Absolute Elsewhere

1977

Anderson, Chester, THE BUTTERFLY KID, 2, 1977, Gregg, HB. The only know reprint of Anderson's wacky science fiction hippie classic is even harder to find than the original.  What a bummer, man!
 

Anson, Jay, AMITYVILLE HORROR, 1, 1977, Prentice Hall, HB. See also 1978 entry.  The book relates the tale of the Lutz family, who paid about $80,000 for some prime Long Island property in 1976.  The house had been the site where 23 year-old Ronald DeFeo killed his parents, 2 brothers, and 2 sisters.  After they arrived, all hell broke loose: weird apparitions popped up, green slime oozed, flies swarmed, unearthly voices intoned, and the usual objects flew all over the place.  After 28 days the Lutz's bugged out.  According to Anson, parapsychologists, demonologists, and newsfolk held a vigil at the house.  All of them felt some horrid force present in the house.  As Count Floyd of SC-TV would say "oooh, pretty scary, eh?"  The book was a very   big seller, the basis for the 1979 movie (entry), and the obvious inspiration   for the film POLTERGEIST (1982).  The book convinced a lot of people that these kinds of hauntings were common. There is more, of course...(1978 entry)

Anthony, Piers (Piers A. D. Jacob), CLUSTER, 1977, Avon, PB, First novel in the CLUSTER series.   Piers Anthony began what is surely his finest series of novels this year (4 CLUSTER novels, and 3 TAROT novels), but the bad news was that he also began the XANTH novels this same year.  Karma, I guess.  See below.

Anthony, Piers (Piers A. D. Jacob), SPELL FOR CHAMELEON, A, 1977, Ballantine, PB.  First vol. in the infinite XANTH series.

Arguelles, Miriam and Jose, FEMININE, THE, 1977, Shambhala, Trade.

Avery, Kevin Quinn, NUMBER OF LIFE, THE, 1977, Doubleday, HB. Need Copy and Info. PB?

Berlitz, Charles, WITHOUT A TRACE, 1, 1977, Doubleday, HB.  The title is a follow-up volume to THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE.  Dr. Valentine is still listed as collaborator.  Chapter three is about Atlantis and  the Bimini Wall.  Something new for a change?
 
 

Blair, Lawrence, RHYTHMS OF VISION, 2, 1977, Warner Books, PB. It is a little difficult to describe this book, as it defies any   single category.  Blair essentially believed that the "esoteric revival" coupled with scientific and technical advances were allowing us to "see" the recurring patterns and rhythms of the cosmos.  A major portion of the title deals with esoteric numerology and its correlation with modern science and number theory.  Blair uses a massive amount of material from many disciplines, even reprinting a whole story from an underground comic.  He seems to have been influenced by Subud and German mystic Rudolf Steiner, but the work seems to be his own unique vision.  This title was one of the truly influential books of the late 70's, and a basic volume on the "new age" bookshelf.

Brand, Stewart, ed., SPACE COLONIES, 1977. Penguin, Trade,

Brown, Barbara B., STRESS AND THE ART OF BIOFEEDBACK, 1977, Harper and Row, HB. See 1978 entry.

Buckland, Raymond, ANATOMY OF THE OCCULT, 1977, Samuel Weiser, (NYC), Trade. Need Copy and Info.

Capra, Fritjof, TAO OF PHYSICS, THE, 2, 1977, Bantam, PB.

Castaneda, Carlos, SECOND RING OF POWER, THE, 1, 1977, Simon and Schuster, HB. See Introduction.

Cavendish, Richard, TAROT, THE, 1977, Harper and Row, HB, Need Copy and Info.

Cavendish, Richard, HISTORY OF MAGIC, 1977, Taplinger, HB.  Need Copy and info.

