Home > Media > Books > Nelson Taylor - America Bizarro: A Guide to Freaky Festivals, Groovy Gatherings, Kooky Contests, and Other Strange Happenings Across the U.S.A
Nelson Taylor - America Bizarro: A Guide to Freaky Festivals, Groovy Gatherings, Kooky Contests, and Other Strange Happenings Across the U.S.A
Pros: Excellent guide to the unusual events that happen countrywide.
Cons: There could be more website links.
The Bottom Line: There are a lot of strange happenings around this country and the worst part is that they are city sponsored events.
biscuitfarmer's Full Review: Nelson Taylor - America Bizarro: A Guide to Freaky...
About a few years back, I was wondering about different strange things that go on around the country, so I asked my parents to buy for me for Christmas, books about strange things. Apparently they figured what could be stranger, than a book called America Bizarro.
Background
America Bizarro is a book about the bizarre things that happen in this country. Pretty much it focuses on unusual festivals, gatherings, contests, and other strange things that we do as Americans.
Organization
The book is organized by state and that's pretty much it as far as organization goes. The book is more or less a who's who or where's where or whatever you want to call it for the unusual. It tells you what is happening where and when.
Contents
While I can't really discuss every single festival that is discussed in the book, I figure that I could go into a few or this would be the shortest review in the history of epinions... ahhh, I've seen shorter now that I think about it.
In Fairbanks, Alaska there is a contest called the Hairy Chest, Legs, and beard contest. This is a contest that goes way back. They have a great deal of different prizes and contests throughout the weekend, with total cash prizes of up to $20,000. The contest goes back to the days of the goldminer apparently, who were known for being quite scraggily and unkempt.
That's pretty much how all of the entries go, except many are much more bizarre than that.
There are things in the book like:
- The World Championship Rotary Tiller Races in Emerson Arkansas.
- National Chuckwagon Race in Clinton Arkansas
- The American Fancy Rat and mouse show in Hacienda Heights California
- International Imitation Hemingway Competition in Century City California
- The Rainbow Gathering (dear god) in Somewhere Idaha (sounds about right for Idaho)
- Moose Stomper's Weekend in Houlton Maine
- Korn Klub Mud Drags in Plattsmouth Nebraska
- Middle of Nowhere Celebration in Ainsworth Nebraska
- International Camel Races in Virginia City Nevada
- Elvis Week in Memphis Tennessee
- Belly Dance Festival in Snowbird Utah
- International Rotten Sneaker Contest in Montpelier Vermont
These are just some of the hundreds of different events that are listed in the book. Some of them are popular events that are well known, such as Burning Man, which has really become huge over the last few years. Others like the ones above are not so well know.
Every celebration comes with a complete discription of it, the history behind it, and of course, contact information so that you can verify that it's real and get involved. I mean, look at those beauties... who wouldn't want to get involved? Some of the entries even have websites that you can go to for even more information than is provided in the book.
Overview
This is one of the stranger of the books that I actually own. No wait, it's probably the strangest. However, it's pretty interesting to see what sorts of festivals exist around the country and to see just how unusual some areas of the country can really be.
Of course the most fun is to take the book and look up all the strange things that happen around your neck of the woods and if you want, maybe I'll let you know if you send me a comment asking about your area.
But if you're looking for a different style of book that is a lot of fun to explore, this is definitely a great choice, I've had quite a bit of fun with this one.
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