA, UK and elsewhere.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great insight into the trump campaign

Where does The Elephant in the Room rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's quite short and therefore allows you to get an insight into the campaign that trump traversed. It also gives an insight into the types of people that trump endorsed and an insight into the alt-right.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Elephant in the Room?

It opened my eyes into what trump endorsed

Have you listened to any of Jon Ronson’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I have listened to other works by Jon Ronson, this was probably the best - probably due to the length was an easy listen

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Compelling

I like the way Jon Ronson takes you on a journey and reports what people say so that you feel like a fly on the wall.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Short and repeats a lot of material from Them

I could listen to Ronson all day long but this feels like poor value compared to his other titles.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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scary people

A qualified title would be "conversations with and backgrounds of someone who was part of the campaign and was said to be still doing work for the campaign, and a guy who has knows him and appears to be influential". They are scary people nevertheless and Ronson's perspective may well hold water.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing, funny and frightening.

Really good story from up close with the mad world of Trumps presidential campaign.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Ruined by narrator

I love Jon Ronson, I have read almost every book he has written and loved them all including this one. Sadly the narrator of the this book made it difficult to listen to as his voice just grated on my every nerve.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Entertaining, but way too short

Enjoyable as ever, from Jon Ronson but far too short to justify a higher score. Especially on a topic you'd love to hear more on.

I'd give it a 3.5 if that was an option.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Ronson remixes a greatest hit for this US election essay.

Now that the titular Elephant has left the room and is heading for the roomier accommodations provided by the Oval Office, Ronsons warning arrives too late for me. Not that I could do much about the election result.

It's fine and standard Ronson fare, but not worth a whole credit.
It's very short and having read 'Them' and most of the news articles he cites, I didn't feel I got my money's worth. I should probably have bought the more equitably priced ePub 50 page version. I'll be returning this and will wait patiently for his next full length excursion.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Short but awful

The Audiobook itself is great, the content it covers of course it wholly disturbing and awful and gives an extra level of insight into just how messed up it was that this worked. No wonder we are where we are in 2020. A great listen but also a depressing one too.

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4 people found this helpful