CEREBUS THE AARDVARK, Comic Book, 1977. Aardvark (Kitchener, Ontario), Sim, Writer /Illustrator: Dave, #l dated Dec. 77, probably available Jan 78. This surely the most successful of the independent black and white comics, sometimes called "ground level" comics (to distinguish themselves from  "undergrounds" and from the main-line commerical comics).  Independent comics   and "undergrounds" were at their low point about this time, and the appearance  of CEREBUS marks the point when, once again, audiences were willing to buy them again.  The comic started as a parody of CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1970 entry), but  evolved into a cynical satiric look at anything Dave Sim felt like attacking. Sim has become the enfant terrible of the comic world, using the letters page of CEREBUS to tell us about his divorce, attack his own distributors, and grouse  in general.

Chatelain, Maurice, OUR ANCESTORS CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, 1977, Doubleday, HB. Translation of 1975 French title.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, Motion Picture, 1977, Steven Spielberg, Writer/Director.  Spielberg's movie catches much of the mood of the mystical UFO experiences.  Dr. Allen Hynek, who invented the "close encounters" classifications, served as technical advisor for the production.  Francois Truffaut's character is a thinly disguised Jacques Vallee.  Perhaps the best part of the picture is Richard Dreyfuss' portrait of an ordinary man whose life is shattered by his encounter with UFOs.  As the mother ship takes off at the end, the sound track gushes "When You Wish Upon a Star," a bit of saccharine that unites this film with his later ET (1982).

Cohane, John, PARADOX: THE CASE FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL ORIGINS OF MAN, 1977, Crown, HB. Need copy and info.

Cohn, Norman, EUROPE'S INNER DEMONS, 2, 1977, Meridian, Trade.

COMMITTEE FOR THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF CLAIMS OF THE PARANORMAL (CSICOP), Skeptical Organization.  1977.  Publishes THE SKEPTICAL ENQUIRER as their official journal. (Box 229, Buffalo, NY), Formed as a result of the symposium sponsored by the American Humanist Association, "The New Irrationalism: Antiscience and pseudoscience" in May of 1976.  The organization has    some famous members like Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, Christopher Evans, etc., but its most visible member (in all senses of  that word) is ex-magician James Randi. Randi can best be described as CSICOP's hit man, specializing in exposing psychic frauds (see Randi, 1975 entry).  There is also the highly vocal (and prolific) Philip Klass, who wages a tireless war against UFOlogists.  To call CSICOP "militant skeptics" is an inderstatement.   Their alliance with hardcore humanists, and the skeptical/humanist Prometheus Press (also in Buffalo) leave little doubt as to their position on paranormal.  It's bunk.  While I think their philosophy of scientism is archaic, they have produced some of the best exposes of frauds, and deserve close reading.

Corliss, William R., HANDBOOK OF UNUSUAL NATURAL PHENOMENA, 1977, Sourcebook Project (Glen Arm, MD), HB.
 

DAMNATION ALLEY, Motion Picture, 1977, Jack Smight,  Director. Science fiction films can be dated as BSW  (Before STAR WARS) and ASW, Released in mid 1977, by 20th Century Fox (who also released STAR WARS), this adaptation of Roger Zelazney's post nuclear novel went almost unnoticed in the wake of Lucas' surprise hit.  Dispite a good director, two execellant screen writers, Lukas Heller and Alan Sharp, and good production values (for a BSW film), it managed to get lousy reviews if anyone bothered to see it.       DAMNATION ALLEY is really a historic benchmark -- the last of the 60s and 70s style big buget science fiction films.  No computer, or motion control special effects in this one.  Viewing  it is rather like watching a dinosaur die.

Dem, Marc, LOST TRIBES FORM OUTER SPACE, 1977, Bantam, PB. Translation of 1974 French title.

Douglas, Alfred, HOW TO CONSULT THE "I CHING," 2, 1977, Berkley, Trade.

