Jon Ronson: my five best books about the culture wars
The culture wars form the subject of his new eight-part series

The journalist, author and filmmaker picks his five best books about the culture wars, which form the subject of his new eight-part series, Things Fell Apart, available now on BBC Sounds and Radio 4.
Crazy for God by Frank Schaeffer (2007)
One of the pleasures of making Things Fell Apart were long walks listening out for buried treasure in audiobook memoirs. This extraordinary life story gave me episode one. A boy in an alpine evangelical commune, dreaming of making avant-garde movies, inadvertently kickstarts a campaign of murders in the 1990s.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Da Capo Press £11.95
A War for the Soul of America by Andrew Hartman (2015)
In his exhaustive culture wars history, Hartman includes fascinating conflicts I couldn’t fit in – like Piss Christ, an artwork of a crucifix dipped in urine that caused wild ructions in the 1980s but is now largely forgotten, as many of the conflicts that overwhelm us today will surely soon be.
University of Chicago Press £17; The Week Bookshop £13.99
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Black, White and Jewish by Rebecca Walker (2000)
Walker’s father was a Jewish lawyer; her mother was Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple. Her beautiful memoir tells how, after their split, her childhood was spent moving “between universes that never overlap”. The experience inspired her to invent a new movement – third-wave feminism – in the 1990s.
Out of print
I Will Survive… and You Will Too! by Tammy Faye Messner (2003)
Tammy Faye Bakker was an ostentatious 1980s televangelist. While undeniably fraud-adjacent – her husband Jim was imprisoned for misusing viewer donations – Tammy was a wonderful oasis of curiosity among her deeply homophobic peers.
Tarcher £10.99
N***** by Dick Gregory (1964).
Dick Gregory was a hugely successful comedian before he quit it all for civil rights activism in the 1960s. His memoir does not asterisk the n-word. It’s spelt out. As a result, it was banned by Christian conservatives in the 1970s. And now it has been banned again – this time by progressives on college campuses. Illiberalism mutates.
Plume £13.99
-
What to know about the 'no tax on tips' policy
The Explainer The new bill would make tip income exempt from federal income taxes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study finds
Speed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
'Constantly shifting regulations are a nightmare'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Mountainhead: Jesse Armstrong's tech bro satire sparkles with 'weapons-grade zingers'
The Week Recommends The Succession creator's first feature film lacks the hit TV show's 'dramatic richness' – but makes for a horribly gripping watch
-
Seeing Each Other: Portraits of Artists – a 'riveting' exhibition
The Week Recommends Pallant House exhibition offers fascinating instances of painterly reciprocity
-
Geoff Dyer shares his favourite books on war
The Week Recommends Out of Sheer Rage author chooses works by Martha Gellhorn, Michael Herr and Dexter Filkins
-
6 sun-drenched homes by the sea
Feature Featuring a large patio overlooking the ocean in Laguna Beach and a marble rainfall shower in Norwalk
-
Garsington Opera opens its summer festival with two 'very different productions'
The Week Recommends A 'fabulous' new staging of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades and Donizetti's fake-love-potion comedy L'elisir d'amore
-
The Rehearsal series two: Nathan Fielder's docu-comedy is 'laugh-out-loud funny'
The Week Recommends Television's 'great illusionist' has turned his attention to commercial airline safety
-
The Ballad of Wallis Island: bittersweet British comedy is a 'delight'
The Week Recommends A reclusive millionaire lures his favourite folk duo to an island for an 'awkward reunion'
-
Aston Martin Vantage Roadster: 'a rare treat indeed'
The Week Recommends The Roadster version of Aston Martin's new Vantage coupé makes even 'the most mundane journey feel special'