Fourteen years later, I again attempt to rank the world’s top ten books on the subject of Bigfoot (aka Sasquatch).
In January 2009 I wrote in my newsletter about the 10 best Bigfoot books that were ever published and — of course, it wasmy viewpointthat was being expressed. That was thirteen years ago. Since that time two things have gained greater traction: self publishing and the massive website we have all either come to love or hate: Amazon.com.
And with that traction has come a deluge of Bigfoot books, some with high levels of scholarship while others seem to have little to no continuity whatsoever. Keep in mind my friend and long time colleague, the late René Dahinden (1930-2001), along with Don Hunter who penned Sasquatchin 1973 did not make the cut. If I were trying to blow smoke up your tailpipe and keep affection and emotions at the forefront,Sasquatchsurely would have been listed.
But this is an unemotional survey of what I consider the ten best books on the subject matter. It is true that some of the discussed books are exceedingly rare and out-of-print but if you look hard enough and scour the four corners of the internet long and hard you are likely to be rewarded.
It is indeed quite interesting that cryptozoologist, Loren Coleman, who has been researching the unexplained for sixty plus years, created his own list of top Bigfoot books, but his was much more extensive than mine. His count was 50 deep while mine was just the top 10. Be that as it may, some of our choices were very similar, starting at the very top. For #1 we both picked Ivan Sanderson’s Abominable Snowmen. And #2 we both agreed on John Green’s Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us. My #3 proved to be Loren’s #4 selection, The Sasquatch And Other Unknown Hominoids. My #6 pick, Dr. John Napier’s Bigfoot book proved to be Loren Coleman’s #7 pick. He picked Dr. Jeff Meldrum’s Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science as his #8 selection, while that proved to be my #4 choice. His Raincoast Sasquatch proved to be #11 while in my selection process that book ranked #7. And finally, Loren Coleman ranked Chad Arment’s Historical Bigfoot (1st edition) as his #12 pick, while that proved to be my #8 choice, with only one minor difference. My selection was for Chad Arment’s second edition of The Historical Bigfoot, not the first edition. But the point of all of this is — with decades of research and investigation under our belt, the independent selection process was remarkably similar.
Books are very interesting things. You don’t need to put a battery in them to use them. There are no cords needed to keep the the writing legible. You can bookmark the volume and get back to it when you are recharged. With a library card you can literally tap into the thoughts of a Nobel prize winning scientist by checking out his book. The late scientist, Dr. Carl Sagan, may have said it best:“Books break the shackles of time…across the millennia, the author is speaking, clearly and silently, inside your head, directly to you.”And it is likely the author has never met you.
#10. Bigfoot: A Personal Inquiry Into A Phenomenon
By Dr. Kenneth Wylie, 1980
With Bigfoot an unproven species and greatly doubted by the scientific community it is always nice to have a fresh set of eyes on the topic. Such is the case withBigfoot: A Personal Inquiry Into A Phenomenonby Kenneth Wylie, a Ph.D in African Studies.
Sociologist Ron Westrum, Eastern Michigan University reviewed this work and in part he wrote: “There are good books and bad books on Sasquatch. This one holds the distinction of being both.” For balance on the Bigfoot subject, I would absolutely recommend reading a book that doesn’t align with your “belief” system, a book that may cause you to ask many questions when you’ve reached the final page of this 268 page work…
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#9. Sasquatch Apparitions
By Barbara Wasson, 1979
Barbara Wasson’sSasquatch Apparitionsget braves reviews in my view, as she is one of the first to assess the credibility of Bigfoot eyewitnesses and Wasson has the educational background to make that assessment.
The late Oregon researcher had the courage to jump into a male dominated activity and later had the gumption to write about some the major investigators from that time period, such as René Dahinden (it was reported they were romantic and she gives him glowing coverage) and John Green.
In the past, rarely was the investigator or researcher discussed center point but all that changed with Wasson’s self published book consisting of 173 pages…
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#8. The Historical Bigfoot (Second Edition)
By Chad Arment, 2019
The Historical Bigfoot (Second Edition)by Chad Arment is the second largest Bigfoot book by page count, this one weighing in at a hefty 1080 pages. This work replaces his earlier work of the same title that was released in 2006 with a mere 346 page count.
For the skeptics and doubters who pretend that “Bigfoot” is a modern day invention that started in 1958 in northern California, it is hard to understand why there are so many “wild man” reports from all over North America that predate the 1958 date by more than one hundred years. According to the author, different terms were used before “Bigfoot” became the all encompassing term to describe the phenomenon at hand…
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#7. Raincoast Sasquatch
By J. Robert Alley, 2003
J. Robert Alley’s Raincoast Sasquatch is one of my favorite books as it is very clear the author spent an extraordinary amount of time on an extraordinary book, with the focus being coastal British Columbia and Alaska. The report of a sighting by a Ketchikan taxidermist in October 1992 makes fascinating reading.
