The Men Who Stare At Goats
May 2009 · Pan Macmillan
4.0star
63 reviewsreport
Ebook
240
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About this ebook
'Simultaneously frightening and hilarious' - The Times
The Men Who Stare at Goats reveals the extraordinary – and completely nutty – national secrets at the core of Bush’s government. Often funny, sometimes chilling and with first-hand access to the leading players, Jon Ronson’s Sunday Times bestseller 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 accepted 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.
Entrusted with defending America from all known adversaries, they were the First Earth Battalion. And they really weren’t joking. What’s more, in the early 2000s, they’re back and fighting George W. Bush’s War on Terror. But why are they blasting Iraqi prisoners-of-war with the theme tune to the Barney the Purple Dinosaur show? Why have one hundred de-bleated goats been secretly placed inside the Special Forces command centre at Fort Bragg, North Carolina? And how was the US military associated with the mysterious mass-suicide of a strange cult from San Diego?
Now a feature film starring George Clooney and Ewan McGregor.
Part of the Picador Collection, a series celebrating fifty years of Picador books and showcasing the best of modern literature.
The Men Who Stare at Goats reveals the extraordinary – and completely nutty – national secrets at the core of Bush’s government. Often funny, sometimes chilling and with first-hand access to the leading players, Jon Ronson’s Sunday Times bestseller 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 accepted 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.
Entrusted with defending America from all known adversaries, they were the First Earth Battalion. And they really weren’t joking. What’s more, in the early 2000s, they’re back and fighting George W. Bush’s War on Terror. But why are they blasting Iraqi prisoners-of-war with the theme tune to the Barney the Purple Dinosaur show? Why have one hundred de-bleated goats been secretly placed inside the Special Forces command centre at Fort Bragg, North Carolina? And how was the US military associated with the mysterious mass-suicide of a strange cult from San Diego?
Now a feature film starring George Clooney and Ewan McGregor.
Part of the Picador Collection, a series celebrating fifty years of Picador books and showcasing the best of modern literature.
Ratings and reviews
4.0
63 reviews
Rob Spicer
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December 31, 2012
My second book by Jon. Its not my favourite but that is no reflection on the writing its more to do with my own areas of interest. Also prefer his tv work ... Come home Jon all is forgiven ! I am going to download 2 more of his books. Keep up the great work jon !
vineet singh
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September 18, 2014
Poorly written, ron shifts haphazardly from one story to another. Fails to engage the reader.
A Google user
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November 13, 2012
Maybe tries to link too many well known events to the core story but funny and at times alarming.
About the author
Jon Ronson is an award-winning writer and documentary maker. He is the author of many bestselling books, including So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, The Psychopath Test, Lost at Sea, The Men Who Stare at Goats and Them: Adventures with Extremists. His acclaimed podcasts include Things Fell Apart and The Butterfly Effect, and he co-wrote the screenplays for the movies Okja and Frank. He lives in New York.
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