Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 272 pages
- Published by: St. Martin's Griffin August 5, 2000
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0312262868
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0312262860
-
Book Dimensions:
8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
- Weighs: 8 ounces
From Library Journal
After covering the National Hobo Convention for Bikini magazine in 1998, former book publicist and freelance journalist Taylor developed an appetite for oddball festivals such as the "World Cow Chip Throwing Contest" in Beaver, OK, and the "World Championship Watermelon Seed Spit" in Luling, TX. This book is an attempt to provide a state-by-state list of all the wacky events that the author has visited, many held in small towns across America. Each listing consists of a breezily written thumbnail sketch that includes either the exact date of the event or, in most cases, only the month, a phone number, a web address when available, and ticket information. The book has merit as an inventory of unusual festivals that you would otherwise not hear about, but it does contain unnecessary errors regarding web addresses. For instance, the web address for the Judy Garland festival in Grand Rapids, MN, takes you to a flower and gift shop in San Francisco's Castro district. Not a necessary purchase.DRavi Shenoy, Naperville P.L., IL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Description
Do you breed rats and mice that could preen like poodles in a pet show? Have creative juices yearning to be set loose on a 20-ton block of packed snow? Possess a melodious voice best suited to singing the praises of SPAM? Nope? That's okay, with America Bizarro, you can find out all about people who do!
It's a weird place, America, and even if you have a hobby or interest that no one you know shares, there's probably a group of people meeting somewhere in America to enjoy it together. Not only that, but someone else's obsession or bizarre display of civic pride is being celebrated right near you. Organized state-by-state, and illustrated with some pretty funny pictures,
America Bizarro is an hysterical armchair read which doubles as a practical guide in case you want to:
See the Jumping Frog competition immortalized by Mark Twain in Calaveras County, CA
Be a delegate at the Dukes of Hazzard Fan Club Convention
Munch on Rocky Mountain oysters at Montana's Testicle Festival
Get lost in Grandpa John's Amazing Maze in a Nebraska cornfield
Tickle, caress, and seduce the ivories in Las Vegas' Liberace "Play-A-Like" Competition
Join Polar Bear plungers in the Atlantic in February at the Jersey Shore
Win a truck in Texas' famous Hands on a Hardbody contest
You never know. You could be the next International Pack Burro Race champion or just enjoy taking in the annual ArtCar Parade in San Francisco. America is what you make it, so make it Bizarro!
Reader ReviewsMr. Taylor takes us for a walk on the wild side in this guide to the off kilter, out of hand and off the beaten path fests, events and happenings. Wondered if America really was as strange as you suspected? Wonder no more. Organized by state, America Bizarro is... well, Think Tom Robbin's Another Roadside Attraction meets that outrageous show from the 1970s - Real People. This Book is for everyone who just can't stomach one more summer roadtrip to overrated, overdone and overpriced attractions. Hell, the Big Mouse down South doesn't need any more of your hard earned money... so get a copy of America Bizarro and start checking out the freaks, geeks and charming underbelly of the land of the free to be you and me.
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