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The Men Who Stare at Goats
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
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The Men Who Stare at Goats
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Them: Adventures with Extremists
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 225
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 199
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 198
Them began as a book about different kinds of extremists, but after Jon had got to know some of them - Islamic fundamentalists, neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klansmen - he found that they had one oddly similar belief: that a tiny, shadowy elite rule the world from a secret room. In Them, Jon sets out, with the help of the extremists, to locate that room. The journey is as creepy as it is comic, and along the way Jon is chased by men in dark glasses, unmasked as a Jew in the middle of a Jihad training camp, and more.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The truth is out there! Really out there... No, really, really out there!
- By Lawrence on 20-01-2016
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The Psychopath Test
- A Journey Through the Madness Industry
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 603
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 512
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 509
This is a story about madness. It all starts when journalist Jon Ronson is contacted by a leading neurologist. She and several colleagues have recently received a cryptically puzzling book in the mail, and Jon is challenged to solve the mystery behind it. As he searches for the answer, Jon soon finds himself, unexpectedly, on an utterly compelling and often unbelievable adventure into the world of madness.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Could easily have been condensed.
- By C.J.R Flanagan on 03-02-2014
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Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 173
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 150
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 147
Jon Ronson is fascinated by madness, extraordinary behaviour and the human mind. He has spent his life investigating crazy events, following fascinating people and unearthing unusual stories. Collected here from various sources (including the Guardian and GQ America) are the best of his adventures.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Enjoyable
- By RCF on 09-03-2015
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So You've Been Publicly Shamed
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,918
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,654
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,646
From the Sunday Times top ten best-selling author of The Psychopath Test, a captivating and brilliant exploration of one of our world's most underappreciated forces: shame. "It's about the terror, isn't it?" "The terror of what?" I said. "The terror of being found out." For the past three years, Jon Ronson has travelled the world, meeting recipients of high-profile public shamings. The shamed are people like us - people who, say, made jokes on social media that came out badly or made mistakes at work.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not for me, but a sound tale for the internet era
- By Sam on 19-09-2015
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Silence
- By: Shusaku Endo
- Narrated by: David Holt
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 40
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Story4 out of 5 stars 34
Recipient of the 1966 Tanizaki Prize, it has been called Endo's supreme achievement" and "one of the twentieth century's finest novels". Considered controversial ever since its first publication, it tackles the thorniest religious issues of belief and faith head on. A novel of historical fiction, it is the story of a Jesuit missionary sent to seventeenth century Japan, who endured persecution that followed the defeat of the Shimabara Rebellion.
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The Elephant in the Room
- A Journey into the Trump Campaign and the "Alt-Right"
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
'But Hillary is a known Luciferian,' he tried. 'She's not a known Luciferian,' I said. 'Well, yes and no,' he said. In The Elephant in the Room, Jon Ronson, the New York Times best-selling author of The Psychopath Test, Them, and So You've Been Publicly Shamed, travels to Cleveland at the height of summer to witness the Republican National Convention.
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2 out of 5 stars
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I used a credit on this?
- By Joel on 22-03-2017
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Them: Adventures with Extremists
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 225
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 199
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 198
Them began as a book about different kinds of extremists, but after Jon had got to know some of them - Islamic fundamentalists, neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klansmen - he found that they had one oddly similar belief: that a tiny, shadowy elite rule the world from a secret room. In Them, Jon sets out, with the help of the extremists, to locate that room. The journey is as creepy as it is comic, and along the way Jon is chased by men in dark glasses, unmasked as a Jew in the middle of a Jihad training camp, and more.
-
5 out of 5 stars
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The truth is out there! Really out there... No, really, really out there!
- By Lawrence on 20-01-2016
-
The Psychopath Test
- A Journey Through the Madness Industry
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 603
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 512
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 509
This is a story about madness. It all starts when journalist Jon Ronson is contacted by a leading neurologist. She and several colleagues have recently received a cryptically puzzling book in the mail, and Jon is challenged to solve the mystery behind it. As he searches for the answer, Jon soon finds himself, unexpectedly, on an utterly compelling and often unbelievable adventure into the world of madness.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Could easily have been condensed.
