[]
The Castle
  • Published: 20 August 2026
  • ISBN: 9781405982085
  • Imprint: Penguin Audio
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $34.00
Categories:

The Castle

Adventures in a World of Unravelling Men

Formats & editions
Tr. Paperback
25 Aug 2026
EBook
20 Aug 2026
Audiobook
20 Aug 2026
Hardback
20 Sept 2026
Pre-order from…
Audible Google Play Kobo Libro.fm Spotify

From the million-copy bestselling author of The Psychopath Test comes a twisting, darkly comic true-life story about one man, his castle, a generation of unravelling men – and a secret hidden deep behind the castle walls.

** AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW **

The million-copy bestselling author of The Psychopath Test returns with a shocking, darkly comic trip to the furthest reaches of the masculinity crisis

I honestly have no clue what is going on.
This is very weird.
We left. Was completely fucked. All good now.

When Jon Ronson received a series of disquieting texts from his son Joel who’d been lured to a mysterious castle in the forests of New England late one night, it sets Ronson Sr. off on an adventure into an underworld of unmoored and disaffected men.

As Jon deepens his investigation into the castle and the wider ‘man crisis’ – where some are feeling tossed around in a sea of conflicting ideologies of what it means to be a man – urgent questions come to light. What exactly is ‘Princessing’? Why did a lawn care influencer dress as a baby in front of billions of online viewers, with catastrophic results? And more pressingly, why are two recently released murderers on their way to pay Jon a visit?

From the death of utopian factory towns to the false promise of YouTube influencer culture, Jon shows us our rapidly changing world like never before, and the men caught in the middle. A world drained of purpose, of collapsing institutions, where a new era of disinhibited behaviour has taken hold of our online and real-world selves. And as the castle mystery twists and turns into a cat-and-mouse story, will Jon be able to discover its terrifying secret hidden from the world?

THE CASTLE marks Jon Ronson’s triumphant return to the written page. Utterly hilarious and criminally entertaining, this is one of our greatest non-fiction writers at the top of his game: diagnosing our societal frailties in a narrative of blistering pace, insight and intensity.

The audiobook is narrated by the author and features original music composed by Joel Ronson, plus an exclusive bonus chapter drawn from his acclaimed BBC podcast Things Fell Apart, creating a uniquely immersive listening experience.

'Ridiculously compelling and wonderfully weird . . . The Castle is vintage Ronson: wise, timely and extremely funny' LOUIS THEROUX
  • Published: 20 August 2026
  • ISBN: 9781405982085
  • Imprint: Penguin Audio
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $34.00
Categories:

About the author

Jon Ronson

Jon Ronson is an internationally best­selling author, journalist, and filmmaker whose books have been translated into more than thirty languages. His nonfiction titles include So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, The Psychopath Test, and Them: Adventures with Extremists. Two of his books, The Men Who Stare at Goats and Frank, have been adapted into feature-length films, and his TED talks have amassed more than thirty mil­lion views. Ronson is also the host and producer of multiple radio programs and chart-topping pod­casts. He is a regular contributor to This American Life and lives in New York.
portrait photo of Jon Ronson

Also by Jon Ronson

Things Fell Apart
The Amazing Adventures of Phoenix Jones
See all

Praise for The Castle

Ridiculously compelling and wonderfully weird, this is a book that helps us understand why so many men seem to be unravelling, filling their lives with ill-conceived dreams and self-performance. The Castle is vintage Ronson: wise, timely and extremely funny

LOUIS THEROUX

Every Jon Ronson book has made me see the world differently. Nobody tells an unbelievable-but-true story like him. He's done it again with The Castle: I was utterly gripped from page one. If you want a totally compelling live mystery that will make you burn for justice, READ THIS BOOK URGENTLY

MARINA HYDE

Fantastic and intensely of-the-moment, The Castle explores the nature of male anxiety, the spiralling delusions of the internet, the destructive allure of anti-woke defiance, the obsequious flattery of AI chatbots, the impunity of the mega-rich and so many other subtle (and not so subtle) currents that are currently roiling our existence . . . one of the scarier aspects of this book is the way the ante seems always to be upping, across its various stories and characters. It's a dogged feat of investigation from one of our greatest non-fiction storytellers

PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE

The Castle is an investigation into one man that broadens into an enquiry into the state of all men. Jon Ronson is such a companiable narrator, and this book is by turns horrifying, hilarious, bizarre and gripping

ED CAESAR 

Jon Ronson is an essential guide in these disorienting times. I love everything that Ronson writes but The Castle is a particular gem, a story of his own making in the collapsing world of twenty-first century masculinity. Wonderfully breathless and weird and open, it feels hallucinatory and all too real at the same time

SAM KNIGHT

Addictively readable, I loved The Castle. This is a much-needed book – an anti-sensationalist yet utterly compelling investigation into the masculinity crisis

DOLLY ALDERTON

Ronson delivers a by turns amusing and harrowing report on the desultory state of contemporary men . . . brilliant . . . Ronson’s intuitive but still rigorous approach makes this a blockbuster portrait of men gone mad

Publishers Weekly, starred review

Ronson provides exacting details and insider perspectives . . . A mesmerizing work of gonzo journalism at its most intriguing

Kirkus Reviews, starred review 

The Castle is compellingly nuanced in its social analysis as Ronson arrives at outcomes that are both concerning and empathetic

Booklist, starred review

The Castle is by turns funny and frightening, dark and disarming

Thane Tierney, BookPage, starred review

An excellent piece of investigative journalism that will keep readers riveted

Library Journal