The Castle by Jon Ronson
An architectural oddity prompts a new mystery from Jon Ronson, taking him into America’s drifting men
Jon Ronson has always had a knack for stumbling upon a captivating mystery, and it seems that knack is hereditary. His new book, The Castle, starts with his teenage son discovering a newly-built medieval castle in Woodstock, upstate New York, which prompts Ronson to investigate the eccentric aristocrat responsible.
Its builder Chris Mark turns out to be a “gilded age scion,” a descendant of a wealthy steel magnate who lures women – and the occasional journalist’s son – to his castle for various seedy projects. Ronson is hooked. He sets off on a quest to understand Mark, and in doing so opens the door to a wider exploration of America’s drifting men. Along the way, his case studies include various controversial figures of our time like (non-American) Father Ted creator Graham Linehan and Hollywood actor Armie Hammer, but the book is strongest when Ronson is able to connect the struggles of everyday people with their coordinated siphoning into organisations like ICE or cult-like internet factions.
The investigation at its centre never quite lands on a satisfying climax, nor does it fully coalesce with the wider throughline, with Ronson himself sometimes admitting a precarious weld between the subjects. Nevertheless, it’s as pacey and page-turning a read as his reputation promises, and the self-examination the tale prompts in its teller is amusing. Ronson fans will delight in it; newcomers might benefit from starting with 2001’s Them before finding their way back to The Castle.