The Debutante: From High Society to White Supremacy
© 2023 Jon Ronson
Audible original, 3 hrs

The Debutante is Jon Ronson’s investigation into the rumors and contradictions surrounding Carol Howe, a young woman who became interested in white nationalism and associated with various and sundry neo-Nazi types until she was raped by Dennis Mahon (later imprisoned for an Arizona bombing) and became a state informant against them. Her origin is especially curious because while she was a child of privilege, she was an adopted child of privilege — and one of her schoolmates interviewed here suggested that Carol embracing racial nationalism was her way of establishing an identity for herself. Carol is chiefly of interest because she claimed that Timothy McVeigh was directly connected to a community of separatists and racists called Elohim City, and that he and others were planning on attacking federal buildings. Ron’s investigation includes interviews with those who knew Howe, and those connection to Elohim City — including the alleged “John Doe #2”, Andreas Strassmeier, who was ejected from Elohim City during the McVeigh investigation. (The Strassmeier interview is especially interesting because he wants to know if Ronson buys the ‘official story’, and speculates himself as to who John Doe 2 might be — taking Ronson by surprise!) The audible version appears to have been adapted from Ronson’s BBC series, so there are a lot of clips of repeated audio — but we do get to hear his interviews with the people themselves, which is considerably more interesting than listening to him do both sides back and forth, especially given that he’s not the most pleasant narrator to listen to. (He’s a British David Sedaris — fine in short doses but grating for longer periods.) Ultimately, Ronson is unconvinced that the bombing involved anything more than McVeigh, though it appears McVeigh had attempted to approach Elohim City. It’s 4 stars for the content in general, and 3.5 for the audio. As much as I loved hearing the actual interviews, the repeated clips detract a bit. I do appreciate Ronson’s determination not to get carried away by anyone’s narratives — especially given Howe appears to have been a compulsive story-spinner — and stick to what is most plausible given confirmed facts. (At least, for this issue. He still trots out the January 6 ‘insurrection’ as though policemen weren’t actively escorting the supposed insurgents.) For my money, having read a biography of McVeigh, I’m content believing that his army background gave him more than sufficient technical knowledge to build the truck bomb. The book ends on a marginally happy note, as Ronson learns that Carol has changed her name and is attempting to recover from the mental poisons she fed herself for long.

Related:
Harvest of Rage: Why Oklahoma City is Only the Beginning. On the downfall of American farmers and a new wave of anti-government populism.
American Terrorist, aforementioned biography of McVeigh