Cover of Report on the Barnhouse Effect

Report on the Barnhouse Effect

"Report on the Barnhouse Effect" is a Kurt Vonnegut short story that is part of the collection Welcome to the Monkey House. It originally appeared in 1950 in Collier's Weekly. It is also the subject of an Alexisonfire song.

Read more

The protagonist, Professor Arthur Barnhouse, develops the ability to affect physical objects & events thru the force of his mind. He calls his power 'dynamo-psychism'. He makes the mistake of telling the government about his power. When they try to turn him into a weapon, Barnhouse decides that he is the first weapon with a conscience, & goes into hiding. While in this reclusive state the Professor uses his 'dynamo-psychic' powers to destroy large quantities of weapons, & other things used in states of war. He realizes tho, that he will die eventually & decides to pass down his "powers" to an ex-student. The story is told as a report by this ex-student, hence the title.

Audience
adult

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked Report on the Barnhouse Effect? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked Report on the Barnhouse Effect. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Liking What You See: A Documentary Shares science fiction, short stories, fiction
  2. Your Averaged Joe Shares science fiction, short stories, fiction
  3. Eclipse 2: New Science Fiction And Fantasy Shares science fiction, short stories, fiction
  4. The Sun Never Rises in the Big City Shares science fiction, short stories, fiction

“People who read Report on the Barnhouse Effect tend to reach for these next.”

  1. Sleepers Of Mars
  2. Rogue Leaders: The Story of LucasArts
  3. . . . And Then There Were None
  4. Nighttime in Caeli-Amur

“If you want more of the same (science fiction), start with these.”

  1. Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers
  2. The Complete Short Stories: Volume 2
  3. Isaac Asimov Presents the Golden Years of Science Fiction Fifth Series
  4. The Gates of Terra

“If it was the short stories that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. Old Rambling House
  2. Runaround
  3. The Feeling of Power
  4. Daddy's World

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Star Fire
  2. UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go on the Record
  3. The bomb in my garden
  4. The Demon's Game