Last Tuesday the L.A. Times Jacket Copy blog interviewed Joshua Blu Buhs on the topic of his new book, Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend. The interview begins with Buhs discussing his motivation for writing a book about the mythical creature:

Jacket Copy: Straight from the start, you tell us that Bigfoot doesn’t exist. Even though you say there is no Bigfoot, why did you choose to pursue this mythical creature in your writing?
Buhs: Initially it was the fact that I didn’t think Bigfoot existed, which was interesting to me. It was also about American ideas of what the natural world is. Sort of like: Here’s a screen on which people can project their ideas about nature. Though it turned out not to be as much about nature as I originally thought it would be.

And indeed, Buhs fascinating new book uses the story of Bigfoot to gauge everything from our culture’s relationship to wilderness, individuality, and class, to modern attitudes towards consumerism and the media as well. Writing with a scientist’s skepticism but an enthusiast’s deep engagement, Buh’s Bigfoot offers the definitive take on this elusive beast, and its profound significance in twentieth century American culture.
For more, read the rest of the interview on the L.A. Times‘ Jacket Copy blog, read another interview on our own site, or see this excerpt from the book.