I thoroughly enjoyed this book even though I didn't agree with all of Ronson's points. Among other things, Ronson traces the cases of several patients who have been classified as psychopaths in the U.S. and Great Britain through the use of the 'test', which allows clinicians to score a person based on the assessment of 40-odd personality traits. The varying degrees to which the test appears to fail or succeed, and the stories of the potential psychopaths themselves, are fascinating.
From the psychopaths Ronson veers into shakier territory: a brief history of the development of the DSM and an analysis and condemnation of the use of hard-core drugs for pediatric bipolar disorder. He paints the DSM with a fairly black brush in just a few pages, and spends an equal amount of time on the pharmaceutical companies. I can't find anything wrong with his arguments; my problem is that these are huge issues which can't be properly explored in so little space.
Add to that Ronson's arch style and his tendency to relate everything to himself, and we have an entertaining and provocative book which I wouldn't cite in a research paper.
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