- By C.J.R Flanagan on 03-02-2014
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Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 173
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 150
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 147
Jon Ronson is fascinated by madness, extraordinary behaviour and the human mind. He has spent his life investigating crazy events, following fascinating people and unearthing unusual stories. Collected here from various sources (including the Guardian and GQ America) are the best of his adventures.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Enjoyable
- By RCF on 09-03-2015
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So You've Been Publicly Shamed
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,918
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,654
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,646
From the Sunday Times top ten best-selling author of The Psychopath Test, a captivating and brilliant exploration of one of our world's most underappreciated forces: shame. "It's about the terror, isn't it?" "The terror of what?" I said. "The terror of being found out." For the past three years, Jon Ronson has travelled the world, meeting recipients of high-profile public shamings. The shamed are people like us - people who, say, made jokes on social media that came out badly or made mistakes at work.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not for me, but a sound tale for the internet era
- By Sam on 19-09-2015
-
Silence
- By: Shusaku Endo
- Narrated by: David Holt
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 34
Recipient of the 1966 Tanizaki Prize, it has been called Endo's supreme achievement" and "one of the twentieth century's finest novels". Considered controversial ever since its first publication, it tackles the thorniest religious issues of belief and faith head on. A novel of historical fiction, it is the story of a Jesuit missionary sent to seventeenth century Japan, who endured persecution that followed the defeat of the Shimabara Rebellion.
-
The Elephant in the Room
- A Journey into the Trump Campaign and the "Alt-Right"
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
'But Hillary is a known Luciferian,' he tried. 'She's not a known Luciferian,' I said. 'Well, yes and no,' he said. In The Elephant in the Room, Jon Ronson, the New York Times best-selling author of The Psychopath Test, Them, and So You've Been Publicly Shamed, travels to Cleveland at the height of summer to witness the Republican National Convention.
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2 out of 5 stars
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I used a credit on this?
- By Joel on 22-03-2017
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Operation Mincemeat
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 98
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 98
April, 1943: A sardine fisherman spots the corpse of a British soldier floating in the sea off the coast of Spain and sets off a train of events that would change the course of the Second World War. Operation Mincemeat was the most successful wartime deception ever attempted, and the strangest. This is the true story of the most extraordinary deception ever planned by Churchill’s spies: an outrageous lie that travelled from a Whitehall basement all the way to Hitler’s desk.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating account of a long held secret.
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The Last Days of August
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In December 2017 the famous porn star August Ames committed suicide in a park in the Conejo Valley. It happened a day after she’d been the victim of a pile-on, via Twitter, by fellow porn professionals - punishment for her tweeting something deemed homophobic. A month later, August’s husband, Kevin, connected with Jon Ronson to tell the story of how Twitter bullying killed his wife. What neither Kevin nor Ronson realized was that Ronson would soon hear rumors and secrets hinting at a very different story - something mysterious and unexpected and terrible.
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5 out of 5 stars
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excellent
- By Donna on 15-02-2019
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The Virgin Suicides
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Story4 out of 5 stars 64
This nationally best-selling novel from Pulitzer Prize-winner Jeffrey Eugenides was adapted into an acclaimed film by Academy Award-winner Sofia Coppola. A haunting yet wickedly funny tale, The Virgin Suicides has captivated countless readers with its intoxicating portrait of lost innocence. A brilliant fusion of dark humor and tragedy, it is an atmospheric, allegorical masterpiece about five oppressed, suicidal sisters and the boys who dream of rescuing them.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding narration that set the tone for a magnificent book
- By Anonymous User on 28-07-2023
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I Am Legend
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In I Am Legend, a plague has decimated the world, and those unfortunate enough to survive are transformed into blood-thirsty creatures of the night. Robert Neville is the last living man on earth. Everyone else has become a vampire, and they are all hungry for Neville's blood. By day, he stalks the sleeping undead, by night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn.
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4 out of 5 stars
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I liked the movie better (insert shame)
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Frank
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In the late 1980s Jon Ronson was the keyboard player in the Frank Sidebottom Oh Blimey Big Band. Frank wore a big fake head. Nobody outside his inner circle knew his true identity. This became the subject of feverish speculation during his zenith years. Together, they rode relatively high. Then it all went wrong. Twenty-five years later and Jon has co-written a movie, Frank, inspired by his time in this great and bizarre band. Frank is set for release in 2014, starring Michael Fassbender, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Domhnall Gleeson and directed by Lenny Abrahamson.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great story adding another layer to a great film.
