Previously on Joe’s Book Club: If you missed my last column, it has a definition of TBR and some information about my personal TBR list. I’ve added a new book to the list and it’s about BIGFOOT! The book is The Secret History of Bigfoot by John O’Connor and I can’t wait to read it…
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
I did see Bigfoot when I was a kid and I still believe it to this day. I saw a big furry man outside my window. It’s not funny! It was real.—Barry Watson
There have been four Sasquatch reports since 1989 in Colorado’s San Juan and La Plata counties, where Durango and Silverton are located. The most recent sighting in the area was in 2008, when a hiker outside Durango spotted a “large hairy figure” while on the Crater Lake trail.
In Search of Bigfoot
The Secret History of Bigfoot opens like a house of fire. Right from the git-go, it’s interesting, it’s funny, and it’s personal as O’Connor weaves together a story that combines a historical view on Bigfoot-type creatures, created with field work and interviews with Sasquatch hunters as he joins the hunt himself for a year.
Especially interesting to me was his first hand experiences hiking the Appalachian Trail solo and what it’s like being alone in the woodlands at night. As someone who hasn’t gone camping in 40 years these remembrances and his other experiences in the nighttime woods are engaging. In many of these passages O’Connor includes vivid descriptions of what it’s like, especially the birds. He seems to be intrigued by ornithology and there’s an entire chapter devoted to the (thought to be) extinct ivory billed woodpecker, which has, at most, tentative links to the search for Bigfoot..
Scattered throughout the text are quotes from various intellectuals and thinkers that sometimes enhance the text and add a bit of academic gravitas. But then…he decides to interview experts of the subject of the fallibility of eyewitness reports and I’m hanging in there with him as he makes a hard turn into politics repeatedly comparing both politicians and their followers with some of the fringe elements that can be found when discussing subjects, such as Bigfoot. And while it may be argued that he is making some points that relate to people searching for Bigfoot, it feels jarring to me. Depending on your political affiliation—I can’t believe I’m talking politics in a review of a book about Bigfoot—it may not bother you but it will bother the hell out of some readers. But then the author goes on to engage in some navel gazing about family— I’m not sure how that fits into the book’s topic—and while I’m sure writing this was cathartic for him it may not be so much for us to read,
In the acknowledgements O’Connor thanks the book’s editor for their help in improving the book’s readability, but eliminating the politics and personal introspection would have made this a much better book. Mary had planned to buy me a copy for her personal book-of-the-month club and I’m glad she didn’t. This copy came from the local library and I’m on my way to return it now. if you’re interested in the topic I suggest you get your copy that way too; you’ll know what parts you want to skip over because once you get to his conversations and interviews with the various amateur and professional Bigfoot hunters you will be fascinated. While the author is a terrific writer, I give the book just five bookmarks for the aforementioned reasons.
TBR Update
I’ve added a new book to my TBR list and it’s Murder Crossed Her Mind by Stephen Spotswood, which is the latest in the Pentecost & Parker mystery series. I’m a big fan of the series that’s set in 1940’s New York and feature two female detectives with a decided Nero Wolfe influence. Yes, it’s influenced by Rex Stout but the series is uniquely its own and always worth a read. Another new book on my TBR list is Porsche 911: 60 Years by
David Handler’s latest book in the Stewart Hoag (and wonder dog Lulu) is a fun read, It seems that “Hoagy’s” life is getting more cozy. In this latest book, he has reunited with his ex-wife Marilee, after 13 years finished his second book and the editor at his publishing house thinks it will be a hit. Sadly this self-same editor has been getting death threats and before the end of the book, there has been two murders—and it’s not who you think it might be.
To solve these murders, Hoagy reunites with NYPD Homicide Detective Romaine Very to check out three possible suspects, each of whom give Handler a chance to riff on book genres and expand on some stereotypes of what popular authors are like. In the end, there is, what seems to me, to be an abrupt unveiling of the killer, Hoagy and Lulu confronts them and who turns on a delightfully psychotic rant. There is an epilogue of sorts in which the predictions the psycho make come true, which may not be satisfying to people who like their cozy mysteries wrapped up with a nice big bow but is unmistakably realistic. While lacking the convoluted and delightfully complex plots of previous books in the series, this latest entry is a fun read and Handler never disappoints with his creation of characters and situations that may be more true about the book publishing world than you might otherwise suspect. Fashionistas will delight in the author’s description of what Hoagy and many of the characters are wearing; I’m not one but still love this aspect of Handler’s writing. I give the book eight bookmarks.