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This is not an investigative report of conspiracy. Oct 9, 2005 (109 of 118 found this helpful)
Some reviewers have completely missed the point. This is the author's journey researching an inane army experiment, and what manifestations may remain. This book is no more an investigative proof than Ronson's last novel was an argument for joining extremists. This book is Errol Morris, not Art Bell.
Wholly enjoyable and entertaining, it's hard to remember at times this is non-fiction, as some of the interviews seem insane. The presentation base comes from declassified goverment documents. However, they are not included, nor are there any footnotes, because Ronson is not trying to convince the reader of anything. He is writing about his interviews and conversations investigating the chronology of the "First Earth Battalion" manual. I believe Ronson started this project intending it to be much funnier (he is a comedian after all), but some of the subject matter and personas he found, though entertaining, aren't laughable: staring at a goat trying to kill sounds funny, but imagine the views of a person who wishes they had the ability to kill people with their mind. So it is a perspective on the legacy of a few persons relieved of common sense, that were given a little power and a budget.
You might enjoy this book if you:
- Find Jon Stewart (The Daily Show) funny.
- Like character documentaries, like those by Errol Morris.
- Enjoy psychology.
- Want a light introduction to a bizzare goverment-funded experiment.
You probably won't enjoy this book if you:
- Are looking for hard documentation on goverment conspiracy
- Believe our goverment would never do bad things to people
- Are uncomfortable with light critisism of George W. Bush
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worth reading, but... Sep 15, 2006 (38 of 43 found this helpful)
I had the hardest time deciding whether or not to read this book based on the various Amazon reviews. While I love a good conspiracy theory or two, I try to avoid books either written by conspiracy fanatics who have no objectivity, or conspiracy comics who treat the subject from a distance and use it to poke fun. As you can imagine, it's tough to find middle ground.
Goats ends up being worth reading for fitting somewhere into my realm of acceptibility, but sadly not enough to merit more than 3 stars. Ronson definitely keeps his distance during the first half of the book - as military men, some of whom are clearly unhinged to some extent, talk about crazy programs, Ronson makes it clear that he's not confirming or denying the allegations, merely quoting. And here, the book takes a comic tone and allows the reader to decide who to believe. On top of this, the book feels light, as if little research beyond interviews was done. Perhaps there's no other way to get this kind of information. Regardless, every chapter was more of a series of anecdotes than anything.
For the second half, the tone turns more serious as it becomes clear that there is a spider web connecting many of the participants of various army plots, and here Ronson suddenly suddenly gets too serious without enough evidence. I was fine with the tone change, and the book does lead you on the same inner feeling: at first, "this is nuts" to "hey, maybe there's something seriously wrong going on." The problem is that this is where we needed a lot more hardcore research. And yet the book still felt light and airy. I mean, Ronson didn't even bother to look up the name of the song or band that features the words "Burn Mother*ucker, Burn!" A small point, but one that will stand out to American readers as an obvious example of not doing all the homework. Also, the history of these programs is basically presented as Ronson discovered them, and the problem with this is that he backtracks and overlaps on himself a zillion times rather than present the material sequentially. Again, I see the reasons for taking us on the same path of discovery he did, but I'm not convinced it was for the best.
I think that there's a better book that could've been written buried in here somewhere, and what actually hit the page isn't necessarily bad. It just ultimately comes off as too light to be as important as it could have been. For those who were in my quandry of deciding whether to buy it, I recommend it, but I felt a lot better buying it used.
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alternately funny and horrifying Apr 30, 2005 (68 of 86 found this helpful)
This is a fascinating tale about people who are completely nuts. Unfortunately, many of these people who are completely nuts hold or have held senior positions in the United States military. Ronson rarely writes a judgmental word, but allows his subject to speak for themselves--and hang themselves with their own words. (At least, that's the impression--obviously Ronson has selected which of their words to present.)
Ronson looks at ideas for a "First Earth Battallion" by soldier-turned-newage-marketing-guru Jim Channon, who proposed in 1979 that the military put greater emphasis on influencing people with alternative weapons such as paranormal abilities and music. Ronson traces the use of music in warfare to the use of loud music by the FBI at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas and as a torture technique used by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay and in Iraq.
The book covers a wide-ranging territory of nuttiness, including Uri Geller (who is quoted in the book suggesting that he has been re-activated for use by the U.S. military), the remote viewers at Ft. Meade (Joe McMoneagle, Ingo Swann, Pat Price, Ed Dames, etc.), the non-lethal weaponry of UFO and paranormal investigator Col. John Alexander, the connections between the remote viewers and Courtney Brown--and then to Art Bell and Heaven's Gate, and the CIA's MKULTRA experiments and the death-by-LSD of Frank Olson and his son Eric's search for the facts about his death.
The book is alternately amusing and horrifying. It would be funny if this craziness wasn't taken so seriously by high-ranking officials who have put it into practice, wasting tax dollars and occasionally producing horribly unethical outcomes.
I highly recommend this book.
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Just not engaging Jul 25, 2005 (13 of 15 found this helpful)
I really want to like Jon Ronson's work. I left The Men Who Stare at Goats the way I left Them, though - fun anecdotes, interesting people, but no actual development of the story - no tying together what's happening. I'm not looking for a lot of piercing analysis, but I felt like every chapter was "... and then I met Bob!"
It's an opportunity to deliver a great book, and I just found it boring to read.
Ronson also draws news-like conclusions with no supporting information. For example, he quotes the Iraqi propaganda materials dropped on US armed forces members that said "your wives are back at home having sex with Bart Simpson and Burt Reynolds," and then says that the US propaganda was obviously more effective than that. He doesn't justify this statement, though - how do we know that our materials weren't as foolish when translated into Arabic? It's just sloppy writing, and it happens again and again.
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Where's Chuck Barris When You Need Him? May 29, 2005 (26 of 33 found this helpful)
"The Men Who Stare At Goats" is perhaps the oddest book I have read since "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" by Chuck Barris. Both books are incredibly entertaining and have plots revolving around fairly unbelievable government programs. Chuck would have fit in here perfectly.
This is the story of military and government intelligence officials who believe and promote utterly wacky concepts, like "Warrior Monks," the ability to stop a goat's heart telepathically by staring at it (this was allegedly demonstrated later on guinea pigs for budgetary reasons), and the ability to walk through walls.
Jon Ronson has a wonderful, conversational writing style. The only unfortunate part of that it is hard to tell when he is serious and when he isn't. I do not know how much of this book is true, and how much is complete, if inspired lunacy. I am not accusing Ronson (a documentary filmmaker) of fabricating anything, but given that his references are all speaking from first-person experiences which were supposedly classified, verification of these stories is nigh-impossible. In other words, even if Ronson reported the facts as he knew them, there is no way to verify the bulk of these allegations. I do know that Art Bell is discussed to a degree, and despite relative skepticism from Ronson and others, his mere appearance in the book tends to make most people (including myself) more skeptical of matters at hand.
I don't know what parts of this book I believe and what parts to merely laugh at. Within that conundrum is the entertainment value (as disturbing as it may be) of this book.
I recommend this book for people with open, but skeptical, minds.