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Things Fell Apart
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 40
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
From taking the knee to transgender rights, wedge issues are everywhere in modern life - dividing opinions, polarising debate and tearing friendships and families apart. Even something as seemingly innocuous as wearing a facemask can provoke vicious disagreement. But how did we get here, and what does it mean for society going forward? In this gripping series, acclaimed writer and journalist Jon Ronson searches for the origin stories of the hostilities - the pebbles thrown in the pond, creating the ripples that led to where we are today.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Incredibly Enlightening
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Fight Club
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Every weekend, in basements and car parks across the country, young men with good white-collar jobs and absent fathers take off their shoes and shirts and fight each other barehanded. Then they go back to those jobs with blackened eyes and loosened teeth and the sense that they can handle anything. Fight Club is the invention of Tyler Durden, projectionist, waiter and dark, anarchic genius. And it's only the beginning of his plans for revenge on the world.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Redacted
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Catch 22
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At the heart of Joseph Heller's best-selling novel, first published in 1961, is a satirical indictment of military madness and stupidity, and the desire of the ordinary man to survive it.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant!
- By Stuart on 15-02-2015
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Band of Brothers
- E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne, from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
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Easy Company, 506th Airborne Division, U.S. Army, was as good a rifle company as any in the world. From their rigorous training in Georgia in 1942 to D-Day and victory, Ambrose tells the story of this remarkable company, which kept getting the tough assignments. Easy Company was responsible for everything from parachuting into France early D-Day morning to the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. Band of Brothers is the account of the men of this remarkable unit.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Everyone needs to listen to this
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The long-awaited follow-up to the global best-seller Liar's Poker, The Big Short tells a story of spectacular, epic folly. It has taken the world's greatest financial meltdown to bring Michael Lewis back to the subject that made him famous. His international best seller Liar's Poker exposed the greed and carnage of the City and Wall Street in the 1980s; he wrote it as a cautionary tale, but people seem to have read it as a how-to guide. Now, he wants to settle accounts.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic
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Longlisted for the Audiobook Download of the Year, 2007.
Hannibal Lecter emerges from the nightmare of the Eastern Front, a boy in the snow, mute, with a chain around his neck. He seems utterly alone, but he has brought his demons with him. Hannibal's uncle, a noted painter, finds him in a Soviet orphanage and brings him to France, where Hannibal will live with his uncle and his uncle's beautiful and exotic wife, Lady Murasaki.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Pleasantly surprised...
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The story is told by a young 'unknown soldier' in the trenches of Flanders during the First World War. Through his eyes we see all the realities of war: under fire, on patrol, waiting in the trenches, at home on leave, and in hospitals and dressing stations. Although there are vividly described incidents which remain in the mind, there is no sense of adventure here, only the feeling of youth betrayed and a deceptively simple indictment of war—of any war—told for a whole generation of victims.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Harrowing
- By Anonymous User on 03-04-2018
Publisher's Summary
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 the 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, they're back and fighting the War on Terror.
The Men Who Stare at Goats reveals extraordinary - and very nutty - national secrets at the core of George W. Bush's War on Terror. With first-hand access to the leading players in the story, Ronson traces the evolution of these bizarre activities over the past three decades, and sees how it is alive today within US Homeland Security and post-war Iraq.
Why are they blasting Iraqi prisoners-of-war with the theme tune to Barney the Purple Dinosaur? Why have 100 de-bleated goats been secretly placed inside the Special Forces command centre at Fort Bragg, North Carolina? How was the US Military associated with the mysterious mass-suicide of a strange cult from San Diego? The Men Who Stare At Goats answers these, and many more, questions.
Jon Ronson is an award-winning writer and documentary maker. He is the author of many best-selling books, including Frank: The True Story that Inspired the Movie, Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries, The Psychopath Test, The Men Who Stare at Goats and Them: Adventures with Extremists. His first fictional screenplay, Frank, co-written with Peter Straughan, starred Michael Fassbender. He lives in London and New York City.
