Stephen J. Spignesi

A really good general book for a newbie to Titanic's history or someone looking for a book full of basic knowledge. It covers all of the basics, without going into any one subject into any great depth, leaving that to other books......which was smart of it. Over-all though, I liked it. It was well-organized and well-written without being boring or too-over-the-heads of non researchers, yet didn't pander to the neopytes either.

This book took me back to my youth and the days I was fascinated (still am although to a lesser extent) with all things weird. What counts as weird? Well, even though I don't blame you for thinking I might make an appearance in this book it actually chronicles such topics as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, UFO's, The Shroud of Turin, prophecy etc.
There might only be 100 unexplained subjects but the book itself is over 400 pages in length and each subject is explored as well as it can be in show more such a limited volume.
To get the reader in the correct state of mind the author starts each of his 100 topics with a Haiku which is a Japanese poetic form consisting of three lines of five syllables , seven syllables and another five syllables. I can't say these worked for me although I was impressed with the effort and talent it took to create one for every topic.
Each of the 100 chapters, following the Haiku, has a quote from an expert or knowledgeable text regarding what the reader is about to discover. I found these more helpful and apt than the Haiku and overall the structure of 'The Weird 100' was excellent with each chapter being given the same treatment. After the quote comes five pieces of information kept in a summarized form. They are...

Definition - a definition of the phenomena at hand.
What the Believers Say - A synopsis of the arguments in favor of the phenomena.
What the Skeptics Say - A synopsis of the arguments against the phenomena being real.
Quality of Supporting Evidence - The evidence that's available to analyse rated from "negligible" through "excellent".
Likelihood Phenomena are Paranormal - The authors opinion on whether it's real or not.
I loved the 100 topics chosen for this book as they are fairly diverse and cover a whole spectrum of phenomena. Some of my personal long time favorites are in there too such as 'The Lost Colony of Roanoke' (a whole colony of people who just vanished in 1590 leaving behind nothing but the word "croatoan" on a post), Men in Black, Ouija Boards and reincarnation (that last one is a favorite of mine as when I was a child I used to claim I lived in a big house on a certain hill with lots of other children, near where my grandmother lived, every time we walked past it. I was only three or four at the time and there was no house there. I was adamant I lived there before I was born, when I was a girl no less, and so my mum and grandmother done some research. Turns out that many years before an orphanage used to exist on top of that hill).
I didn't always agree with the author's conclusion about certain phenomena, for instance he believes the men in black phenomena has a low likelihood of being real whereas I'm a true believer, but each chapter is set out so well that you can make your own conclusion and not be forced into a channel set by the author. In that respect it's quite refreshing as books studying paranormal phenomena are usually written by a firm believer or a total skeptic.
I actually got this book, signed by the author no less although that was just luck, from Betterworldbooks.com bargain bin for $3 including shipping and so in that respect it was damn bargain! I wouldn't have bought it at full price, $16.95, as there's nothing really new in terms of information within the book. However, it does cover 100 weird phenomena very well and is an excellent starting point for those wanting to explore strange and unusual happenings and even if you're a seasoned paranormal reader this makes an excellent digest. show less

Very thorough (up to the year 2000) about some of Stephen Kings works, some very hard to find. The author is true Stephen King fan and speaks about his works with conviction about the true genius of the author.

“Stephen King American Master” by Stephen Spignesi is divided into several parts: Interviews/Essays by and with Stephen King experts/fans; a list and discussion of his novels; a list and discussion of his short stories; a list and discussion of his novellas; fourteen notable non-fiction Stephen King works; a discussion of poems that King has written; and finally a list/discussion of thirty-eight notable and unpublished short stories and other works by King.

As a fan of both Stephen King show more and Stephen Spignesi, I was eager to read “Stephen King American Master” and I really enjoyed it. The interviews/essays were great – as a long time Stephen King fan I recognized most of the contributors and enjoyed reading what they had to say. The lists/discussions of the novels, short stories, and novellas are in chronological order which I really appreciated. Spignesi largely avoids spoilers in this section and there are no book summaries but there are some nice little bullet points about each book/story. I really liked this section (and the Essential Stephen King Ranking Spignesi gives to many of the works although that could use some updating) – I have read all of Stephen King’s short stories but reading this book made me realized that there are many short stories that I’ve forgotten about through the years and now I want to reread them. In fact, reading this book makes me want to reread all of Stephen King’s works – it has made me realize once again how much I love Stephen King! show less