An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural

The irascible James Randi, a onetime MacArthur ''Genius'' award winner and professional magician, takes on thousands of years of cranks, fakes, charlatans, and wizards. An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural is less a scholarly text than a diatribe against the dubious, from the abominable snowman to zombies. Whether he's pooh-poohing the spoon-bending tricks of Uri Geller or lifting the curtain on ''UFO-formed'' crop circles (''a schoolboy stunt,'' he calls them), Randi never lets you forget that if something seems too weird to believe, it probably is. B