{"product_id":"the-saucerian-isbn-9780262049542","title":"The Saucerian","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe 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.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGray 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 \u003ci\u003eThe Saucerian\u003c\/i\u003e, 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEver an entertainer, Barker established his reputation with one of the first flying saucer fanzines, \u003ci\u003eThe Saucerian,\u003c\/i\u003e and with his first book, the conspiratorial and sensationalistic \u003ci\u003eThey Knew Too Much about Flying Saucers\u003c\/i\u003e. 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.Introduction: The Unidentified\u003cbr\u003e1 “Heckling the Performer in Derision”: Gray Barker before Flying Saucers\u003cbr\u003e2 Flying Saucers before Gray Barker\u003cbr\u003e3 “The Skies Seethe with Mystery”: \u003ci\u003eThe Saucerian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e4 “Tomorrow we shall again have our head in the stars”: 1954–1955\u003cbr\u003e5 Knowing Too Much: 1956–1957\u003cbr\u003e6 Chasing the Flying Saucers: 1957–1959\u003cbr\u003e7 “A Very Profitable Wave”: The Beginning of Saucerian Books\u003cbr\u003e8 “A Fairly Good Hack Writing Style”: Decline and Resurrection, 1962–1965\u003cbr\u003e9 The Saucer Boom: The Paranormal As Business, 1966–1968\u003cbr\u003e10 “What Else Have You Got Besides Flying Saucers?” Saucerian Books After Condon, 1969–1970\u003cbr\u003e11 “Thoroughly Dedicated to Promoting UFO Crackpottery”: Barker in the 1970s\u003cbr\u003e12 “Deep Peace and Drowsiness”: New Age Books and Barker’s Final Years, 1982–1984\u003cbr\u003eConclusion: Strange Things\u003cbr\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eBibliography\u003cbr\u003eIndex“A welcome biography of one of the great American eccentrics that explores how the flying saucer craze transformed from fringe fad to key underlying beliefs and fears of contemporary US society. A marvelous work, as entertaining as it is enlightening.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Jack Womack, author of \u003ci\u003eAmbient\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eFlying Saucers Are Real!\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Written with a folklorist’s attention to narrative power, a historian’s attention to subculture, and an archivist’s attention to media, \u003ci\u003eThe Saucerian\u003c\/i\u003e is a sharp and illuminating jewel of ufology studies.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Erik Davis, author of \u003ci\u003eHigh Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An impeccably sourced, deeply affecting portrait of the man behind many of the “UFO” tropes that are deeply embedded in American popular culture—a man whose story and contributions have been overlooked for too long.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Aaron Gulyas, author of \u003ci\u003eExtraterrestrials and the American Zeitgeist\u003c\/i\u003e; host of the podcast \u003ci\u003eThe Saucer Life\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Saucerian \u003c\/i\u003eoffers a crucial, funny, and engaging theoretical lens through which to understand the UFO phenomenon, making it essential reading for anyone seriously interested in this fascinating and mysterious topic.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Diana Walsh Pasulka, author of \u003ci\u003eEncounters: Experiences with Nonhuman Intelligence\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eAmerican Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eGabriel 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 \u003ci\u003eTheology and the DC Universe, \u003c\/i\u003eand his prior works include \u003ci\u003eThe Gospel According to Science Fiction, Pink Beams of Light from the God in the Gutter\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eEvermore: The Persistence of Poe\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"The MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44862243143909,"sku":"NP9780262049542","price":32.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780262049542.jpg?v=1767741335","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-saucerian-isbn-9780262049542","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}