About a month ago I read an article by Jon Ronson in the NY Times that struck me to the core: How One Stupid Tweet Ruined Justine Sacco’s Life. 

For those who’ve forgotten, Justine Sacco is (or was) a NY-based 30-year-old Sr. Director of Communications. In late 2013, she whiled her time on a holiday journey by tweeting a series of personal jokes. At JFK, she remarked on a German traveler’s body odor. At Heathrow she posted an acerbic remark about the UK and bad teeth. Then, as she emarked on the final leg of her trip to South Africa, came the Tweet to her 170 followers that ruined her life and ended her PR career: “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding! I’m white.”

On the 11-hour flight Justine rested, unaware of the firestorm she’d caused. Upon landing, she saw a text from her best friend, Hannah. “I’m so sorry to see what’s happening.” Then “You need to call me immediately.”

Jon Ronson is the author of “So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed” Whitby/Getty Images for Sundance London)

The outrage over her insensitive note had gone viral. Tens of thousands of Tweets, articles, and even death threats had erupted. Within hours, upon learning of the fury, the company she’d worked for declared she was fired. While she’d slept on the plane, #HasJustineLandedYet had become the Internet’s #1 trend.

As Sacco told Ronson in the interview that also begins his new book, her life and career have continued to lie in shambles from the public pillory that started with an anonymous tip to an editor of Valleywag. He retweeted the ill-chosen words to 15,000 followers; then filed a story, “And Now, a Funny Holiday Joke From IAC’s P.R. Boss.”

“The fact she was a P.R. Chief made it delicious,” he told Ronson about why he’d done what he did.

Because of a stolen identity hoax that had previously resulted in his own public shaming, the subject was close and Ronson’s curiousity was piqued. He began to investigate the topic in earnest. The result is his book, “So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed,” premiering on March 31. Immediately I reached out to Ronson on email. He responded back, just as quickly, and agreed to send a galley copy of the book. I read it cover to cover. I was mesmerized. And I was also disturbed.