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Fortean Library Essentials

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J.T.

J.T.

Maybe Logic
What books you guys suggest here as essential for a Fortean Library? I'll start with the following classics:

General Forteana:
The Complete Books of Charles Fort
Mothman Prophesies, Our Haunted Planet, Operation Trojan Horse by John Keel
Handbook of Unusual Natural Phenomena by William Corliss
The Anomalist volumes 1-14

Ufos:
Messengers of Deception, Passport to Magonia, Revelations by Jacques Vallee
The UFO Experience by J. Allen Hynek
UFOs and the National Security State by Richard Dolan
UFOs by Leslie Kean
The UFO Encyclopedia by Jerome Clark (+)
The UFO Evidence by Richard Hall (+)

Cryptozoology:
Sasquatch by John Green
On Track of Unknown Animals by Bernard Heuvelmans
Sasquatch/Bigfoot by Don Hunter and Rene Dahinden
Bigfoot! by Loren Coleman

Ghosts / Earth Mysteries / Conspiracies / Unclassified
Carl Sagan: A Demon Haunted World (+)

Magazines:
Entire run of Strange Magazine
Fortean Times

Fiction:
Robert Anton Wilson: Masks of the Illuminati
John Shirley: Silicon Embrace
Ian Watson: Miracle Visitors
Rudy Rucker: Saucer Wisdom

Of interest (approach with caution):
Charles Berlitz: The Bermuda Triangle (+)
Von Daniken: Chariots of the Gods (+)
Gary Kinder: Light Years (+)
Colin Wilson: The Occult (+)
Pauwels & Berger: Morning of the Magicians (+)


books marked with a (+) have been added to the list from suggestions.
 
Hmm, seems everyone tends to mention Dolan's books. Yeah, they're comprehensive but there's a lot of silliness in there. But anyway, some of my additions would be Jerome Clark's UFO Encyclopedias and Richard Hall's two volumes of UFO Evidence.
 
I notice the price of the"kindle" edition of Leslie Keenes book has dropped some. Thinking of getting it. Anybody here read it? Is it just "story after story" and is there any "new" or "Interesting" direction pointed to?
 
Perfect, absolutely. I like Sagan -- Pale Blue Dot was great, too. Everybody interested in the subject should read on both 'sides.' I'm somewhere in the middle myself. I'm convinced there is phenomena unexplained and possibly unexplainable, but I sure as hell don't claim to know what it (they) is (are).
 
Oh, and tyder -- I haven't read the Kean book myself (though I will). It was listed as a nod to what is current and what I think is important to the field. I don't expect to get all that much out of the book myself, but that doesn't make its value to the greater populace any smaller. From what I've read about it (and I've read quite a bit about it), I don't expect anything beyond a concentrated treatise on the overall subject.
 
J.T. said:
Oh, and tyder -- I haven't read the Kean book myself (though I will). It was listed as a nod to what is current and what I think is important to the field. I don't expect to get all that much out of the book myself, but that doesn't make its value to the greater populace any smaller. From what I've read about it (and I've read quite a bit about it), I don't expect anything beyond a concentrated treatise on the overall subject.
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I like your avatar. :-) I do intend to download it and read it soon. Seems like most people have a lot of respect for Ms Keene. I notice the former co-host David B. respects her and he isn't easily impressed. So, I will check her out. Bookwise I mean. :p
 
tyder001 said:
I like your avatar. :-) I do intend to download it and read it soon. Seems like most people have a lot of respect for Ms Keene. I notice the former co-host David B. respects her and he isn't easily impressed. So, I will check her out. Bookwise I mean. :p
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I think it's spelled "Kean." "Keene" is the surname of that couple (Bill and Maragaret I think) who did all of those paintings of the kids with the big eyes that look like alien hybrids.:D
 
Exactly. She told us that the first time we had her on. You can imagine what it's like to have people pronounce your name wrong. Consider my creditors who mangle my name beyond belief, particularly if they are using offshore support. I delight in setting them straight. :D
 
Gene Steinberg said:
Exactly. She told us that the first time we had her on. You can imagine what it's like to have people pronounce your name wrong. Consider my creditors who mangle my name beyond belief, particularly if they are using offshore support. I delight in setting them straight. :D
Click to expand...

I had a creditor for someobody who kept calling. I told them the guy they were calling didn't live here. Well, they continued to call the dude. Finally, I anwered one day in a "playful" mood. The person said "Is Bill Smith (not the real name) there?" I said no, he died in a plane crash in Bolivia...hit a mountain. "Oh my God, that's horrible" said the creditor. Nahhh, (said I) He was a bastard!....Long silence...followed by "but still, a horrible way to go." Then I said "Well, at least it wasn't you or me!" the guy hung up and never called back.8)
 
Gene Steinberg said:
Exactly. She told us that the first time we had her on. You can imagine what it's like to have people pronounce your name wrong. Consider my creditors who mangle my name beyond belief, particularly if they are using offshore support. I delight in setting them straight. :D
Click to expand...

There is a reason I use my initials and not my actual name in 'real life' as well as here on the forums..... I probably got on Homeland Security lists because an activist friend in NYC uses spellcheck on her computer, and it changed my first name from "Juha" to "Jihad." Also if you have eye issues, it often gets feminized to Julia. I'll stick to J.T., thank you very much.
 
tyder001 said:
I had a creditor for someobody who kept calling. I told them the guy they were calling didn't live here. Well, they continued to call the dude. Finally, I anwered one day in a "playful" mood. The person said "Is Bill Smith (not the real name) there?" I said no, he died in a plane crash in Bolivia...hit a mountain. "Oh my God, that's horrible" said the creditor. Nahhh, (said I) He was a bastard!....Long silence...followed by "but still, a horrible way to go." Then I said "Well, at least it wasn't you or me!" the guy hung up and never called back.
Click to expand...

Aha. I'll definitely consider this.
 
tyder001 said:
I had a creditor for someobody who kept calling. I told them the guy they were calling didn't live here. Well, they continued to call the dude. Finally, I anwered one day in a "playful" mood. The person said "Is Bill Smith (not the real name) there?" I said no, he died in a plane crash in Bolivia...hit a mountain. "Oh my God, that's horrible" said the creditor. Nahhh, (said I) He was a bastard!....Long silence...followed by "but still, a horrible way to go." Then I said "Well, at least it wasn't you or me!" the guy hung up and never called back.8)
Click to expand...

Okay, that's hilarious! Nicely done.
 
Without wanting to sound perverse, there are three books that helped to set me on the venerable path of failing/trying to make sense of things nobody else has a bloody clue about.

Charles Berlitz - The Bermuda Triangle
Von Daniken - Chariots of the Gods
Gary Kinder - Light Years

These should be in the Fortean Library to highlight how nothing is as it seems. The warm glow of angry embarrassment has often sparked a healthy skepticism.
 
No, I absolutely get you and tip my hat at even thinking this. I'll raise you Colin Wilson's The Occult and Pauwels & Berger's Morning of the Magicians. Pivotal books, however flawed.
 
Colin Wilson, now there is an interesting person. Is he still with us? I think he was pretty elderly if he's the one I'm thinking of.
 
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