Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession with the Unexplained
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Average rating4
"Absolutely perfect for the current moment." --Buzzfeed America's favorite cultural historian and author of Ghostland takes a tour of the country's most persistent "unexplained" phenomena In a world where rational, scientific explanations are more available than ever, belief in the unprovable and irrational--in fringe--is on the rise: from Atlantis to aliens, from Flat Earth to the Loch Ness monster, the list goes on. It seems the more our maps of the known world get filled in, the more we crave mysterious locations full of strange creatures. Enter Colin Dickey, Cultural Historian and Tour Guide of the Weird. With the same curiosity and insight that made Ghostland a hit with readers and critics, Colin looks at what all fringe beliefs have in common, explaining that today's Illuminati is yesterday's Flat Earth: the attempt to find meaning in a world stripped of wonder. Dickey visits the wacky sites of America's wildest fringe beliefs--from the famed Mount Shasta where the ancient race (or extra-terrestrials, or possibly both, depending on who you ask) called Lemurians are said to roam, to the museum containing the last remaining "evidence" of the great Kentucky Meat Shower--investigating how these theories come about, why they take hold, and why as Americans we keep inventing and re-inventing them decade after decade. The Unidentified is Colin Dickey at his best: curious, wry, brilliant in his analysis, yet eminently readable.
Reviews with the most likes.
Looks down on cryptozoology in the introduction as “not real”—then what's the point of his book? Second DNF of his work.
This was an interesting romp down the trail of some of the creatures that have captivated the public. From the Yeti, to Nessie, and UFO's, you get a little bit of everything in this book.
Overall good read.
... While it only offers one angle of explanation for why things are the way they are, nor does it offer any concrete solutions to resolve the issue, it does offer some insight into how things got to where they are now, and how American citizens, the scientific establishment, and the government all played a role in getting to where things are. As in Ghostland, Dickey does not judge the living individuals he interacts with for their beliefs, but in this book he shows he is entirely willing to point fingers at the systemic issues that have led these individuals to believe in the things they do ??? and, in certain cases, do harm. ...
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