Flammonde, Paris, UFO EXIST, 2, 1977, Ballantine, PB. This is one of the best surveys of the UFO scene to date, and makes an excellent introduction to UFOlogy and UFOlogists.  There is a short but quality bibliography that spotlights the better writings in the field. Flammonde is the author of several other well-written books on the subject. Non -UFOlogists may ecognize Flammonde as one of the critics of THE WARREN REPORT.  Curiously, this book is dedicated to Sylvia Meagher and Bernard Fensterwald, two well known researchers of the Kennedy assassination (see introduction for significance).

Frankfort, Henri, et. al. INTELLECTUAL ADVENTURE OF ANCIENT MAN , THE, 3, 1977, University of Chicago Press, Trade.

Furneaux, Rupert, ANCIENT MYSTERIES, 1, 1977, McGraw Hill, HB. See 1978 entry.

Gittelson, Bernard, BIORHYTHM, 2, 1977, Warner Books, PB. Revised Ed.

Goldsmith, Donald, SCIENTISTS CONFRONT VELIKOVSKY, 1977, Cornell University Press, HB. Norton, Trade?  In 1974, the American Association for the Advancement of Science convened to respond to the ideas of Immanuel Velikovsky.  This book contains most of the papers read there, along with some extra material.  There is a good introduction by the editor on Velikovsky's clash with the scientific community.  There is also an incomprehensibly boring refutation of Velikovsky's astronomy  by Carl Sagan. Isaac Asimov delivers what appears to be a veiled apology for the scientific witchhunt of the 50's (astute readers will want to compare this rather kind foreward with some of the mean spirited articles Asimov wrote about Mr. V. in those bad old days).  The best paper is by Peter Huber who uses archaeological evidence to show that the planet Venus was recorded by man's hand before the time Velikovsky claimed it appeared in our solar system.

Goleman, Daniel, VARIETIES OF MEDITATIVE EXPERIENCE, 1, 1977, Dutton, HB, See also MEDITATIVE MIND, 1988 entry.

Gonzalez-Wippler, Migene,A  KABBALAH FOR THE MODERN WORLD,  2,  1977, Bantam, PB. This is a popular, well-written volume on the Kabbalah. It was often recommended as an introductory text on the subject.  The title was surely the best book on the Kabbalah ever published in mass market paperback format. Tarot readers seemed especially fond of it. The author became an initiate in   the Latin American cult of Santeria, and later wrote several books on that set  of beliefs.  The 80's edition of this book is considerably different in content (see 1987).

Green, Elmer and Green, Alyce, BEYOND BIOFEEDBACK, 1977, Delacorte Press, HB. Need Copy and Info.

Hall, Robert Lee, EXIT SHERLOCK HOLMES, 1, 1977, Scribner, HB. See 1979 entry.

Harris, Marvin, CANNIBALS AND KINGS, 1, 1977, Random House, HB. See also 1978 entry.  I think it's important to put Harris in the context of changes which were in motion in the late 70's.  This title, with its assertions concerning cannibalism among the Aztecs and infanticide in medieval Europe, made his name in the "pop" social sciences world. Harris represents the new "scientism" (often, sadly "pseudo-scientism") creeping into the humanities and  social sciences. His shrill attacks on new agers, cults, and the "spiritual revival" of the 60's and 70's, places him in the same ranks of the new revival of hardcore scientific humanism.  I think the rise of Harris's popularity may be the touchstone of subtle reactive (sometimes reactionary) forces moving beneath the surface of the free-wheeling 70's.
 

Herm, Gerhard, CELTS, THE, 1977, St. Martin's Press, HB. Translation of 1975 German title.  This is a popular survey of Celtic history and culture.  It is standard stuff except for Herm's digression on the "Atlantis of the North" theory.  He argues that there was a high level of Celtic civilization centered  in Jutland, which was wiped out by a major climatic shift in the 15th century   B.C.  This comes from several books by Jurgen Spanuth (see 1980 entry).

Hitching, Francis, EARTH MAGIC, 1, 1977, William Morrow, HB. See 1978 entry.

