Bigfoot

Book excerpt: The Abominable Snowman is one of the most popular monsters in modern mythology. Like that other favorite, the Loch Ness Monster, the Yeti (or Bigfoot or Sasquatch) gained worldwide publicity through a photograph - the sharp, unmistakable picture of a huge footprint in the snow, taken in 1951 by Eric Shipton of the Everest Reconnaissance Expedition. Additionally, in 1967, a rare film of the creature was shot in Northern California by Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin, which catapulted the apeman to even greater fame.The aim of this book, by a well-known anthropologist who has been interested in the monster phenomenon for twenty years, is to disentangle the rational from the irrational, the legend from the living animal.Whether Bigfoot is an idea or an animal, says John Napier, he plays an important cultural role - as a stabilizing force in primitive societies, and as an essential source of mystery in the sophisticated West. His book is the most thorough scrutiny yet of the Sasquatch. He presents a wealth of fascinating evidence, both verbal and visual; the conclusions he leaves to the reader.