{"product_id":"the-unidentified-mythical-monsters-alien-encounters-and-our-obsession-with-the-unexplained-paperback","title":"The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession with the Unexplained - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eColin Dickey\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAmerica's favorite cultural historian and author of \u003ci\u003eGhostland\u003c\/i\u003e takes a \"thought-provoking and delicoiusly unsettling\" (\u003ci\u003ePublisher's Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e) tour of the country's most persistent \"unexplained\" phenomena\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn a world where rational, scientific explanations are more available than ever, belief in the unprovable and irrational--in fringe--is on the rise: from Atlantis to aliens, from Flat Earth to the Loch Ness monster, the list goes on. It seems the more our maps of the known world get filled in, the more we crave mysterious locations full of strange creatures. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEnter Colin Dickey, Cultural Historian and Tour Guide of the Weird. With the same curiosity and insight that made \u003ci\u003eGhostland\u003c\/i\u003e a hit with readers and critics, Colin looks at what all fringe beliefs have in common, explaining that today's Illuminati is yesterday's Flat Earth: the attempt to find meaning in a world stripped of wonder. Dickey visits the wacky sites of America's wildest fringe beliefs--from the famed Mount Shasta where the ancient race (or extra-terrestrials, or possibly both, depending on who you ask) called Lemurians are said to roam, to the museum containing the last remaining \"evidence\" of the great Kentucky Meat Shower--investigating how these theories come about, why they take hold, and why as Americans we keep inventing and re-inventing them decade after decade. \u003ci\u003eThe Unidentified\u003c\/i\u003e is Colin Dickey at his best: curious, wry, brilliant in his analysis, yet eminently readable.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eColin Dickey is a writer, speaker, and academic, and has made a career out of collecting unusual objects and hidden histories all over the country. He's a regular contributor to the \u003ci\u003eLA Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eLapham's Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e, and is the co-editor of \u003ci\u003eThe Morbid Anatomy Anthology\u003c\/i\u003e. He is also a member of the Order of the Good Death, a collective of artists, writers, and death industry professionals interested in improving the Western world's relationship with mortality. With a PhD in comparative literature from the University of Southern California, he is an associate professor of creative writing at National University.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 320\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 x 8.3 x 5.4 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 20, 2021\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51767773757728,"sku":"9780525557586","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/5f6b717215e3dcb09e0ef56995052d68.webp?v=1780317061","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/the-unidentified-mythical-monsters-alien-encounters-and-our-obsession-with-the-unexplained-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}