Hoyle, Fred, ON STONEHENGE, 1977, W. H. Freeman, HB and Trade. Fred Hoyle, a famous astronomer and science fiction writer, entered the controversies about Stonehenge after the publication of Hawkins' theories (see 1965 entry). In general he agreed that Stonehenge was astronomical in nature but disagreed about some of the specifics.

Hudson, Paul, MASTERING WITCHCRAFT, 2, 1977, Berkley, Trade.
 
 

Hynek, J. Allen, HYNEK UFO REPORT, THE, 1977, Dell, PB, The man who coined the phrase "close encouter." as a clasification of types of UFO sightings.

ILLUMINATUS! National Theatre of Britain, 1975, 5 separate plays presented on successive days.  Adapted from Shea and Wilsons' trilogy (1975 & 1984 entries). Need information about this!

Johnson, Robert A., SHE: UNDERSTANDING FEMININE PSYCHOLOGY, 2, 1977, Harper and Row, PB. entry.

Johnson, Robert A., HE: UNDERSTANDING MASCULINE PSYCHOLOGY, 2, 1977, Harper and Row, PB. entry.

Kerouac, Jack, TRISTESSA, 2, 1977, Penguin, PB, with a introduction by Allan Ginsburg.

King, Serge V., PYRAMID ENERGY HANDBOOK, 1977, Warner Books, PB.

Kocher, Paul, H. MASTER OF MIDDLE EARTH: THE FICTION OF J. R. R. TOLKIEN, 2, 1977, Ballantine, PB. This is another of the popular studies of Tolkien.  Kocher is most concerned with the author's method and structure in creating fantasy worlds.  Kocher shows that Tolkien was always conscious that a fantasy must be a balance between the familiar and the unfamiliar.   Like Ready (1968 and 1979 entries) and Evans (1972 entry) before him, Kocher does not often venture outside Tolkien's own literature and scholarship for his own sources.  In this, it is far superior to both of those earlier works, as a kind of "new criticism" style study of the texts, but suffers from that discipline's typical lack of interest in background or cultural impact.

Koestler, Arthur,  THE ACT OF CREATION,  2, 1977, Dell, PB. Date uncertain.

Krippner, Stanley, ed., ADVANCES IN PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH, 1977, Plenium Press, HB/ 3 vols.
 

Landsburg, Alan, IN SEARCH OF MAGIC AND WITCHCRAFT, 1977, Bantam, PB.  Landsburg, Alan, IN SEARCH OF MYTHS AND MONSTERS, 1977, Bantam, PB.  Landsburg, Alan, IN SEARCH OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS, 1977, Bantam, PB.  Landsburg, Alan, IN SEARCH OF STRANGE PHENOMENA, 1977, Bantam, PB.

Leary, Timothy, EXO-PSYCHOLOGY, 1977, Starspeed/ Peace Press. ?
 

Leonard, George, SOMEBODY ELSE IS ON THE MOON, 2, 1977, Pocket Books, PB.   Leonard uses NASA photos to show that the moon has been colonized  by an alien race who left the surface littered with huge structures and machines (is littering a interplanetary offense?). Either NASA is too blind to see it, or is covering it up (and neither is an absurd assertion these days).  The paperback edition's photos are not very convincing.  Those who have seen the larger hardback seem to be more convinced.  A similar argument has been advanced about Mars (see Pozos, 1986 entry).

Lilly, John C., DEEP SELF, THE, 1977, Simon and Schuster, HB? Need Copy and info. PB?

Lings, Martin, WHAT IS SUFISM, 1977, University of California Press, Trade. Entry.
 

Lucas, George, STAR WARS, 1, Ballantine, PB.  Ghost written by Alan Dean Foster, who was shortly to be come the writer of choice for science-fiction movie tie-in novels.

Marcus, Steven, OTHER VICTORIANS, THE, 3, 1977, New American Library, Trade.

Matson, Katinka, HANDBOOK OF PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT , THE "PSYCHOLOGY TODAY," 1977, William Morrow, Trade. See Research Bibliography.

