Yes, that was me skulking around in the creepy part of
the library where nobody goes. I figured since they keep
the John Dee biographies up there I ought be able to find all sorts of other weird stuff. I was right! Brother, it's a gold mine! Like, the last time the "blog" discussed Upton Sinclair,
we discovered that he was an old fussbudget who didn't want anybody to enjoy a liquor drink. But did you know he believed in telepathy? I guess he needed something exciting to do besides get drunk! So he would sit around trying to make people read his mind. He wrote a whole book about it called MENTAL RADIO. The library's got it! Libraries are fun! Within the first few pages ol' Upton declares "Telepathy is real" and specifies that it can work on you from up to 40 miles away. Pretty specific! That's good specifying. I didn't check out MENTAL RADIO. I just stood there and thumbed through it. A lot of it seems to be these cute little doodles that Upton Sinclair drew. Then he tries to get people to read his mind and draw the same doodles! All right. I DID check out a weird book called JADOO. I am assuming it is weird. The title is weird. What does it mean? I DON'T KNOW YET! But it comes from the secret "crazy section" of the library so I have high hopes. It was written in
the 50s and seems to be about the author's "true" adventures in "exotic" locales. Dig these
chapter titles! - "City of
Snakes" - "
Wizard of
Cairo" - "Invitation From
the Devil" - "Hellship to Bombay" - and so on and so on, culminating with "On the Track of
the Abominable Snowman"! Wow! One of the first things he writes is, "Peddling adventure is my business." Yeah! I like a writer with confidence. Another chapter starts "New York, with its murders, muggings, street beatings, and undercurrent of
sexual violence, is by far the most dangerous city on earth." He's opinionated! And you know, I thought I recognized his name - it's John A. Keel. Turns out it's because he's the guy who wrote a book about a famous
West Virginia creature called "The
Mothman." I might... have a copy???? They made it into a movie starring Richard Gere as the guy who battles "The Mothman." This I didn't know: according to
wikipedia, Keel also came up with the popular slice of UFO lingo "Men in Black." And speaking of
UFOs, the old wikipedia tells me that Keel didn't believe in aliens...
that would be crazy! No, he maintained that UFOs were occupied by
ghosts and monsters. Okay! That's more like it. Quote: "Keel coined the term 'ultraterrestrials' to describe UFO occupants he believed to be shape-changing, non-human entities." Gee I feel funny. Maybe this book dust is going to my head.
