Popular Alienation: A Steamshovel Press Reader [Paperback]

Kenn Thomas (Editor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 342 pages
• Publisher: Illuminet Pr (August 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881532070
• ISBN-13: 978-1881532071
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,085,151 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kenn Thomas works as a conspiracy writer, a parapolitical researcher, university library archivist, and showrunner for Steamshovel Press, a parapolitical conspiracy cyber presence and magazine. He has written books on the Inslaw affair, co-authoring The Octopus with the late Jim Keith, and on Fred Crisman and the Maury Island Incident.

Thomas has authored over a dozen books on various conspiracy topics. The latest is JFK & UFO, about the possibility that 1947 UFO witness Fred Crisman was connected to the assassination of John F. Kennedy; and The Octopus: Secret Government and the Death of Danny Casolaro, about theInslaw affair. In 2004, Feral House published a new edition of The Octopus, extending the suggestion of connections to the post-9/11 world and al-Qaeda. Feral House also recently published the new book, fully titled JFK & UFO: Military-Industrial Conspiracy and Cover-Up from Maury Island to Dallas.[1]

Thomas calls his research interest "parapolitics," the study of conspiracies of all colors -- from alien abductions and the Illuminati, to the John F. Kennedy assassination and the September 11, 2001 attacks. The New Yorker called his work "on the cutting edge" of conspiracy. His name has become a proverb for a conspiracy theorist; enough so that a baseball almanac described the sport as involving "enough fishy behavior to keep Kenn Thomas swarming for years."[2]

Thomas lectures extensively. He has appeared at Conspiracy Con in San Francisco many years; the Disinfo Con and Media Monotone conferences in New York,; the Crash Retrieval Conference in Las Vegas; the International UFO Conference in Laughlin; the FortFest and Beyond Knowledge conferences in London; even on a Caribbean cruise ship. Most recently he appeared at the Alternative Research Community conference in Bath, England and the All I Want Is The Truth conference in Atlanta, Georgia.



In addition to JFK & UFO, Thomas' writing currently also appears The Casebook on the Men In Black (published by AUP) and Round Trip To Hell In A Flying Saucer (published by Global Communications). His web site, steamshovelpress.com, also makes available a new PDF book entitled Popular Parapolitics and a DVD of his appearance with psychedelic philosopher Timothy Leary, called Cafe Chaos.


1. http://feralhouse.com/jfk-ufo/
2. Baseball Prospectus by Joseph S. Sheehan and Chris Kahrl.
3. Conspiracy Con: Video & Audio:
http://www.conspiracycon.com/audiotapes.html
4. Steamshovel Press: Appearances:
http://www.steamshovelpress.com/appearances1.html
^ Conspiracy Con: Speakers:
http://www.conspiracycon.com/speakers.html

External links

Steamshovel Press (official site): steamshovelpress.com

Kenn Thomas Profile in St. Louis Magazine:
http://www.stlmag.com/St-Louis-Magazine/August-2008/Stalking-the-Octopus/

Nov.22 appearance on Coast To Coast:
http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2009/11/22

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A weird journey, well worth the effort, May 13, 2000

By 

"thisnicknameisnottaken" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Popular Alienation: A Steamshovel Press Reader (Paperback)

Basically a collection of issues of _Steamshovel Press_, that bastion of bizarre conspiracy theorists, with a few articles pulled because of author problems, this is a fascinating read. It's not something you'll devour in one sitting, but if you have an interest in the underbelly of pop culture (whether or not you believe the theories themselves), you'll come back to it again and again.

The standard of writing is actually surprisingly high; this isn't like the garbled photocopies that guy in the park hands out. There's work here by Carl Oglesby, Jim Keith, and Robert Anton Wilson (his piece is actually a bit tired and disappointing, but oh well), and genuinely interesting interviews with Jack Hoffman and Kerry Thornley (among others). Overall, worth having on the bookshelf.