McGill, Ormond, HOW TO PRODUCE MIRACLES, 2, 1977, Signet, PB. entry.
 
 

Michell, John, SECRETS OF THE STONE, 1977, Penguin Books, Trade, Reprint of British A LITTLE HISTORY OF ASTROARCHAEOLOGY. The British title describes this volume exactly.  Michell does write a short summary of stroarchaeology, but the value of the book is  in his unique viewpoint.  Some of the information on Nazi astroarchaeology is unavailable elsewhere.

Monaco, Richard, PARSIVAL: OR A KNIGHT'S TALE, 1, 1977, Macmillan, Trade. See 1978 entry.  HB?

Monroe, Robert A., JOURNEYS OUT OF THE BODY, 2, 1977, Doubleday/ Anchor, Trade. Updated with a new forward.

Moore, R. Laurence, IN SEARCH OF WHITE CROWS, 1977, Oxford University Press, HB. See Research Bibliography.
 

O'Neill, Gerard K., HIGH FRONTIER, THE, 1, 1977, William Morrow, HB. See 1978 entry.

Owen, Iris M. and Sparrow, Margaret, CONJURING UP PHILIP, 2, 1977, Pocket Books, PB. entry

Pauwels, Louis and Bergier, Jacques, MORNING OF THE MAGICIANS, 6, 1977, Stein and Day, HB and Trade.

Pelletier, Kenneth R., MIND AS HEALER, MIND AS SLAYER, 1977, Delacorte Press, HB. Also Delta Trade ed. with obscured date.
 

Pepper, Elizabeth  and Wilcock, John, MAGICAL AND MYSTICAL SITES: EUROPE AND THE BRITISH ISLES, 1, 1977, Harper and Row, HB. Here's a tour guide for the more esoterically inclined.  The short   chapters do a nice job of summarizing the folklore and magical beliefs associated with many of the historical sites.  Pepper and Wilcock were the authors of the WITCHES ALMANAC, which thrived throughout most of the 70's.

Polsmsky, Joseph, SUN SIGN SUCCESS, 1977, Warner Books, PB,

Raine, Kathleen, BLAKE AND ANTIQUITY, 1977, Princeton University Press/ Bollingen, Trade. This is a reprint of Raine's book length article which appeared in the Summer 1963 issue of the SEWANEE REVIEW. It remains a nice summary of Raine's work on Blake (see BLAKE AND TRADITION, 1968 entry).

Ram Dass (Richard Alpert) with Stephen Levine, GRIST FOR THE MILL, 1 1977, Unity Press, HB. See 1979 entry.
 

Rice, Anne, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, 2, 1977, Ballantine, PB. A young man in antebellum New Orleans is initiated into the world  of the undead.  This is one of the earliest, and best, of the "revisionist" vampire novels.  Rice presents vampirism as an erotic (often homoerotic) condition.  It's interesting to compare Rice's ideas with Leonard  Wolf's interviews with actual "sexual vampires" in A DREAM OF DRACULA (1972 entry).  It is a very good novel, but it pales in comparison to her sequel THE VAMPIRE  LESTAT (1986 entry).

Robertson, James, ed., NAG HAMMADI LIBRARY IN ENGLISH , THE, 1, 1977, Harper and Row, HB.  This is the complete translation of all the books discovered in a  hidden Gnostic library dating from early Christian times.  Some had been published earlier (see Doresse, 1960 entry, and GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THOMAS, 1959 entry).  The story of its publication was an epic in itself, including theft,  black market manuscripts, scholarly in-fighting, and some fiction-like intrigue (which probably inspired several bestselling novels like THE Q DOCUMENT, THE WORD, etc.).  The documents gave us a Jesus who taught the disciples to dance, and used erotic metaphors in  his parables.  For the first time, a general audience was able to read some of the books that were suppressed and destroyed in the first centuries of the Church (see Pagels, 1979 entry).

