A journalist embarks on a wild goose chase that might \u2013 or might not \u2013 be informative about the male condition<\/p>\n
Recovering from surgery at home in upstate New York in 2023, Jon Ronson awoke to a string of texts from his adult son about a weird evening he just had at a stranger\u2019s castle in Connecticut. Having gone along with a friend who\u2019d been invited to a party there, he arrived to find a few lost-looking young women with the sixtysomething host, Chris Mark, a\u00a0steel heir filming a reality show about \u201c101 princesses\u201d whose first rule\u00a0was \u201cNever say no to King Chris\u201d.<\/p>\n
As a parent, Ronson is worried; as a reporter of more than 30 years on the cranks-and-crooks beat, he\u2019s already on the clock. After trawling online whispers of sinister goings-on at the castle, he decides to pay a visit to Mark, who proudly shows off the stalactites and waterfall in his \u201ccave-themed\u201d bedroom before explaining how he picks up women on dating apps to \u201cadapt\u201d them to life as \u201cprincesses\u201d. \u201cThe only girls that really work are drug addicts … they don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on,\u201d he says. Almost touchingly, Mark asks Ronson to sign an NDA, and the book describes Mark flooding his phone with threats when he declines.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/a21962cdf7ad6c1a50767e3e73b0d799a9cb7709\/302_0_2996_2398\/master\/2996.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=c58de9ab59bc31d59f08bd33fd79a597\" "\\"The")
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