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linguisticali's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
1.5
Messy. A lot of this felt like conspiratorial free association, and the tongue in cheek tone really clashed with occasional descriptions of torture.
Graphic: Torture
everie's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.75
My first journey into gonzo journalism! I'll have to give more a shot--a really interesting style of investigation.
Swings from legitimately funny to sad to depressing to "hey whatcha got there"
I don't completely buy his idea about how the mostly idealistic psychic soundwave ideas (lol) of the post-Vietnam 1970s ended up being used for torture (or more like sometimes I was intrigued and others it felt like he was trying really hard to make some unrelated dots connect--the torture itself was/is definitely happening) or his willingness to humor the claims of any supposed hamster heart-stopper with an email address, but it was a great, fun read that only got better as it went along. And included some definite truths about the ways the United States has and does mistreat prisoners and proclaimed 'bad guys' without a trial or a thought to human rights.
Also Art Bell mention!
I hope there is actually a slightly better and still eternally doomed psychic spy operation out there. And I bet they DO have better coffee :)
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Violence
gilh0_0ley's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
1.0
I really don't care for Ronson's style. Good lord, summarise. A frightening amount of the audibook is him regurgitating interview transcripts (he said, I said, he said, ad nausuem) in a way that I can only describe as grating. Maybe it was supposed to be comedic, I just didn't find it at all funny. If anything I felt he was being quite glib when talking about torture.
As an investigation, I still don't get it. How would remote viewing or subliminal messaging even begin to actually work? I have no idea, Ronson never bothered to interview any independent experts to ask. Instead, he interviews various military types ranging from the secretive to the delusional. One of the first ones was with Uri Geller of all people 'being activated'. It was downhill from there.
As an investigation, I still don't get it. How would remote viewing or subliminal messaging even begin to actually work? I have no idea, Ronson never bothered to interview any independent experts to ask. Instead, he interviews various military types ranging from the secretive to the delusional. One of the first ones was with Uri Geller of all people 'being activated'. It was downhill from there.
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Torture
issyd23's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
2.0
Batshit crazy!!! 😵💫 2🐐
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Torture, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, and War
shadfield34's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, and War
laura_jayne's review
3.0
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture
alinarburwitz's review
adventurous
dark
informative
fast-paced
4.0
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Torture, and Islamophobia
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