This is a wonderfully curious book about two men who create the crop circles that captivate the imagination, and why

A tale of friendship and the countryside. The two men are both outsiders, loners, distrusting of society - they spend their summer nights planning, designing and constructing crop circles.

Their love of the countryside, the birds, animals and landscape oozes out from the page in a hymn to an English summer. It is a gentle book - charting their progression in the complexity of their designs and touching on some of the people they come across in their activities.

An enjoyable excursion!

It's the first book I read by Benjamin Myers and was attracted by the blurb. I got more that I bargained as this book is gorgeous, poetic, and riveting.
The style of writing and the storytelling are excellent and I loved this unusual story of a friendship and living in the nature.
It was an excellent reading experience.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I really enjoyed The Offing so was pleased to get an early look at Benjamin Myers’ latest. It’s just as delightful! Beautiful, poetic prose, stunning descriptions of nature and a beguiling story set in 1989 of the friendship of two men who create complex crop circles. There’s an exploration of social and environmental issues and such magic in the writing! It is indeed perfect!
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. All views are my own.

A hopeful, lyrical novel about an unlikely friendship, full of mysticism and beauty. Myers writes about outsiders, men belonging to a community yet also outside it. In The Perfect Golden Circle they are Redbone, a new age hippy, a raver who mostly lives in a battered old van and Calvert, an SAS veteran who doesn’t say very much and wears dark glasses and a beard to cover his scars. Over the hot, dry summer of 1989, the two men create ever more elaborate crop circles across Wiltshire to growing attention from the world media, UFO enthusiasts, conspiracy theorists and even tourists.

Myers’ writing about the land and nature is wonderful, as with The Offing and Gallows Pole (the two novels of his I’d read previously), this is very much rooted in time and place. At times, The Perfect Golden Circle reminded me of A Month in the Country, especially in the sense of healing through nature, land and friendship. I loved this. I also loved Radbone and Calvert’s collaborative process of dreaming up and then executing the circles, proud of what they’d done but knowing very well they’d never be able to tell anyone about it. A lovely book, highly recommended.

My thanks to Bloomsbury, Circus and Netgalley for the opportunity to read The Perfect Golden Circle.

1989, and over the course of a hot summer in south west England, two friends - new age hippy Redbone, and Falklands veteran Calvert - work secretly to create increasingly intricate crop circles, while the media and conspiracy theorists alike speculate as to who (or what) is responsible for the phenomenon.

Long time Myers readers will find much that is familiar here - an examination of masculinity and maleness, and the beauty and ugliness of rural life - writ in his trademark poetic vernacular. The descriptions of the natural world are particularly striking, and while the book isn't overly stuffed with action or plot, the company of such quirky characters and Myers' beautiful prose was more than enough to keep me turning the pages.

One of the things that's impressive about The Perfect Golden Circle is how effortless it seems. In the wrong hands, the novel could have seemed worthy or dull and it's Myers' achievement that through his fusion of careful description, subtle and witty characterisation, vivid nature writing and newspaper extracts (whether authentic or invented) he pulls off what could have been a repetitious narrative of how and why two men created a series of crop circles at the end of the 1980s. Not everything works - the landowner who discovers them one night is pure cliche and the discussion of early climate change towards the end of the novel is heavy-handed - but these are minor quibbles. There is a really strong sense of time and place here and Redbone's hope: "I think things will be better in forty or fifty years' time" haunts the book now that we are most of the way there. Myers describes the crop circles in their beauty as "A new layer of this under-England", which is also a description of the novel itself.

An enjoyable book about nature, different ways/views of life and friendship. The natural world, descriptions of the men's work stood out, avoiding the potential for repetition. Whilst both the individuals and their relationship was well sketched out, it was a little slow to develop and needed more for me. However, this is an evocative book on life and the land, worth seeking out.

I absolutely adored Benjamin Myers recent non-fiction offering Under the Rock: The Poetry of a Placeso was curious to check out his fiction and thought a novel about crop circles sounded intriguing! The Perfect Golden Circle is a heartfelt and lyrical novel which tells the story of the friendship of two misfits which grew from a love of creating intricate designs in the wheat fields of Wiltshire. Some of the writing wasn't to my taste and the characters weren't quite as developed as I'd have liked, but I certainly don't regret picking this up. Whilst I didn't love this as much as the author's non-fiction I will still be giving The Gallows Pole and The Offing a go soon.

A rather beautiful book primarily (for me) about the power of friendship, the environment and mental health. With quiet determination, two men living outside of the normal bounds of society undertake a mission to create crop circles (although have long graduated to fantastic designs, not just ‘circles’). Telling their story as they build up to a final pre-harvest peak, what could be a repetitive experience instead is quietly charming.

Rather similar in tone to some of the stories in Male Tears, which I very much enjoyed.

Another fascinating book from Ben Myers. The story around the crop circles was fascinating and at times humorous and I enjoyed the way he portrayed the two main characters and their friendship.

On the whole I enjoyed this book. Wiltshire and it’s crop circles were the home of my formative years and some of the locations and landmarks were familiar. I enjoyed the relationship between the two characters and their quest for the perfect golden circle. Myers conveys male friendship well and this felt genuine and at times was very amusing. The conspiracy theories as to how these circles arrived overnight in fields took me right back to the discussions in pubs and the wider media of the 1980’s. However, as with The Offing, I felt at times that the prose was trying just a bit too hard and some of the descriptions were overworked.

Wonderful book. Two fascinating main characters who slowly reveal themselves in really intriguing ways.. The way the book is arranged runs the risk of repetition but just about avoids it!