Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The "best material" on the subject???, February 11, 2005
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.).
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If this subject interests you... BUY THIS BOOK!, August 17, 2004
Chris Murphy, with the help of John Green and Thomas Steenburg, as well as many others, may have produced the best Sasquatch/Bigfoot book since Green's "Sasquatch: the Apes Among Us" in 1978.
This book is deceptively thin, but holds within over 640 pictures, some of which have never been published before.
The perfect book to lend to those who do not know of the amount of evidence there is concerning these mysterious creatures.
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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Well written but one sided -- for believers only, January 3, 2005
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.
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