Critic Reviews
"Simultaneously frightening and hilarious." ( The Times)"
What listeners say about The Men Who Stare at Goats
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 16-09-2017
Who knew goats were so maligned?
This was a fascinating weird rollic through the weirder side of the US intelligence services.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- John Drakopoulos
- 29-06-2023
Wow would be an understatement
I cross-referenced so much, and his journalism checks out. It's terrifyingly accurate! Definitely read it.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Tristan
- 24-12-2022
good book
it's funny and a little worrying as to what passes for plausible techniques to government agencies but hands down the brief look into heavens gate is horrifying
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Yes very bizarre
- 13-07-2022
wonderful
what a bizarre story, loved it! Jon always comes up with interesting content about weird stories...brilliant
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Concerned Australian
- 21-01-2022
It may be just me, but I found it hilarious!
Surely elite psychic spies could've used their skills to locate the coffee & then deploy the operators who'd mastered invisibility to go get it for them? If the General had tried the wall thing in Australia, he would've probably succeeded, building quality is terrible...Jon's narration was fabulous.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 11-01-2019
Fantastic
Big fan of Jon's work. He is meticulous with his research and very clever and funny with his writing.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Carl
- 18-05-2018
Brilliant threads
Great author and narrator - and a fantastically bizarre topic.
I feel for the goats. And the men who tried to stop their hearts.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Karina
- 10-04-2018
This was crap it was a wast of time I what my time back please
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- kina sai
- 03-10-2023
Terrific
It’s really good just Ronson “lost the plot” a little toward the end but pulled himself together last minute so was a mostly tremendously engaging book, he’s a great narrator too, I listened to it in a couple of sittings it was so interesting. Definitely worthwhile
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- AntSherlock
- 26-08-2018
Not good as I hoped
the narration wasn't always clear which became a struggle and off putting. it didn't really have direction
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- PaisleyTurtle
- 31-05-2016
FINALLY! In Ronson's own voice!
Honesty, I have collected Ronson's audio books for years, but was disappointed to hear "Men" was voiced by an American accented reader. Jon's writing is engaging, involving and compelling but after hearing him reading The Psychopath Test or Them or Lost at Sea, any other voice feels two dimensional by comparison. While the movie tie in version is still interesting, it felt flat. Here, we have Jon giving one thing that is lacking in the other read - the depth of experience. You feel the enthusiasm of a man who was there, across the table, interviewing men who were part of this journey through "psychic soldiers" and experiments in out of body operations.
I have enjoyed Ronson's books, far more than the movies based on his articles, but this was a glaring omission to the cannon which I am extremely glad has been corrected. Thank you, Jon and Audible! Worth the cost... Looking forward to the next!
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24 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Diana
- 28-12-2016
Very interesting investigative journalism + irony
I didn't buy this audio book before because it wasn't narrated by Jon Ronson, and the other Jon Ronson audio books I had listened to led me to believe that his narration, with its solemn tongue-in-cheek ironic delivery is essential to get the full effect of his writing.
When I saw that he had this book redone with his own narration, I bought it. This is a topic I have some interest in - having tried out a remote viewing class, read numerous free pdf's to do with remote viewing, watched many RV videos and listened to many podcasts of interviews of the early remote viewers, and also after having read/listened to some autobiographies of early remote viewers involved in the program.
What a difference to see the program as part of a bigger picture, from another angle!
Because this book places remote viewing in a bigger category of activities, the story also references Heavens Gate, the Waco siege, MK Ultra, Guantanamo, and prisoners in Iraq and the use of various techniques such as sound or chemicals to change behavior. Also the death of a research scientist who fell out of a 10 story building in New York is reported on.
The story ends abruptly, with an unfinished feel, but that is reflective of the reality . . . and life. The book made me uncomfortable and think. If it weren't for the irony and excellent narration and research efforts . . . I am not sure I would have been interested enough to get this book. Because I really liked the previous audio books Jon Ronson published, I bought this . . . but, I learned more than I wanted to know, and feel saddened by what people do to other people . . . and animals.
