Reviews with content warning for Suicide - So You've Been Publicly Shamed

i tabbed the shit out of this.

it was a very accessible non-fiction with a subject that was actually quite interesting. i liked the cases that they brought out. obviously most of the come from twitter. however, jon ronson brought in the relevance of sex-workers, criminals and our culture plays into public shaming which i found really interesting. i think its refreshing to hear something that is more nuanced? it was a neutral perspective from someone who uses social media and has experience with being publicly shamed.

i did find the beginning a little hard to get into and the first case study he brings up of the guy who plagiarized quotes was uninteresting to me and i think wasn't the most gripping opening to a book. it was almost like a digression but at the beginning, if that makes sense.

it's not too in your face academic whilst remaining informative.

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whittenholmes's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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cielthedeal's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

High level: A book on cancel culture and shame, very accessible.

I'd rate it a 5 on exploring the complex emotions of shame and how we (society both on and offline) inflict it. The book didn't go where I thought it would and really explores the nuances in shame as a punishment in formal (legal cases) and informal (online) settings - interviewing people who are both the perpetrator (victim of shame?) and the judge.

But then I'd rate it a 3 on the "off the paved path" tracks the book takes. Sometimes Ronson goes off his main message and I think we're going somewhere interesting, and then it turns out the end of the road is not at all related to the original idea or theme and I'm like, how did I end up here?

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