Professor to discuss ‘Bigfoot’ legend on Discovery Channel Feb. 1

STEPPING OUT OF FOLKLORE
Tall tale or Texan? An exhibit takes a serious look at the existence of Bigfoot

09-26-06: Forging a Second Identity
Jeff Meldrum's 'Sasquatch'


Do they have lunch? Who picks up the tab? I'm guessing science.
Forge is an imprint of Tor Books responsible for some pretty odd books, and none odder (of late) than the double-hitter of 'Haunted Homeland' by Michael Norman (Forge / Tor ; September 19, 2006 ; $27.95) and 'Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science' by Jeff Meldrum (Forge / Tor ; September 19, 2006 ; $27.95). Now, I know Forge because they're the imprint that launched the careers of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child when they published 'Relic', their first collaboration, back in the before-time. It's a good book, and it gives a good idea as to what Forge is all about. Heretofore, at least, Forge has always seemed to me to be the closer-to-the-mainstream cousin of Tor. The books are those that are not DEFINITELY science fiction or fantasy; they tend towards mainstream thrillers with a soupcon of strange. They're generally less likely to be interesting to me personally as a result, though there are exceptions, such as the Preston and Child novel. Heck, it had a guaranteed monster.

But as many Forge titles as I've seen, I've never seen any quite like these two, and they're both pretty interesting. 'Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science' by Jeff Meldrum is the most straightforward, so let's start there. First off, obviously, perhaps, what we have here is a non-fiction book, and I guess that's part of the oddness. The cover design here, nice though it is, is clearly reminiscent of the fiction titles, even though the book is clearly not fiction. If you've read a few Tor books and seen a few Forge titles, it might cause some cognitive dissonance if not outright confusion. After all, Tor often partners with the SciFi channel, who recently broadcast yet another bad original movie, this one something to do with Bigfoot. You might suspect that this is a novelization of that bad movie, but you’d be wrong. Still, I'm used to seeing this "look" for a fictional title, and 'Sasquatch' is not fictional. Really!

'Sasquatch' is associated with a television program, but not from the SciFi channel; instead it’s from the Discovery Channel special of the same name. I missed that too, but frankly, I'm happier with the book which is a lavish, well-written affair by the protégé of Grover Kranz, who wrote 'Big Footprints'. I actually own and have read 'Big Footprints', which seemed to be to as sober as one can get with these sort of books, on par with the fine work by Loren Coleman. So, what's up with 'Sasquatch' and who wants to or needs to read it?

Fist and foremost, let me say that Forge has done an outstanding job on this book. It's an unusual format, 8" by 9 1/2" instead of the usual 6 1/2" by 9 1/2". It's engagingly written, and includes a boatload of photos and illustrations; B&W embedded in the text and a slick center selection of full-color plates. Nice. It's the sort of thing that might get cracked by your precocious pre-teen, and has enough pick-it-up-and-browse appeal that it would make a good coffee table book.

Meldrum is a primatologist who specializes in studies of how primates move and how their motion is supported by their physical structure. In 'Sasquatch', he goes step-by-step though the evidence, and reading about this is pretty interesting, assuming that cryptozoology is of interest to you. The illustrations that pepper the text make the book much easier to read than it might otherwise be. Meldrum makes a great case for the evidence being at least worthy of examination and he examines it carefully.

The real question you have to ask yourself is: Do I want to read non-fiction about Bigfoot? If the answer is yes, and you've read Kranz' 'Big Footprints', Coleman's many works on the subject ('Tom Slick and the Search for the Yeti' / 'Tom Slick: True Life Encounters in Cryptozoology'), then Meldrum's book is a great chaser and bringer-up-to-date. And there are lots of questions to answer, particularly with regards to DNA analysis of purported Bigfoot hairs and droppings. And yes, Meldrum gets there. Is it worth going on the journey with him? Definitely, ikf this is the sort of journey you're interested in making.