A real let down

I had pretty high hopes for this based on all the good reviews it got. One comment that stuck in my head was "she presents the facts and let's you decide". That is not what is in this book. The author does a good job of repeating tales told to her in a respectful way free of judgment, but it's what she does AFTER that that's problamatic.

She throws out endless streams of assumptions that unproven and almost certainly impossible things as facts and then builds from their. She strings out good strings of "if this is true then this is true and this is likely", but the issue is a lot of the things she is staying as true or likely aren't. Its a string of facts that if even one fact is untrue it collapses and often most of their "facts" are just unproven nonsense.

A good example was the people she said might be head transplant patients, three teenagers with reported faces of old men. She talks about a man who has claimed to be preparing to do a head transplant as proof that head transplants are possible. First, he has not even tried the surgery and is a well known con artist. That aside, the procedure has not even been tried, much less succeeded yet. But she uses the assumption that it's possible as a jumping off point then presents as self-evident fact that any old person getting a head transplant would of course put it on as young a body as possible. She then throws out "fact" after fact that "must" be true, All of them based on previous "facts" and all of which would be untrue if even one of the previous "facts" weren't true.

15 people found this helpful

Great book narrator makes all the difference

Great book narrator makes all the difference telling these stories in this book makes u feel u are in it

4 people found this helpful

Fun, but like all such things, kind of silly

I enjoy this one. The narration is perfect -- Zackman sounds just like the lecturer/NPR host/cryptoprofessor Godfrey writes herself to be.

I have forever loved cryptozoology and related subjects, and have a vast library of books, magazines, articles, art, etc., all about the wonderful world of the weird. This book fits right in.

Yet as happens in most such works, the author makes some logical, procedural errors. Godfrey's main mistake or oversight is that the plural of anecdote is not data. The reliability of an eyewitness is never more or less than it always is; your odds of being a credible witness do not increase with the amount of times you claim sanity, sobriety or expertise. Being human doesn't mean you are automatically wrong, but it sure doesn't mean you are a perfect observer either.

A minor peeve is the mention of various scary clown pop culture references but completely ignoring Pennywise from IT.

But the biggest issue I have with this one is that it really ought to be called 'Various Dog Things.' The VAST majority, like, 3/4 of the work are about mysterious dogs, dire dogs, witch dogs, and other kinds of unknown dog-like dog monsters. Go Dog Go, for the National Enquirer set. It gets very, VERY samey.

But it's still fun for most of the front section and the narration has exactly the kind of strident, dramatic pseudoseriousness that one would want from this kind of material. You can hear the smirk in the seriousness, and that makes it very fun.

3 people found this helpful

Disappointed!

This story was very repetitive - looping back to wolf people. There are so many great urban myths to
touch on, but many were not discussed or they were skimmed over.
The voice narration was so hard to listen to. The narrator kept switching from a soft feminine voice
to a deeper robot like voice. It was grading and a bizarre pick for the voice. I’m just disappointed and had hoped this would be really elaborative and fascinating.

3 people found this helpful

Exhaustive research into cryptids in North America

Linda Godfrey has compiled great stories from Americans who’ve seen things they don’t understand. Her knowledge and presentation of facts dispassionately leaves room for interpretation yet entertains you while giving you the creeps.
Bill Richardson

3 people found this helpful

just a catalog

unfortunately the author does not expand on her research and only creates a catalog of myths and legends. anyone who has had an interest in this area knows the stories and myths that she's talking about and does not require the catalog. I was hoping that she would expand into her research regarding the background and reality of some or any of these Legends.

2 people found this helpful

Good listen while you work

I love this type of book, it's about cryptids, but doesn't force the author's belief of them on you. You are given the information, and allowed to decide for yourself. There were a few spots where it seemed to ramble, only to pull it back to together and leave you with an A-HA! moment.

2 people found this helpful

A reciting of letters received by the author

This book was a little bit of a let down. the descriptions of mysterious animals were interesting but the entire book was literally just the author discussing letters she received from people about "sightings", and calling it "research".

Interesting anecdotes but a overall kinda dull.

1 person found this helpful

Good Narrator, Repetitive Story

Simply repetitive. Too many stories about dog like creatures etc. and this coming from someone who loves dogs. The narration is quite nice. She is consistent, nice to listen to, and makes it feel like your listening to an NPR expose’ on cryptids and the weird.
Also, the author does clear jumps of logic that are based on the most flimsy facts a caterpillar’s breath could knock it down. I don’t expect the most solid investigative journalism in this genre of study but, it could have been left to something more solid then conjecture.

Definitely Worth A Listen

If you're the kind of person who likes to hear stories about strange, unexplainable and often creepy things, this is right up your alley. But if you're like me and you enjoy the stories but don't really believe in any of it, this might not be the book for you.

The author obviously has had enough personal experiences to believe in lots of unexplainable events and that comes through in her writing. These stories are often presented as fact and there is very little in the way of critical exploration. This isn't a dig at her at all, if she chooses to take the events detailed here as real, more power to her. I just personally enjoy books that question the tales more than this one does.

Still an entertaining listen, though! Definitely enjoyed this book.