Rogo, D. Scott, HAUNTED UNIVERSE, THE, 1977, Signet, PB. Rogo is a psychic investigator and author of over a dozen books on the unexplained (see 1978 entry).  This book takes the "casebook" approach common with many other books in the field.  Most of these "casebooks" all seem  more or less interchangeable, especially after reading a whole pile of them.  Rogo does suggest that some UFOs may be psychic projections of the contactee, an idea the needs more attention.

Rohmer, Sax (Arthur Sarsfield Ward), DREAM DETECTIVE, 1977, Dover, Trade. Reprint of 1920 title.

Rosen, R. D., PSYCHOBABBLE, 1, 1977, Atheneum, HB, See 1979 entry.

Sagan, Carl, DRAGONS OF EDEN, THE, 1, 1977, Random House, HB.

Santillana, Georgio de and, Dechend, Hertha von, HAMLET'S MILL, 2, 1977, David R. Godine, Trade.

Schul, Bill, PSYCHIC FRONTIERS OF MEDICINE, THE, 1977, Fawcett, PB.

SEMI-TOUGH, Motion Picture, 1977, Richie, Director: Michael, From Dan Jenkin's novel.

Simon (Pseudonym), NECRONOMICON, 1, 1977, Schlangekraft, Inc, HB. See 1980 entry.

Skinner, Stephen, ORACLE OF GEOMANCY, THE, 1977, Warner Books, PB. entry.

Sklar, Dusty, GODS AND BEASTS: THE NAZIS AND THE OCCULT, 1977, Thomas Y. Crowell, HB? Need Copy and Info.
 

Spielberg, Steven, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, 1977, Dell, PB. This is the tie-in for Spielberg's UFO movie that same year. Question 1: Did everybody in America buy a copy of this book?  They became the used book dealer's nightmare.  I used to stack 'em up and use them for kindling, insolation, furniture shims, target practice, and ballast in the dumpster, and still they continute to gather in piles around the store.  I swear they could mate and reproduce.  Question 2: Did Speilberg really write it?

 STAR WARS, Motion Picture, 1977, George Lucas, Writer/Director:, STAR WARS was essentially a movie of archetypes (in both the  Platonic and Jungian sense).  The basic plot was inspired by Kurosawa's THE HIDDEN FORTRESS (1958), itself a potpourri of archetypes.  It now appears that  Lucas also had the works of Joseph Campbell in mind when he fashioned his "space opera."  STAR WARS is also a collection of late 70's ideals.  The most   obvious example of this is the "Force," an inspired combination of Taoism, Zen, with a little Carlos Castaneda stirred in for flavor.  When Constance Combey and other right-wing Christian conspiracy theorists attack Lucas and STAR WARS it  is because of these elements (See Combey, 1983 and 1985 entries; Hunt, 1980 entry). The film probably did more to revive interest in science fiction and "space opera" than anything else.  It is highly doubtful if it had any effect on anyone's philosophical or religious values.
 
 

Story, Ronald, SPACE GODS REVEALED, THE, 2, 1977, Barnes and Noble, Trade. This is a real classic of "militant skepticism."  Story digs into  Erich von Daniken and his books with a scholar's eye for detail. Unlike other  books which attack von Daniken, Story spends some valuable time tracing the idea and its growth before von Daniken came on the scene. He correctly identifies   MORNING OF THE MAGICIANS as the major catalyst for it, and includes some difficult to find information about events surrounding the German publication of CHARIOTS OF THE GODS.  Also of interest is an examination of von Daniken's criminal record.  Story carefully records the book's reception in Britain and the US, with more interesting revelations. All this, with the standard "skeptical" debunking, too.  Story examined the whole body of books written on  the same subject in GUARDIANS OF THE UNIVERSE (1980) and has continued to write on related subjects.

Tolkien, J.R.R, THE SILMARILLION, 1, Houghton Mifflin , HB.  Has anyone actually read this or the series that follows?