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16 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dubi
- 07-01-2017
Listen to Goats
There are three ways to experience The Men Who Stare at Goats: read, watch, or listen. Hands down, best choice is to listen to Jon Ronson recite his investigations into how U.S. military and intelligence has explored unconventional approaches to warfare -- psychics, paranormals, psy-ops; using acid as a truth serum or heroin withdrawal as a form of torture; walking through walls, making oneself invisible, dropping foes with a stare (the titular goats being test subjects, not enemy combatants).
I'm sure this makes for a good read, a superior approach perhaps in making sure you get the details right, or can refer back to them if you reach moments of confusion. I'm sure as well that the movie is a waste of time (saw it, hated it) -- for some strange reason, they chose to fictionalize it, when the very best thing about it is that it is true and that most of Ronson's interview subjects are real-life participants in the projects described.
But listening to it on audio has one distinct advantage -- Ronson's narration of his own work. If you haven't listened to Ronson before, his idiosyncratic delivery is initially challenging. But for this material (as is true for most of his books), his approach to interviews and his method of recounting them is just pitch perfect. How he gets people to open up to him is amazing, especially in this case since he's talking to military people about secret projects.
His method is to pretend confusion, pretend that he doesn't understand the more amazing things that are being told to him. Of course he does understand them, which you can tell because of the details he chooses to pursue by feigning dimness. And since much of what he is being told is jaw-droppingly incredible (in its literal sense of straining believability), his ability to narrate as if his jaw is hanging down to his chest, eyes popping and mind blowing, makes for entertaining and illuminating listening.
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15 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Rocketboy1313
- 25-11-2019
Kind of Sad
This book is more sad and scary than I was anticipating. The ultimate thrust of the events is the dark side that comes with the study of the paranormal and the various applications of mind control and "enhanced interrogation techniques". I do not know what I was expecting, but the realities of how horrible the US government has been to prisoners of war and even its own citizens wasn't it.
While not bad, it is certainly not as funny as you expect from having seen the movie... or from just reading the title. I think understanding that from the start will make it more entertaining and informative, but without that foreknowledge I felt it was a downer to read.
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14 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Vladimir Polyakov
- 20-05-2020
I made myself listen to the whole book, so you won’t have too
Overall: 2 stars because it was in English and there were good translations from chapter to chapter. I still can’t understand the purpose of this book, was it written as a historical look at the development of Psychological Warfare methods in the US or is it a collection of stories and facts that is trying to convey that there are a lot of evildoers in the US government.
Performance: the narrator has very peculiar and not very pleasant delivery. His end of the sentence intonations are very strange. From about chapter 10 on, the sound cuts out regularly, missing the whole sentences sometimes.
Story: I didn’t learn anything new or interesting
I am interested in Physical Sciences, psychology, medicine, history, human development, science fiction. I read and listen to various books in above subjects. This book made no sense to me, combined with less than good delivery, I will not recommend this book
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 15-11-2019
Terrifying and hysterical
I love books that he author narrates and this is no exception! Robson has a deft touch for delivering all of the information you need to draw your own conclusions without spoon-feeding you what he's trying to tell you.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 15-09-2016
Okay ish
I wanted to like it more. I don't know if it was his narration style that made it so dull and monotonous, or if his writing style was like that too.
Send Jon Ronson an editor who can halt his incessant "he said / I said" writing with something more creative, and maybe I'll consider reading another of his works.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- R. Kuprov
- 07-03-2017
A serious documentary in a fictional tone
Would you listen to The Men Who Stare at Goats again? Why?
Seriously, I'd re-listen to it to review some of the facts and stories, but listening to this book was very tedious and confusing. The tone the author used made it sound like the whole thing was a fairy tale! It was very difficult to disassociate the narrative tone and the voice performance from the veracity of the facts laid out in the book. I wasn't sure whether the book was a documentary or fiction until about 2/3 way into it.
What didn’t you like about Jon Ronson’s performance?
Nothing. It was entirely too playful and incredulous.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Absolutely not.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sian
- 07-08-2016
Jon Ronson Reading Jon Ronson is Heaven
I'm so glad that this audiobook has been re-released with Jon Ronson performing. He has a wonderful accent and is able to inject extra humour into his own work.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Phil F.
