The Men Who Stare At Goats by Jon Ronson

The Men Who Stare At Goats

by Jon Ronson

Often funny, sometimes chilling and always thought-provoking, journalist Jon Ronson's Sunday Times bestseller The Men Who Stare at Goats is a story so unbelievable it has to be true.

In 1979 a secret unit was established by the most gifted minds within the US Army. Defying all known military practice - and indeed the laws of physics - they believed that a soldier could adopt a cloak of invisibility, pass cleanly through walls, and, perhaps most chillingly, kill goats just by staring at them.

They were the First Earth Battalion. And they really weren't joking. What's more, they're back and fighting George Bush's War on Terror.

Inspired the film starring George Clooney and Ewan McGregor.

Reviewed by wyvernfriend on

4 of 5 stars

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In 1979 a secret unit is set up in the US Army to research the possibility of using psychic abilities. Ronson follows the clues across American following many of the people involved and being told a lot of stories, some of which were quite far-fetched. Amusing in a kind of scattered way, there is no attempt to understand the information but to document his travels through the strange world of psychic research and spies.

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  • 31 December, 2009: Reviewed