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Staff Pick
John Zada's lifelong interest in the legend of Sasquatch leads him to British Columbia in this well-written travelogue. I loved this exploration of the land and people that have kept these legends alive, especially when he delves into what it says about our society that these legends still hold such interest. Fascinating stuff! Recommended By Leah C., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
On the central and north coast of British Columbia, the Great Bear Rainforest is the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world, containing more organic matter than any other terrestrial ecosystem on the planet. The area plays host to a wide range of species, from thousand-year-old western cedars to humpback whales to iconic white Spirit bears.
According to local residents, another giant is said to live in these woods. For centuries people have reported encounters with the Sasquatch — a species of hairy bipedal man - apes said to inhabit the deepest recesses of this pristine wilderness. Driven by his own childhood obsession with the creatures, John Zada decides to seek out the diverse inhabitants of this rugged and far-flung coast, where nearly everyone has a story to tell, from a scientist who dedicated his life to researching the Sasquatch, to members of the area's First Nations, to a former grizzly bear hunter-turned-nature tour guide. With each tale, Zada discovers that his search for the Sasquatch is a quest for something infinitely more complex, cutting across questions of human perception, scientific inquiry, indigenous traditions, the environment, and the power and desire of the human imagination to believe in — or reject — something largely unseen.
Teeming with gorgeous nature writing and a driving narrative that takes us through the forests and into the valleys of a remote and seldom visited region, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond sheds light on what our decades-long pursuit of the Sasquatch can tell us about ourselves and invites us to welcome wonder for the unknown back into our lives.
Review
"John Zada is one of those rare writers who conjures spellbinding prose through an acute sense of nature's significance and the mythologies we all inhabit. A profound debut." Robert Twigger, author of White Mountain: A Cultural Adventure through the Himalayas and Red Nile: A Biography of the World's Greatest River
Review
"Zada strikes an engaging balance between curiosity and skepticism, letting the locals' convincing stories speak for themselves while probing the science behind misperceptions and cultural beliefs. While fringe-watchers will relish Zada's Sasquatch research, nature buffs will also enjoy his lush descriptions of the Canadian Pacific Northwest wilderness." Booklist
Review
"Bigfoot lives--maybe, as this X-Files-worthy tale reveals . . . Traveling deep into the old-growth forests of British Columbia, [Zada] had a look for himself, and it's not too much of a spoiler to say that he adds to the seen/unproven inventory . . . Believe or don't, the author writes nimbly and well, and his story is modest and evenhanded even as he lets us know just where he stands. An entertaining, provocative exercise in cryptozoology." Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
John Zada is a writer, photographer, and journalist drawn to stories about adventure and far-flung parts of the world. He has worked in over two dozen countries and spent years as a journalist in the Middle East. His work has appeared in the Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, Explore, CBC, Al Jazeera, BBC, Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere. In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond is his first book. He lives in Toronto, Canada.
John Zada on PowellsBooks.Blog
Books about Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti, and other anomalous hominoids said to lurk in remote wilderness regions occupy a special category in cult literature...
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