Asking the Big Question About Bigfoot

To say that John O’Connor’s The Secret History of Bigfoot is a metaphysical and sociological critique of belief in today’s America would make the book sound very highbrow. Highbrow it might be, but it’s also a lot of fun to read. I picked this book up not realizing that the title was both tongue-in-cheek and also just the starting point for this well written essay on our need to believe. It’s a great read, hilarious in some places, deeply philosophical in others. In fact, it’s the best book I’ve read so far this year.

O’Connor is intrigued by Bigfoot and apparently has been for a number of years. He’s a confirmed skeptic, but one who recognizes that you can’t prove a negative - there is no way to say definitively that Bigfoot doesn’t exist. O’Connor has himself participated in organized Bigfoot expeditions (with the excuse of researching a story) and sets out some of those adventures in this book.

But the book isn’t focused on proving or disproving the existence of Bigfoot. Rather, it asks the question why we humans have a need to believe in things like Bigfoot in the first place. And out of that human need, what kind of person would be so driven by that belief to act on it by participating in organized Bigfoot expeditions.

Bigfoot expeditions are just the starting point for O’Connor. He ranges far afield, looking at the question of belief from a number of angles. Much of his exploring stays based in the paranormal or psuedo-religious beliefs in Bigfoot, but it doesn’t end there.

O’Connor spends much of a chapter telling the story of the “rediscovery” of the extinct ivory-billed woodpecker by an experienced ornithologist who believed he saw the extinct bird on a visit to an Arkansas swamp. He pulled together a team of ornithologists who documented further sightings and published a paper heralding the non-extinction of this extinct species. Unfortunately, no one else ever sights an ivory-billed woodpecker, and after much searching, they are once again declared extinct. The parallels to Bigfoot are obvious.

O’Connor also digs into Native American tales of Bigfoot-like creatures, and speaks with Native Americans, some of whom claim these creatures still exist and appear to their people to this day. All of them draw a distinction between their tribal beliefs and the creature they believe in, and the notion of Bigfoot they attribute to the White Man.

And that idea reinforces a pattern O’Connor notes in his participation in organized Bigfoot expeditions and conferences. Most of those in attendance are male. Almost all of them are white. Most are working-class or lower middle class. Many have military backgrounds.

Among the men who O’Connor talks with are some who believe they’ve seen Bigfoot themselves. Others are intrigued enough to want to experience a Bigfoot sighting but have (so far) not encountered the creature. Whatever it is that brings them into the Bigfoot world, one thing that keeps them coming back is the camaraderie that comes along with the sense of a common belief among the group — a sense of belonging.

The parallels with Trumpism, and with QAnon and other right wing conspiracy theories, floats around mostly unspoken, but O’Connor does comment on it more than once, and as the book draws to its conclusion makes some explicit connections.

I should point out that the humor in this book is, like all good humor, self-effacing — pointed directly at the author himself, and not at the expense of his fellow Bigfoot hunters. O’Connor is a Michigander by birth, born in Kalamazoo. A good part of the humor comes from his acknowledgment of his self-conscious Michigan-ness. As a Michigan boy myself I found that refreshing and revealing.

RATING: Five Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

RATING COMMENTS: O’Connor uses the world of Bigfoot believers as a starting off point for exploring the big question of why we humans have a need to believe in the first place. At times hilarious, the book is deeply intellectual and well written.

WHERE I GOT MY COPY: I checked the audiobook out of my local library through the Libby app. Narrator Matt Godfrey does excellent work and I’d highly recommend the audio version of this book.