The Elephant in the Room: A Journey into the Trump Campaign and the “Alt-Right” (Kindle Single)

“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-Bestselling 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.

**

Jon Ronson’s nonfiction books So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, The Psychopath Test, Them: Adventures with Extremists, Lost at Sea and The Men Who Stare At Goats have all been international and/or New York Times bestsellers, and have been translated into more than 26 languages.

The Men Who Stare At Goats was adapted into a film starring George Clooney. The film adaptation of The Psychopath Test is currently in development starring Scarlett Johansson, directed by Jay Roach, and with a screenplay by Kristin Gore.

Ronson’s original screenplays include “Frank,” which he co-wrote with Peter Straughan. “Frank” won the 2014 best screenplay award at the British Independent Film Awards. His latest film, “Okja,” which stars Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal and Paul Dano, and is directed by Bong Joon-Ho, will be released in 2017.

Ronson is a regular contributor to The Guardian, This American Life, the New York Times magazine and GQ magazine, and has appeared as a guest on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” “Conan,” and “Inside Amy Schumer.” His many UK documentaries include “Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes,” “The Secret Rulers of the World,” and seven seasons of the award-winning BBC Radio 4 program “Jon Ronson On…”

He lives at the moment in New York, where he’s working on an audio series for Audible called The Butterfly Effect.