Customer Reviews

Meet the Sasquatch

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is not an objective analysis of the sasquatch. Far from it. Murphy assumes that the creature exists, and this book promotes that view. Its tone is light overall, and it does contain lots of interesting pictures. For example, I was pleased to see other stills from the famous Patterson film, rather than just Frame 352 over and over.

I have a few complaints: Number one, Murphy must know that the "Jacko" story was an old newspaper hoax. Yet here it is, presented with a straight face again. That old chestnut was denbunked years ago. Also, when will someone in the pro-bigfoot community just come right out and admit that Albert Ostman's story of being kidnapped by sasquatches is absurd? Murphy goes right up to the line but cannot bring himself to state the obvious. The clear psycho-sexual overtones of the Ostman story make it highly suspect. To see bigfoot researchers cling to it after all of these years is sad and makes it hard for one to take bigfoot research seriously. Likewise, I find wild-and-wooly unsubstantiated tales out of czarist Russia wholly unpersuasive. Murphy seems to take seriously claims that a female sasquatch was captured in Russia and impregnated by men. A photo of one of the spawns of this union is provided. The man looks to be African American, perhaps even Aboriginal. It's an interesting question how such an individual ended up in 19th century Russia, but I doubt the sasquatch had anything to do with it.

Murphy writes very well, and as I said the book contains lots of cool photographs. It's worth a look, but keep an open mind if you are undecided on the subject and definitely do not believe everything you read in this book. You may want to provide some balance with a more skeptical tome.

This book is a nice, light compendium of current thought on the bigfoot phenomenon intended for a general audience who may not have been exposed to these matters. I object, however, to the extent folks characterize it as the "best material" on this subject. That honor must go to works containing significant original research like those of Krantz (for scientifically analyzing footprints), John Green (for collecting anecdotal evidence), Bindernagel (for applying wilderness-biology principles to the subject), and journal articles published by Meldrum and others.

Meet the Sasquatch does have its moments - e.g., the numerous photographs, Murphy's discussion of his Bluff Creek model, Kathy Moskowitz's discussion of the "hairy man" pictographs. But much of it indiscriminately rehashes information to present a one-sided, pro-bigfoot view. The book, for example, uncritically perpetuates the Jacko story when, to my understanding, that story is almost certainly false (see Loren Coleman's "Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America", regarding this). The book also contains numerous, distracting typographic errors. Hancock House or whoever edited the book really needs to correct the typos in later editions.

The search for bigfoot has taken huge hits in recent years with the death of Dr. Krantz, the widespread, negative publicity surrounding the "confessions" of Ray Wallace's relatives, and the publication of Greg Long's book (flawed in certain details though it may be, its overall argument that Patterson hoaxed Patty is compelling). If the bigfooters now want to be taken seriously, their best material will certainly need to be better and more balanced than this. To my mind, the ideal material would be a multi-authored text (perhaps a collection of scientific symposium papers presented by proponents, opponents, and the skeptically neutral) that even-handedly presents and addresses various skeptical assessments about the evidence for or against the existence of bigfoot (e.g., Napier's discussion of footprint shapes -i.e., hourglass or not -, Long's discussion of the Patty film's chain of custody, anthropological claims that Alley blew it with his discussion of land otters, other evaluations contained in Skeptic or Skeptical inquirer, etc.).

Very one-sided book on the topic. Accepts a lot of evidence that is far from being scientifically verified. But, due to its great collection of photos, it's a good addition to one's Bigfoot library.

Simply put, this book has it all. 99.99% of what anyone would want to know about Bigfoot is in this coffee table sized volume.

Chris has done us all a service and put it between these covers. I cannot over-praise the work he has done and that of all the people contained within it. There are no mental gymnastics one must go through to understand the evidence collected so far by amateur researchers. It is heavily illustrated with many never before published pictures and drawings. It begs the reader to really think about it, visulize it and not just scoff and proclaim "no way, those things can't exist".

What is it with those Canadians anyway? How can they consistently produce the best material out there on the subject? This sets the bar quite a bit higher than other work's claiming so called "critical thinking" or to be "skeptically inquiring" by being downright "serious". It will be at least another 10 years before anything like it can be made with original material.

I also predict that many of you will use this book to collect the autographs of the people Chris wrote about.

A well written and nicely packaged presentation of North America's most mysterious beast. Great illustrations and well structured, making it easy to read and follow. Now only if the naysayers would give it a read, it might have them scratching their heads on how to debunk some of the convincing evidence presented.Great job!

This is a beautiful 8.5 X 11 inch book that would be a good addition to any Bigfoot book collection. It's not so much about bigfoot encounters as just a general overview of the types of information out there on Bigfoot. The researchers, the types of evidence, early records and references, etc. An excellent beginners book about bigfoot.

