Whitley Strieber Bestsellers Essay, Research Paper

Whitley Strieber is the author of many non-fiction bestsellers. His most famous

books include: The Wolfen, The Hunger, Night Church, War Day, Wolf of Shadow,

Nature?s End, Cat Magic, Transformation, Majestic, Billy, The Wild, Unholy

Fire, Forbidden Zone, Breakthrough: The Next Step, The Secret School, Evenings

With Demons: Stories of Thirty Years, and Confirmation: The Hard Evidence.

Whitley Strieber is best known for his autobiographical account of his

experiences with strange ?visitors? who came to his cabin in the New York

countryside, titled Communion. Communion was published in 1987 and sold more

than 250,000 copies and was number one on the NewYork Times non-fiction best

seller list for two weeks. It is the story of Strieber?s attempt to deal with

an assault from the unknown. He and his family allegedly have had a series of

elaborate personal encounters with intelligent non-human beings. At first he

thought he was losing his mind. Unconcerned with the whole phenomenon of UFOs

and extraterrestrials, he viewed them as easily explainable misperceptions or

hallucinations. Strieber was rudely awakened when these ?visitors? began to

take over his life. Strieber describes the stunning effects of his encounter in

the most graphic way possible. Frightened and curious, he faces the

unknown,?whose eyes seem to stare into the deepest care of being, seeking the

very depths of the soul – seeking Communion.? Whitley Strieber is also greatly

known for his follow-up book to Communion, called Breakthrough : The Next Step.

After writing the book, Communion, Strieber mysteriously retired from public

life in 1989. At the time, he said that he would not return until he had

something new to say about the beings he had come to call ?the visitors?. In

1989, Strieber had gotten compelling proof that the visitors were real. His

first impulse was to rush the information to the press, but Strieber was afraid

how the world would react to this stunning evidence. He decided to put his

information into another book, Breakthrough: The Next Step. This book deals with

Strieber?s five year struggle to understand. He asks many questions: Who are

they? What are their intentions? What do they want and need from us? He observed

as they entered the lives of his family and closest friends. He watched over the

years how the family changed and the remarkable effect of the visitors on their

child. There has never been an unexplained experience so carefully documented or

extensively witnessed by others. He has passed four lie detector tests and he

has been examined for many diseases both physical and mental. Not only is he

entirely normal, the proof he presents in this book could convince a jury.

Another book that Strieber wrote is Billy. This book is about a psychopathic

kidnaper who is looking for the perfect child to keep as his own son. This

deranged man moves from child to child and finally comes across Billy. he

attempts to brainwash Billy and tries to get him to believe that he is his

father. Personally, I found it hard to put the book down.