“…I turned the rifle – scope power up to nine…filling the scope with the creature’s backside…I could see it was a female. The face was flat and dark-skinned; she had a broad nose with flared nostrils… she got up. She didn’t use her hands,” states the witness. He goes one, “…I could see she had a huge abdomen… she looked pregnant… I thought of squeezing the trigger a good number of times.”…
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#6. Bigfoot: The Yeti and Sasquatch in Myth and Reality
By Dr. John Napier, 1972
What is interesting about the late Dr. John Russell Napier is that he was involved with the first Bigfoot documentary on Bigfoot, produced by the BBC in England and the centerpiece of his discussion is largely focused on the Patterson-Gimlin film (P-G film), in which he vacillates between the footage being real or faked.
It was only a few years later, in 1972, hisBigfoot: The Yeti And Sasquatch In Myth And Realitywould be published. With unquestionable qualifications as one of the world’s leading primatologist Dr. Napier ventured into the“goblin universe”by going against the tide and writing scientifically in this work.
Said the distinguished scientist: “I am convinced that the Sasquatch exists…”
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#5. North America’s Great Ape: The Sasquatch
By Dr. John A. Bindernagel, 1998
In the past thirty years numerous books have been published about reported observations of giant, hairy bipeds in the forests of North America, but none by a scientist qualified to assess whether what the witnesses described added up to a believable animal. John Bindernagel, with a Ph.D in wildlife biology and extensive field experience in more than one part of the world, has now supplied that need. North America’s Great Ape: The Sasquatch could prove to be the most important book yet written on this fascinating subject.” —John Green, author, The Sasquatch File, On the Track of the Sasquatch, Year of the Sasquatch, and Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us.
Finally, here is a book that goes beyond the debate about whether or not the sasquatch exists…
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#4. Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science
By Dr. Jeff Meldrum, 2006
Sasquatch: Legend Meets Scienceby Dr. Jeff Meldrum is an exceptional book, as the author has a tremendous background not just in his discipline of anatomy and anthropology but also in the field of Bigfooting. His writing in this 297 page book is in depth, careful, scientific and straight forward. Dr. Meldrum is perhaps the most scientifically educated on the subject, having learned from the works of the late Dr. Grover Krantz and others.
Dr. Meldrum is not just an armchair scientist, he is one of the most active participants in the field, having checked out stories from first hand sources and his travels and lectures to date have been rather extensive…
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#3. The Sasquatch And Other Unknown Hominoids
By Dr. Vladimir Markotic, 1984
If you judge a book by its cover, the plain yellow cover ofThe Sasquatch And Other Unknown Hominoids, would have faired poorly (see the article titled:The Ten Best Bigfoot Books). This now out of print work, rare and badly advertised gem of 335 pages was edited by the late Dr. Vladimir Markotic, with whom I had the privilege of meeting once, in June 1989 at the general meeting for the now defunct International Society of Cyrptozoology in Pullman, Washington.
Although this work is a compilation of several authors, including Grover Krantz; John Green; Dmitri Bayanov and Carleton Coon, and others — contributors poured considerable amount of time and thought into their writing with extensive amount of reference material…
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#2. Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us
By John Green, 1978
John Green’sSasquatch: The Apes Among Us, is a top choice for myself and scores of readers who follow the subject. By 1968 the lanky Canadian had already authored a treasure,On The Track Of The Sasquatch, with a lot of original pictures and text.
Two more booklets would follow. With the publication of his 492 page opus in 1978, the Columbia University schooled journalist made it crystal clear that “Sasquatch” was much more than a mere legend. In order to write this important contribution, the late John Green along with Dennis Gates toured the United States looking for sighting and footprint reports firsthand…
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#1. Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come To Life
By Ivan T. Sanderson, 1961
My number one pick (see the article titledThe Ten Best Bigfoot Books,) for a multitude of reasons, would be the late Ivan Sanderson’sAbominable Snowmen: Legend Come To Life. It was one of the first books to be published in this genre and outside of Odette Tchernine, who also released a snowman book, I can think of only a few other “Bigfoot” books that preceded these works.
Since the publication of this work, Sanderson has been repeatedly vilified by his most ardent critics. Imagine for a moment writing a 500+ page book without the aid of a word processor around 1961. You toil away on your manuscript with a manual typewriter. Well, Ivan T. Sanderson did just that and he did it well, both in scholarship, writing style, appendices, maps and a voluminous bibliography in his opus…
What is noteworthy is Ivan Sanderson’s book, in 1961, prior to the Patterson-Gimlin film from 1967, contained a subtitle like this: The Story Of Sub-Humans On Five Continents From The Early Ice Age Until Today. But in his paperback edition, published in November 1968 by Pyramid Books, the subtitle would change: An Account Of Reports On The Existence Of Ultra-Primitive Hominids On Five Continents, which might suggest the P-G film may have had a profound effect on Sanderson.
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