Anatomy of a Beast Obsession and Myth on the Trail of Bigfoot

Reviews

“McLeod approaches Bigfoot culture the way Susan Orlean approached orchids . . . artfully traces our culture's obsession to walking man-beasts.”—Justin Berton San Francisco Chronicle

“A funny, well-written memoir about chasing down the believers.”—Scott Bradfield Bookforum

“With prose that's both sensitive and probing, McLeod explores this very human aspect, the tendency to see pictures in the clouds, UFOs in the sky, and fragments of evolution in the woods.”—Andi Diehn Foreword

“McLeod writes evocatively of a rich, wondrous ecological area known as ‘The Klamath Knot.’"—Nick Owchar Los Angeles Times Book Review

“The author follows the evolution of the Sasquatch story through wingnut conventions, amateur museums, misty woodlands, dubious newspaper accounts and the journals of outlandish explorers. Even better, he introduces readers to the colorful gang of kooks and weirdos—most of them earnest believers—who make up the brotherhood of Bigfoot researchers. It’s an entertaining and thoroughly researched travelogue, as much about America’s need for mystery as the elusive denizens of the Klamath forests.”—Ben Waterhouse Willamette Week

“Anatomy of a Beast isn’t really about Bigfoot so much as it is about Bigfooters – the mythological pursuers of the mythological persuee. These persuers are McLeod’s titular “beasts,” those true believers who have devoted their lives to finding undeniable proof that Bigfoot exists. . . . McLeod tugs at threads that unravel the stories of people driven by life’s lows and high-stakes: pride, illness, wealth, chicanery, professional reputations, hype, hope. . . . He treads these not-so-hallow grounds with respect and compassion.”—(Bio)Accumulation