Anatomy of a Beast: Obsession and Myth on the Trail of BigfootPart history, part road trip, and part biography, this is the true story of a remarkable group of men whose obsession with Bigfoot turned the giant hominid into an American icon. Award-winning journalist Michael McLeod tells of Bigfoot's rise to tabloid stardom in a fast-paced account that begins with his own journey to investigate a famous 1967 film clip of a Bigfoot in a California forest. McLeod proceeds to uncover a trail of clues reaching from the late nineteenth century, when a few ambitious, imaginative naturalists and explorers synthesized historical and indigenous folklore with Darwinian ideas and speculated that a proto-hominid "missing link" might still be alive in remote areas. That speculation would eventually inspire a colorful cast of loggers, hunters, con artists, and businessmen in the twentieth century to create the modern myth of Bigfoot, all of them angling for a piece of a monster that the media and the public still can't get enough of. Told through vividly narrated interviews and anecdotes, Anatomy of a Beast offers a unique perspective on the deep roots of counterfactual thinking—and how obsession and myth are created out of it. |
What people are saying - Write a review
We haven't found any reviews in the usual places.
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Show Time | 107 |
Cryptid Wars | 130 |
The Goblin Universe | 145 |
Bigfoots Kitchen | 172 |
Notes | 187 |
| 205 | |
Other editions - View all
Anatomy of a Beast: Obsession and Myth on the Trail of Bigfoot Michael McLeod No preview available - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
Abominable Snowman American animal ape-man appeared asked Author interview beast believe Bernard Heuvelmans Bigfoot Bigfoot film Bluff Creek British Columbia Byrne’s California called camera camp canyon cast cave claimed clip creature DeAtley Dennis Jenson described didn’t expedition fake feet foot footprints forest giant goddamn Greg Long hair hairy Heuvelmans hoax Hodgson horses human hunt Hunter idea Ivan Sanderson John Green Klamath knew Koelling Larry Lund later Lester living looked magazine Marx Marx’s mountain mystery named never newspaper Northwest Oh-Mah Olson Oregon Patterson and Gimlin Patterson’s film Peter Byrne photographs plaster Ray Wallace René Dahinden reports River road rodeo Roger Patterson Sasquatch scene Schoenenberger scientists shot showed sightings Slick story talked There’s thing Titmus told Tom Slick tracks trees trip True magazine turned Vancouver walked wanted Washington wild wilderness Willow Creek wrote Yakima yeti York
Bibliographic information
| Title | Anatomy of a Beast: Obsession and Myth on the Trail of Bigfoot |
| Author | Michael McLeod |
| Edition | illustrated, reprint |
| Publisher | Univ of California Press, 2011 |
| ISBN | 0520269861, 9780520269866 |
| Length | 222 pages |
| Subjects | › › Nature / Animals / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |