Friday, February 12, 2010

What have you read by Charles Fort?

Myself, nothing. I have just recently run across the author's name, but from what I have read I have officially added his name to my mental list of authors to read. From what I can tell, his unorthodox interests in the paranormal make him well-regarded among so-called cyrptozoologists, and that is where I first read about him. What I have read about his writing style is what intrigues me most. Sounds like a fun read.

I have a strong interest in reading authors of the "modern" past, and Fort's works are in that vein. Also with that theme I have enjoyed reading Emerson, Saki, Henry James, Maugham, and Melville.

Wikipedia (that ever-present wealth of questionable online content) says:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Fort
"Charles Hoy Fort (August 6, 1874 – May 3, 1932) was an American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena.
Fort's books sold well and remain in print. Today, the terms "Fortean" and "Forteana" are used to characterise various anomalous phenomena."
and
"Fort wrote ten novels, although only one, The Outcast Manufacturers (1909), was published."
and
"Understanding Fort's books takes time and effort: his style is complex, violent and poetic, profound and occasionally puzzling. Ideas are abandoned and then recalled a few pages on; examples and data are offered, compared and contrasted, conclusions made and broken, as Fort holds up the unorthodox to the scrutiny of the orthodoxy that continually fails to account for them. Pressing on his attacks, Fort shows what he sees as the ridiculousness of the conventional explanations and then interjects with his own theories."
and
"Partial bibliography (Wikisource has original works written by or about: Charles Fort
All of Fort's works are available on-line (see External links section).
The Outcast Manufacturers (novel), 1906
Many Parts (autobiography, unpublished)
The Book of the Damned, Prometheus Books, 1999, paperback, 310 pages, ISBN 1-57392-683-3, first published in 1919.
New Lands, Ace Books, 1941 and later editions, mass market paperback, first published in 1923. ISBN 0-7221-3627-7
Lo!, Ace Books, 1941 and later printings, mass market paperback, first published in 1931. ISBN 1-870870-89-1
Wild Talents, Ace Books, 1932 and later printings, mass market paperback, first published in 1932. ISBN 1-870870-29-8
Complete Books of Charles Fort, Dover Publications, New York, 1998, hardcover, ISBN 0-486-23094-5"

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