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The Men Who Stare at Goats

Jon Ronson

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Jan 05, 2010 Sean rated it liked it · review of another edition

I haven't seen the film based on "The Men Who Stare...", but I did see the BBC programme and I did attend a Ronson book-signing at the (now defunct) Borders in Oxford. It just took me a while to get round to actually reading it.

The title refers to some crazee cats in the U.S. military who tried to use paranormal techniques (some borrowed from the 1970s California new-age scene) to create 'super-soldiers' to fight in future conflicts. The original idea was to weave in almost a non-violent approac ...more

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Oct 16, 2009 Natalie rated it liked it

Shelves: condemned-to-repeat-it, america-fuck-yeah, tinfoil-haberdashery, give-peace-a-chance, politics-and-strange-bedfellows, read-in-2014

It's probably complete bullshit, but it's entertaining bullshit. ...more

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Oct 24, 2009 Hilary "Fox" rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: politics, humor, history, own, 2013, non-fiction, mystery-thriller

I adore Jon Ronson. Inevitably he writes in a style both informative and irreverent, which lends itself to an appealing readability comparable to Mary Roach or Hunter S. Thompson's political essays. Jon Ronson is simply fun, and the topics he takes on are both fascinating and a bit ridiculous. The fact he sees the humor in it makes it all the better.

I started reading The Men Who Stare at Goats before the film came out, partially attracted to the title but mostly the topic. From the 1950s on, the ...more

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