Round in Circles: Poltergeists, Pranksters, and the Secret History of the Cropwatchers [Hardcover]

Jim Schnabel (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is easy reading and will be enjoyed by people interested in the sociology of anomalies." -- Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 18, No. 1 --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 294 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books; First Edition edition (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879759348
• ISBN-13: 978-0879759346
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,760,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is THE book on the subject of crop circles., September 27, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Round in Circles: Poltergeists, Pranksters, and the Secret History of the Cropwatchers (Hardcover)

This book, which received rave reviews in England when it was first published by Penguin (and later got a plug from Carl Sagan), is about the crop circles PEOPLE even more than it is about the crop circles themselves. It is a compelling, funny, and ultimately touching portrait of human beings entranced by a genuine modern mystery.

24 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crop circles: the peculiar people behind the weird events., August 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Round in Circles: Poltergeists, Pranksters, and the Secret History of the Cropwatchers (Hardcover)

Round in Circles is unique among its cousins in the paranormal bookshelf. It isn't a gushing, poorly written, mystic-centered account of crop circles. Nor is it a more-rational-than-thou attack on alien-mongers. Instead, Schnabel shines a light on the people lurking in the shadows of the crop-circle story: the crop-circle experts. Some are well known in UFOlogy and the paranormal. Most though made their names with the advent of crop circles. And, as the story unfolds, it is where the tragedy and humour lies. Schnabel makes it blatantly clear by the end of the book that the crop - circles are quite simply (and simple) hoaxes. Schnabel even tracks down the hoaxers themselves (and they are many). He learns the secrets - which are neither particularly ingenious nor technical. Before he himself realizes it, Schnabel becomes hopelessly addicted to crop circle creating itself. The reporter becomes a part of his own story. And a funny story it is too. Lots of laugh out loud bit! s. Much grinning by the reader.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hmm..., July 6, 2007

By 

Ralph Eddle - See all my reviews

This review is from: Round in Circles: Poltergeists, Pranksters, and the Secret History of the Cropwatchers (Paperback)

Good book, but it doesn't explain a lot of things. After reading it, I felt as if the author somehow missed the whole point. I know for a fact that many crop circles actually are man-made, but with fabricated crop circles, the maize gets broken in the process. With real crop circles (the phenomenon that hasn't really been totally explained yet) the maize is left bent to the ground but unbroken and the area is 'charged' (cell phones won't get reception inside them, electronic devices set on the ground no longer function, people feel tingling sensations while inside). The book was well written and the stories of the hoaxers were funny, but when I picked this book up, I was hoping to find an explanation for the real crop circles.