Valentine, Tom, LIFE AND DEATH OF THE PLANET EARTH, THE, 1977, Pinnacle Books, PB.

Velikovsky, Immanuel, PEOPLES OF THE SEA, 1977, Doubleday, HB. Subtitled: THE CONCLUDING VOLUME OF THE AGES IN CHAOS SERIES.  This series included AGES IN CHAOS (1952 entry) and OEDIPUS AND AKNATON (1960 entry), but this titled turned out not to be the concluding volume after all.  RAMSES II AND HIS TIME appeared a year later (1978 entry).  Velikovsky thought that the history of ancient mid-East contained a huge dating error.  Where most historians agree that Egypt was invaded by the mysterious  "People of the Sea" in the 12th century B.C., Velikovsky argued that the events took place in the 4th century B.C.  Critics point out that his arguments tend to justify Old Testament dates, and suggest that his orthodox Judaism may have predisposed him to the.  Velikovsky continued to argue, until his death, that  he was not producing a "fundamentalist" justification of biblical dates.  Right or wrong, the book is challenging reading.

Warshofsky, Fred, DOOMSDAY, 1 1977, Reader's Digest Press, HB. This is a nice light survey of catastrophic theories.  The most  interesting parts are on the "new" catastrophists and the "modified" catastrophists who remain in good scientific standing.  By the 70's, it was no  longer a burning offense to advance certain catastrophic solutions to vexing geological and Biological mysteries.

Weinberg, Steven, FIRST THREE MINUTES, THE, 1, 1977, Basic Books, HB. entry

Wheeler, David R., JOURNEY TO THE OTHER SIDE, 1977, Ace, PB.

White, John and Krippner, ed., Stanley, FUTURE SCIENCE, 1977, Doubleday, HB. Need copy and Info.

Wichanowsky, Fred, ONCE AND FUTURE STAR, 1977, Hawthorne Books, HB, The author presents a case that a super nova of Vega X helped set  the stage for the Mesopotamian civilization.  He shows the great impact that this stellar event had on the star-struck religion of the ancient Sumerians. Like Hughes' book on the Bethlehem star (1979 entry) it is a nice piece of detective work about past skies.

Wilcox, Robert K., SHROUD, 1, 1977, Macmillan, HB. See 1978 entry.
 
 

Williamson, George Hunt (Michel d'Obrenovic), SECRET PLACES OF THE LION, 1977, Warner Books, PB, Reprint of 1958 title.  Williamson claimed "special revelations" from the usual mysterious intelligences, about the true nature of ancient history and its meaning.  Like  most other examples of "special revelations" these revelations sound awfully familiar.  This is one of the best examples of "saucer theology" that one can   find.  Williamson tries to rewrite most of the holy books of the world in light of this new mythology.  The result is even more deadly than the original texts  it purports to supplant.  Why don't these omnipotent discarnate intelligences pick better writers to spread their gospels?  Like most examples of this class  of works, the author would be lost without the Pseudepigraphia, theosophical mythology, and Mormonism (the BOOK OF MORMON may be the great prototype for most of the "saucer theology" books).  It is clear to me that this book inspired Erich von Daniken (see especially MIRACLES OF THE GODS, 1976 entry).

Wilson, Colin  THE SPACE VAMPIRES, 2, 1977, Pocket Books, PB.  This was eventually the basis of the berserk movie LIFEFORCE (1985).  This cover is from a later printing.

Wilson, Robert Anton, COSMIC TRIGGER: THE FINAL SECRET OF THE ILLUMINATI, 1, 1977, And/Or Press, Trade.Great John Thompson cover!   See 1978 entry.

Wolf, Leonard, ANNOTATED "FRANKENSTEIN," THE, 1977, Clarkson Potter, HB.  Trade?

Wolf, Leonard, DREAM OF DRACULA, A, 2, 1977, Popular Library, PB.

Wolfe, Gene, PEACE, 1, 1977, Harper and Row, HB.