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"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.
[edit] Plot summary
The protagonist, Professor Arthur Barnhouse, develops the ability to affect physical objects and events through 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, and subsequently goes into hiding. While in this reclusive state the Professor uses his 'dynamo-psychic' powers to destroy large quantities of weapons, and other things used in states of war. He realizes though, that he will die eventually and decides to pass down his "powers" to an ex-student. The story is told as a report by this ex-student, hence the title.
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Works of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. |
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Adaptations
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Welcome to the Monkey House (1970, 1974) · Sirens of Titan (1974) · Cat's Cradle (1976) · God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1979) · Breakfast of Champions (1984) • Requiem (Stone, Time, and Elements: A Humanist Requiem) (1988) · Slaughterhouse-Five (1996)
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