John Zada

Tales of a giant North American ape-like creature have been told for hundreds of years. Native peoples, explorers, pioneers, travelers, hunters, farmers, fisherman, campers, vacationing families....there are many legends and stories of this elusive giant cryptid creature. There are many names as well....Bigfoot. Sasquatch. Skunk Ape, Wild Man, and more. Here in Western NC, the local legend calls the creature Knobby. Does Bigfoot exist? No clue. But I have an open mind and this book caught my eye. Author John Zada travelled to British Columbia, Canada to talk to area residents and to see if he could catch a glimpse of the creature himself. He talked to all sorts of people scientists, experts, members of the First Nations, hunters, trappers, farmers and gathered up tales about the Sasquatch.

I enjoyed reading this book. Zada talks about British Columbia, the forest, wildlife, the local people, and all of the stories. He weaves a rich narrative that ends up not being just about a legendary creature, but more about the rich culture, people and beautiful landscape that keeps the legend alive.

I'm pretty much still a skeptic that Bigfoot is an actual creature. Some sort of factual evidence (scientifically verifiable evidence not things like blurry video and bad concrete casts of footprints) would have been discovered by now, even with the remote and densely forested areas where the creatures reportedly hang out. But....I could be wrong. Up until a few years ago, most people thought giant squid were just tales told by superstitious sailors....until an actual dead giant squid was found. It was a real creature all along...not just a myth. So while I tend to be skeptical....in the event of provable fact, I would immediately change my mind. I feel the same way about any mythical creature or entity....ghosts, demons, mermaids, Mokele-Mbembe....so many tales of really awesome creatures. If giant squid were proven to be real, maybe some....or even just one....of the legendary creatures people tell stories about might also be real. And that would be awesome!

Very enjoyable read! Zada is a very talented story teller!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Grove Atlantic via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**… (mer)

When I picked this up, I was expecting sensationalism, voyeurism, and adventurous gung ho. I was pleasantly surprised (and relieved) that this is much more actual travel writing, that there’s a lot more to the travelogue than just the search for Bigfoot, and that Zada spends a fair bit of time meditating on belief and consciousness and the nature of truth. The result is an illuminating, thoughtful book that doesn’t deal in firm answers.

The book has three main threads: nature writing, including ecological issues; the lives of the people living in the Great Bear; and Sasquatch. The descriptions of the rain forest ring true to what I know of other coastal rain forests, and are evocative without being rambling or poetic. He conveys an awe of the place, but also a sadness as he talks about pipelines and over-fishing and bear hunts and other resource issues in the area. And also hope, because he talks to eco-activists and Heiltsuk people who are working to protect the forest.

Similarly, the lives of the locals, who are largely Indigenous, are treated with care and open-mindedness and respect, regardless of politics or anything else. Whole scenes and even chapters are about talking, asking opinions, experiencing the towns and the cultures, and listening. Yes, Zada’s asking about Sasquatch and listening to what people say, but he’s also talking about poverty and hunting licenses and summer camps and grandkids. The portrait seems pretty rounded and pretty true to, again, what I know of BC coastal and Indigenous life.

That said, though, Zada does some things at a ceremony out of ignorance that he shouldn’t have done, but he apologizes when called on it and isn’t afraid to state the full facts in the book. It would’ve been very easy to drop that sequence completely and pretend he’s a perfect Western outsider, and I’m glad he didn’t choose that route.

And the Sasquatch? The reason why I read the book to begin with? The subject’s as rounded as the other threads. Zada talks to people who swear it’s a real animal, people who swear it doesn’t exist, and people who say it’s in the spirit realm. There are scientists and eyewitnesses and skeptics. He also adds some of his own history with Sasquatch lore, and the history of said lore, and also talks about trance states, tricks of the mind, and other bits of psychology as possible explanations. It’s an approach I’m not used to in Sasquatch books, and I found it very thoughtful and interesting.

In short, Zada tells a good story full of description and beauty and truth, and you get a good sense of his emotional as well as physical journey. It’s an enjoyable and thought-provoking read, timely as it relates to culture and ecology, and also a fast one. I think that’s partly due to length (this is not a hefty book) and partly due to the simplicity of the writing (not dense, not literary, just clear). Also, the content was pretty darn interesting.

To bear in mind: Contains mention and discussion of racism, deforestation, and poverty. The racism does include but is not limited to some stark Islamophobia. The aforementioned intercultural screw-up.

7.5/10… (mer)

Beautifully written tale about a writer's exploration not only of the myths surrounding Sasquatch, but the psychology behind the human experience of "seeing" strange phenomena. The writer discusses the Native people's reactions to his interest in the myths and his lack of focous for their own societal problems, as well as his ability to relate to them as outsiders of the midstream American life. The author is Middle Eastern, and I enjoyed his reflections on being seen as "the other" as well having come from a dry climate that he would be fascinated with the lushness of the Northwest/Canadian remote areas.
… (mer)