Picturing Extraterrestrials (Hardcover: Illustrated: 595 pages)

Whether we realize it or not, among ET's precursors are the ecstatic maenads of ancient Greek art, the religious visions depicted in 15th-century Spanish paintings, and the popular images of witches and incubi from the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, in our postmodern space age, these timeless figures of the artistic imagination have taken on the otherworldly trappings of alien creatures. By the same token, centuries-old beliefs have evolved into the current New Age mythology that often surrounds the stories and pictures connected with aliens. Fueled by a huge entertainment industry and the mass media, alien imagery has become ubiquitous, and the line between fantasy and reality becomes ever harder to discern.

This sweeping and above all entertaining perusal of popular culture presents a sophisticated yet very accessible and often funny dissection of our current obsession with the possibility that "we are not alone."