by B.J. Hollars
This thoughtful collection of essays explores the facts surrounding three monsters that have plagued and intrigued our modern society with the idea of their mere existence. They contradict everything we know, and yet, we can’t dismiss their stories. Against reason and science, we can’t help but hope they might not not exist. Published in 2011 by Origami Zoo Press, this new edition includes a brand-new design.
“B.J. Hollars, in his essays and fiction, reminds us that the world remains—despite our attempts to name and classify—mysterious and uncharted. Sasquatch, Nessie, monster turtles in Indiana? I’m grateful to B.J. for giving this skeptic some reasons to believe.”
—Susan Neville, author of The Invention of Flight
“The monsters in B.J. Hollars’s fascinating essays include a hairy ape-man slouching in a forest, an enormous turtle peeking out of a backwoods pond, and us. In fact, in our dogged yearning for answers we may be the most monstrous of all, and for that reason, the most sympathetic. Moving, sensitive, and meticulously researched, this book is essentially about hope—the hope for finally arriving at an elusive truth that is somehow simultaneously the hope we never do.”
—Ryan Van Meter, author of If You Knew Then What I Know Now
“Although this book may be at first glance about defending the existence of monsters, B.J. Hollars makes an even grander argument for humankind’s penchant for shortsightedness and our ability to give into one idea without broad reflection. To give up the idea of the monster is to also give up ourselves: because without monsters we lack the imagination for a bigger world. To accept the monster, however, we give into a world which negates reality. The book, instead, simply asks us to be humble.”
—Daniel Cecil, HTMLGIANT
Read more praise for In Defense of Monsters from around the web:
–Daniel Cecil at HTMLGIANT
–Amy Monticello at The Nervous Breakdown
–Interview with Megan Paonessa at The Lit Pub
Re-release available April 3, 2017.