- 25-06-2021
I don’t like it
I thought I was listening to over the top fiction that I wasn’t enjoying. Then I saw that it is listed as nonfiction. It was bad as fiction but worse if it is supposed to be true investigative reporting. It makes me feel ripped off. I don’t think it is compelling. I think it is tasteless. I don’t think it is funny. I don’t believe a word of it. I won’t be getting anything more by the author.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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- Richard Fletcher
- 16-12-2019
I'm an hour in and wanting to burst my own heart!
Because I actually paid money for this title, I'm going to torture myself and finish it in the vain hope that I find something of value in the information I hear.
I have no idea what other peoples idea of a good narrator is but in my opinion Jon Ronson isn't one.
He definitely should leave the oration to the experts and the repetitive "he said", "then I said", "then he said" ping pong dialogues to the local junior school.
He puts emphasis on the wrong words in sentences and bounces about the subject like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh on speed.
It's painful and frustrating to listen to and if it were a free title I would have deleted it but I'm tight and deserve punishing for not reading the many other reviews similar to mine.
I seriously hope that there is some redeeming feature in this title.
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43 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Neil
- 13-04-2017
A book written the wrong way round.
This was okay but in my opinion a long way from Ronson's best.
Its starts out amusing, slightly whimsical and typically bizarre and then weaves a slightly scatter-gun narrative through the US Military from the late 70s to the present day.
By the end of the book it becomes clear that Ronson's aim has been looking at how progressive but radical ideas have been misappropriated. Unfortunately, this aim wasn't clear throughout the book and I would have preferred Ronson to state his thesis at the outset.
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26 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Sue
- 02-03-2017
Truth is stranger than fiction
While a lot of readers may find this conspiratorial, it is actually bizarrely captivating and incredible to listen to. Some of the areas explored borders on bonkers, but actually much of it is true. Around 75 per cent of the time, it is absolutely hilarious, but there poses a genuine concern about what our intelligence agencies are doing outside of public knowledge.
Having read Jon Ronson's works before, it hardly comes as a surprise that he has managed to infiltrate such an eccentric part of the US military. I only wish each idea was more carefully investigated rather than feeling like Alice tumbling down a rabbit hole. Thoroughly enjoyable nevertheless.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Nik Jewell
- 16-03-2017
Better than the Film
I'm a fan of Jon Ronson's work and this is certainly more entertaining than the film, but it is not him at his best. It is full of laugh out loud moments in his understated sardonic style, made all the better by his narration (I am not at all sure it would work so well if somebody else was narrating it).
However, the narrative jumps around, leaves one yearning for more depth at times, and somehow the book falls slightly short of a coherent whole. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it because I certainly did - Ronson has a great ability for teasing out the barmy views of people who have, or have had, worryingly, a great deal of power and influence.
"Maybe, I thought, as my mind drifted, and I glanced out of his window to the lawn outside his office in the vain hope of spotting injured goats, he was performing some kind of PsyOp on me."
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr Luxembourg
- 04-09-2016
Compelling Ronson at his best
Ronson has a really compelling style that draws the reader in. The audible version of this and his other books has the added dimension of his own speech pattern- something Ronson does really well. At points it's like he is say in the room with me revealing a secret he heard from someone over the garden wall. A real pleasure for the ears.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Charles
- 08-10-2017
Disappointing
I bought this expecting to hear lively-told stories of extraordinary investigations etc. Well, the stories were ok but the narration is dire. Boring, lifeless and, strangely, a narrator with a British regional accent that didn't sit well with essentially US-based stories involving the Pentagon's mad-cap ideas on how to win wars. I tried to get past this and concentrate on the stories but it was useless and I switched off before the end - very unusual for me.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- sunny summers
- 20-12-2016
Eye opening and jaw dropping
Loved the film but had no idea of the depth this topic and book goes too. Amazing and shocking.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Darkly
- 22-03-2017
Great story. Really engaging
I wasn't sure about this at first, but it was fantastic. Really interesting and thought provoking and not what I expected. A good listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Mike Nield
- 01-04-2017
Thank you Jon Ronson
A step into the bizarre world of the psychic spy with an excellent performance by the author- thank you Mr Ronson for taking not only the time to write the book but to read it to is as well. Without this I feel the book would have lost much of its charm
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-10-2020
Absolutely sh#t
Narrative diabolical.. I said he said ping-pong, never been so bored, gave up half way through
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