Most impressive, are the beautful pictures and artwork. I bought it just for the beautiful presentation of these. I'd be proud to leave this book out on my coffee table at home. For books on Bigfoot encounters, the best two are: Bigfoot Across America by Philip L. Rife (in America) and In Search of Giants by Thomas Steenburg (Canada)

Meet the Sasquatch is something as unusual as a well-written, informative, and serious book about the Bigfoot/Sasquatch phenomenon, filled with both photographs and illustrations, most of them in color. In a way, think of this book as a Greatest Hits collection of everything regarding that allusive primate which is said to roam the American landscape.

It's a book larger than your standard paperback, but that's fortunate, considering all the photographs and illustrations. All three authors are experienced and recognized Bigfoot researchers, and the book is based on a Bigfoot exhibit put on display at Vancouver Museum during the summer of 2004.

If you choose to purchase this book - and anyone with a serious interest shouldn't hesitate for a second to do so - you'll be treated with, among other things, the many plaster casts made from footprints over the years, an extremely thorough analysis of the Patterson/Gimlin movie shot at Bluff Creek, California, reconstructions made by anthropologists of what the body of a Bigfoot might look like, introductions to some of the top names in contemporary Bigfoot research together with some of the pioneers, how this creature has been portrayed in myths and legends among the native Americans, and much more.

And that's pretty much all I can say about Meet the Sasquatch. If you find the subject fascinating I cannot tell you any reason as for why you shouldn't purchase this book.

I received this book in August 2004, and read it in 4 days. The pictures in the book are excellent, over 600 of them. Some of the things covered in this book are the old Indian Legends, including a look at the Yokut Indian tribe's "Hairy Man" legend by Kathy Moskowitz; the classic encounters with Sasquatch by such men as Albert Ostman, Fred Beck, William Roe and others; the Patterson/Gimlin film, with Cibachrome prints photos shown; other evidence such as hair, footprints, handprints, the Skookum Cast, sounds and possible nesting areas of the Sasquatch; the Washington state environmental atlas entry, as well as the law in Skamania County, Washington, prohibiting the killing of a Sasquatch; tributes to different researchers, such as John Green, the late Rene Dahinden and Grover Krantz, Bob Titmus, Daniel Perez, Ray Crowe, Richard Noll and several others; and the Russian Almasty and the Yeti. This book is highly-recommended to those even with a casual interest in the subject. The book can be purchased from [...] for [...] (softcover edition); [...] (hardcover signed edition) and [...] (leatherbound signed edition).

Covers a broad scope of territory. From the First Nations evidence, to early written records from America and Canada. All the classic sightings are given space here. Analyzing foot and hand casts, hair samples, DNA and sound recordings, and alleged nesting sites. Many would be surprised to learn that even Jane Goodall herself, accepts the mountains of evidence as proof of a real animal out there. Answers the Ray Wallace fraud satisfactorily as well. And I for one, never believed the claim that Hollywood's then leading master of moviemakeup, John Chambers(best known for his work in 1968's Planet of the Apes)could have come up with the creature we see in the Patterson/Gimlin film shot in 1967. I don't think Hollywood was that far advanced yet. He even stated such in a 1997 interview with cryptozoologist Bobbi Short. In his own words, "I'm good but not that good." Rick Baker? Yes. But his unique genius didn't come along until well into the 1970s. So there John Landis!

Ahhh, here is a book the bigfoot community has been waiting for. Christopher Murphy (along with John Green and Thomas Steenburg) have given us a great book for research, discussion, and tributes. I eagerly awaited this book since its announcement and was compelled to buy it just for having Green's and Steenburg's involvement. I'm so glad I did. While the book is thin, it covers quite a variety of data and many exceptional photos. I've got nearly every book on this subject, collected newspaper and magazine articles, television programs, and absorb whatever info I can get. This publication has added fresh new info and I'm delighted with it.

Back in 1996, I wrote an 18 page thesis for college (Montana State University) anthropology class on the matter of bigfoot and received an 'A'. At the time I was grateful for Dr. Krantz's 'Big Footprints' which helped immensely. I wish I had Murphy's 'Meet the Sasquatch' also. This book could easily be used as a text book for a study in an anthropology class and I would recommend it for such. Granted you won't spend a semester studying bigfoot, but a special week of classes would be benefited by this book. This is not a book about sightings, this is a book about data, facts, evidence, contributions, and theories.

Is this text the best book on bigfoot/sasquatch?... no, but it is among the best research friendly works published in the last 15 years. Truly worth every penny of the price.