Comments on: Edith Hamilton killed JFK

Question: Edith Hamilton killed JFK

Bookhouse — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 13:42:09 -0800

Know any books that treat conspiracy theory as mythology?

I don't believe in conspiracy theories, but I love reading about them. To me it's a thrilling fictional world -- a modern mythology. Has anybody written perhaps an encylopedia or something that neither attempts to prove or debink conspiracy theories, but simply collects and organizes them like Edith Hamilton?

I'm also interested in ficition that is set in such a world -- some of my favorites include From Hell and James Ellroy's current American Underworld series. I also really enjoy JFK -- as fiction. I've got Robert Anton Wilson as well. Less interested in sci-fi stuff like the X-Files than stuff that keeps to the "real" world.

By: holgate

holgate — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 13:50:46 -0800

Eco's Foucault's Pendulum might fit the bill of fiction that navigates a sprawling world of conspiracy theory.

By: box

box — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 14:01:09 -0800

It's not precisely what you're looking for, but I think you'd enjoy Devon Jackson's Conspiranoia!: The Mother of All Conspiracy Theories.

By: jason's_planet

jason's_planet — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 14:40:18 -0800

I Heard It Through The Grapevine: Rumor in African-American Culture

By: palmcorder_yajna

palmcorder_yajna — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 14:40:52 -0800

The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon.

By: Area Control

Area Control — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 14:42:06 -0800

Electronic Revolution might be interesting to you.

By: lemuria

lemuria — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 15:15:52 -0800

I know you're not looking as much for alien-related conspiracy theories (Roswell, etc.), but if they interest you at all there are a number of books that treat these theories as a modern religion or new mythology. Some of the readings on this syllabus are good; I think I remember liking Jodi Dean's Aliens in America: Conspiracy Cultures from Outer Space to Cyberspace when I took that class.

By: jbrjake

jbrjake — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 15:22:55 -0800

When you say you have Robert Anton Wilson, are you including his book Everything Is Under of Control: Conspiracies, Cults, and Coverups--a conspiracy encyclopedia that sounds a lot like what you're looking for? Also, you might like Jon Ronson's work, like his book Them: Adventures with Extremists. A lot of his interviewees are conspiracy nuts like David Icke, and he ends up collating a bunch of data on the Bilderberg group.

By: Alterscape

Alterscape — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 15:38:18 -0800

I watched a short film in college that might appeal to you. It was a Craig Baldwin piece called "Spectre of the Spectrum." A little bit sci-fi, but very self-referential conspiracy-theory fun with a lot of inventively-used found footage. No idea if you can even find copies, though.

By: A189Nut

A189Nut — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 15:43:16 -0800

I'll send you the booklist from a module I teach to your pm. Might not be until Monday when at work.

By: SPrintF

SPrintF — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 15:56:23 -0800

Watch the Skies! by Curtis Peebles explicitly traces the origins and evolution of UFO mythology, which from the very beginning was rife with conspiracy, on Earth and Beyond!

By: Malla

Malla — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 17:31:28 -0800

Everything Is Under Control : Conspiracies, Cults, and Cover-Ups by Robert Anton Wilson. Or any of RAW's fiction, for that matter.

By: Bookhouse

Bookhouse — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 17:58:50 -0800

Great stuff so far ... and maybe I need to revist RAW.

By: A189Nut

A189Nut — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 21:23:42 -0800

Have emailed you - couldn't work out how to pm.

By: Afroblanco

Afroblanco — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 22:27:15 -0800

Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer is a good book about the Conspiracy Mind and the psychology behind it. However, I think that Shermer views it as more of a pathology then a mythology, and I would tend to agree with him.

By: sculpin

sculpin — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 00:00:04 -0800

I think you'd enjoy Kenneth Hite's Suppressed Transmission columns. They're written to help role-playing gamers create weird occultish and "secret history" scenarios based on real-world events. You don't have to be a gamer to enjoy them; I'm not.

Hite stitches all sorts of obscure, verifiable details into a bunch of cheerfully loopy essays. He casts his net wide enough that the essays often function pretty well as collecting-and-organizing devices.

By: hades

hades — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 01:23:55 -0800

Also worth checking out is Kenneth Hite's Eliptony Core Sample, a series of livejournal posts where he sampled the bookshelf he uses for research into conspiracy theories, alternate histories, and that sort of thing.

By: mic stand

mic stand — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 09:31:59 -0800

David Icke writes some very compelling conspiracy theories as well as Alex Jones.

By: lyam

lyam — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 09:36:49 -0800

Tim Boucher at PopOcculture.com has a blog worth reading if you're interested in Conspiracy Theory as mythology. Not mythology as 'fake history' but mythology in the Jungian or Joseph Campbellian sense. His more recent entries have been a bit 'out there' from a conventional standpoint, but don't let that discourage you. Start with his 'Greatest Hits'.

Also for some real thrills down the rabbit hole, check out Jeff Well's Rigorous Intuition. If nothing else, he's a lot of fun to read.

By: hades

hades — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 10:43:28 -0800

Wow, how is it that I'd never seen PopOcculture? That's awesome, lyam, thanks!

By: Baby_Balrog

Baby_Balrog — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 13:13:00 -0800

You'd probably love the Illuminatus! Trilogy. It pretty much covers every conspiracy theory, and it's very... mythic.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 10:54:57 -0800

A number of anthropologists of religion have worked on conspiracy theory and similar phenomena. You might have a look at this for one sort of approach.