Long before George Lucas introduced us to The Force with his Star Wars trilogy, Kurt Vonnegut invented his own ultra-normal power. Dynamopsychism is the power of the mind, Professor Arthur Barnhouse intones to Vaughn, his new assistant. And what a power! What begins with a simple mental exercise during an army crap game soon escalates into a worldwide threat. At least, that's what the FBI thinks when they raid the Professor's office and put him under investigation. All I did was write one letter! Barnhouse complains. No matter. Before the Prof can rub two formulas together, he finds himself the center of an experiment where he has to single-handedly sink a battleship with both the U.S. Army and the Russians looking on. And without ever leaving his office! Outrageous characters and story twists abound in typical Vonnegut fashion, all set in the not-so-comfortable Fifties with its flying saucers and Atomic Age paranoia. And, like that first crap game, the die is cast and the fates take over when it comes to The Barnhouse Effect. Area staging.