The Saucerian: Ufos, Men in Black, and the Unbelievable Life of Gray Barker
暫譯: 《飛碟人：UFO、黑衣人與格雷·巴克的不可思議人生》
McKee, Gabriel
- 出版商: MIT
- 出版日期: 2025-04-22
- 售價: $1,250
- 貴賓價: 9.5 折 $1,188
- 語言: 英文
- 頁數: 360
- 裝訂: Hardcover - also called cloth, retail trade, or trade
- ISBN: 0262049546
- ISBN-13: 9780262049542
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商品描述
The strange, but true biography of the colorful founder of Saucerian Books, a central purveyor and promoter of flying saucer and conspiracist knowledge in the mid-twentieth century.
Gray Barker (1925-1984) was an eccentric literary outsider, filled with ideas that were out of step with the world. An author and unreliable narrator of implausible stories, Barker founded and operated Saucerian Books, an independent publisher of books about flying saucers and other ideas at the fringes of popular discourse. In The Saucerian, author Gabriel Mckee tells the fascinating story of Barker's West Virginia-based press, the unique corpus of materials it published, and how office-copying and self-publishing techniques influenced the spread of paranormal beliefs and conspiratorial worldviews over the last century. Following the development of UFO subculture, Mckee explores the life and career of a larger-than-life hoaxer and originator of pseudoscientific ideas. Ever an entertainer, Barker established his reputation with one of the first flying saucer fanzines The Saucerian and with his first book, the conspiratorial and sensationalistic They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers. By the close of the 1950s, he had established a publishing imprint that brought out some of the strangest UFO-related books of the era, with a particular emphasis on flying saucer contactees. Saucerian Books became a platform for those whose stories were too unusual, implausible, or crudely written for more mainstream publishers. Though Barker himself was a skeptic, he viewed the world of occult believers as a source of ongoing entertainment. He also may have used the perceived eccentricity of flying saucer research, or "ufology," to obscure his homosexuality from his small-town neighbors. From his place on the fringes of midcentury American culture, Barker left an unmatched legacy in conspiratorial concepts that have become prominent pop cultural folklore, including the Men in Black, the Mothman, and the Philadelphia Experiment. As a mastermind behind the fantastical, Barker's promotional efforts were the precursor to contemporary conspiracism.
Gray Barker (1925-1984) was an eccentric literary outsider, filled with ideas that were out of step with the world. An author and unreliable narrator of implausible stories, Barker founded and operated Saucerian Books, an independent publisher of books about flying saucers and other ideas at the fringes of popular discourse. In The Saucerian, author Gabriel Mckee tells the fascinating story of Barker's West Virginia-based press, the unique corpus of materials it published, and how office-copying and self-publishing techniques influenced the spread of paranormal beliefs and conspiratorial worldviews over the last century. Following the development of UFO subculture, Mckee explores the life and career of a larger-than-life hoaxer and originator of pseudoscientific ideas. Ever an entertainer, Barker established his reputation with one of the first flying saucer fanzines The Saucerian and with his first book, the conspiratorial and sensationalistic They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers. By the close of the 1950s, he had established a publishing imprint that brought out some of the strangest UFO-related books of the era, with a particular emphasis on flying saucer contactees. Saucerian Books became a platform for those whose stories were too unusual, implausible, or crudely written for more mainstream publishers. Though Barker himself was a skeptic, he viewed the world of occult believers as a source of ongoing entertainment. He also may have used the perceived eccentricity of flying saucer research, or "ufology," to obscure his homosexuality from his small-town neighbors. From his place on the fringes of midcentury American culture, Barker left an unmatched legacy in conspiratorial concepts that have become prominent pop cultural folklore, including the Men in Black, the Mothman, and the Philadelphia Experiment. As a mastermind behind the fantastical, Barker's promotional efforts were the precursor to contemporary conspiracism.
商品描述(中文翻譯)
這位色彩斑斕的 Saucerian Books 創辦人的奇特而真實的傳記，他在二十世紀中期是飛碟和陰謀論知識的主要供應商和推廣者。
作者簡介
Gabriel Mckee is Librarian for Collections and Services at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. He is a coeditor of Theology and the DC Universe, and his prior works include The Gospel According to Science Fiction, Pink Beams of Light from the God in the Gutter, and Evermore: The Persistence of Poe.
作者簡介(中文翻譯)
加布里埃爾·麥基（Gabriel Mckee）是紐約大學古代世界研究所的館藏與服務圖書館員。他是《神學與DC宇宙》（Theology and the DC Universe）的共同編輯，之前的著作包括《科幻小說的福音》（The Gospel According to Science Fiction）、《來自下水道的神的粉紅光束》（Pink Beams of Light from the God in the Gutter）以及《永恆：愛倫·坡的持續影響》（Evermore: The Persistence of Poe）。
