Author: Rupert Thomas Gould
Publisher: London : P. Allan
ISBN:
Category : Curiosities and wonders
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description

Author: Nathan Belofsky
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101188960
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
You're probably breaking the law right now-and don't even know it. Did you know... ? Naples, Italy, enforces laws for what constitutes real pizza, and "pizza police" visit restaurants to crack down on unlawful pies? ? In West Virginia it is a crime to display or possess a red or black flag? ? It is illegal to sell stuffed articles depicting female breasts within a thousand feet of any county highway in California? ? Spherical fishbowls have been banned in Rome since 2004? There are hundreds of bizarre laws that we could be breaking at any moment. What exactly are we doing that we shouldn't be doing, and what happens if we get caught? In this engaging and insightful collection, Nathan Belofsky takes us on a journey of eclectic, unexpected, and bizarre laws from around the world. Written by a practicing lawyer with an eye for his profession's most unusual quirks, The Book of Strange and Curious Legal Oddities offers a delightful look at the legal system's peculiarities through the ages. From laws that crack down on how we eat, look, and have sex, to real legal battles involving litigious chimpanzees, you'll start wondering whether you're really the law-abiding citizen you claim to be.

Author: Publications International Ltd
Publisher: Book of
ISBN: 9781450875554
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The 704-page hardcover book contains 250 random articles, plus statistics, facts, trivia, and lists that range from absurd to useless to hilarious. The Book of Random Oddities provides hours upon hours of fascinating reading. It is for anyone with a curious mind.

Author: Eli Brown
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN: 1536211974
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
The daughter of a murdered physician vows to protect the magical Oddity he left behind in an alternate nineteenth century where a failed Louisiana Purchase has locked a young Unified States into conflict with France. It’s the early 1800s, and Clover travels the impoverished borderlands of the Unified States with her father, a physician. See to the body before you, he teaches her, but Clover can’t help becoming distracted by bigger things, including the coming war between the US and France, ignited by a failed Louisiana Purchase, and the terrifying vermin, cobbled together from dead animals and spare parts, who patrol the woods. Most of all, she is consumed with interest for Oddities, ordinary objects with extraordinary abilities, such as a Teapot that makes endless amounts of tea and an Ice Hook that freezes everything it touches. Clover’s father has always disapproved of Oddities, but when he is murdered, Clover embarks on a perilous mission to protect the one secret Oddity he left behind. And as she uncovers the truth about her parents and her past, Clover emerges as a powerful agent of history. Here is an action-filled American fantasy of alternate history to rival the great British fantasies in ideas and scope.

Author: John Leita
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1614239347
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 177

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Book Description
John and Laura Leita delve in to the oddities that make Long Island unique and it may be more odd than you thought possible! Long Island's history is well known, but often overlooked are the island's unique and bizarre stories and treasures--the most interesting locations and darkest legends. From hidden haunts and legends like the Indian Princess of Lake Ronkonkoma to well-known events like the Amityville Horror House murders, this collection chronicles the tales of restless spirits, unrequited loves and otherworldly visits that riddle the island. There is much to be seen along the roadside, too, including the beloved Big Duck, the Riverhead Indian and even the grave site of Nixon's dog, Checkers. Through history, pictures and the personal experiences of a ten-year endeavor, authors John and Laura Leita brings to life Long Island's abandoned structures, including psychiatric hospitals and other ruins waiting to be rediscovered. Join the Leitas as they go in search of the delightfully quirky side of Long Island.

Author: John Bigwood
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062959700
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
Challenge your acuity and stimulate your mind with this entertaining puzzle book filled with charming illustrations, fun facts, and trivia along the way. Life is odd. People are odd. Things are odd. There is oddity in the strangest places, not least in this collection of extreme odd-one-out teasers that will bamboozle the brain and test even the eagle-eyed. Whether you’re looking for odd ones out or matching pairs of oddities—from strikingly similar cactuses to lluscious-llocked look-alike llamas, Oddities challenges you to discover the minute differences lurking on every page. Simply pick a puzzle and follow the instructions on the left-hand page. There are odd ones out to spot, hipster accessories to match, and random trivia that delights and educates. Each puzzle in Oddities includes fun facts and interesting information, and if you get stuck, all of the answers can be found at the back. The illustrations for each puzzle are also fun to color.

Author: Charles Carroll Bombaugh
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Author: Robert Bogdan
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022622743X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
This cultural history of the travelling freak show in America chronicles the rise and fall of the industry as attitudes about disability evolved. From 1840 until 1940, hundreds of freak shows crisscrossed the United States, from the smallest towns to the largest cities, exhibiting their casts of dwarfs, giants, Siamese twins, bearded ladies, savages, snake charmers, fire eaters, and other oddities. By today’s standards such displays would be considered cruel and exploitative—the pornography of disability. Yet for one hundred years the freak show was widely accepted as one of America’s most popular forms of entertainment. Robert Bogdan’s fascinating social history brings to life the world of the freak show and explores the culture that nurtured and, later, abandoned it. In uncovering this neglected chapter of show business, he describes in detail the flimflam artistry behind the shows, the promoters and the audiences, and the gradual evolution of public opinion from awe to embarrassment. Freaks were not born, Bogdan reveals; they were manufactured by the amusement world, usually with the active participation of the freaks themselves. Many of the "human curiosities" found fame and fortune, until the ascent of professional medicine transformed them from marvels into pathological specimens.

Author: Frederick Drimmer
Publisher: Citadel Press
ISBN: 9780806512532
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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Book Description
Siamese twins, midgets, giants, bearded ladies, and hermaphrodites are among the people profiled with compassion and insight

Author: Randall Platt
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062643363
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
A gripping historical fiction friendship story that will grab everyone by the heartstrings and never let go. A giant, a dwarf, and three doomed circus animals . . . By her fourteenth birthday, Babe Killingsworth measures 6ʹ9ʺ and weighs 342 pounds. In 1896, what other options does a giant have but to join a carnival? Her only real talent is handling animals: “Critters is folks to me.” The cheap outfit her feckless father sells her off to offers critters galore; an escape from Neal, Idaho; and a bit of fame. It also opens the doorway to exploitation and neglect. But Babe’s love for Euclid (a chimp) and Jupiter (a bear) keeps her anchored, and in Professor Renoir’s Collection of Oddities, Curiosities, and Delights, she is among her own kind. Enter Carlotta Jones, billed as the world’s smallest girl, whose elephant act leaves much to be desired. At thirty inches tall, Carlotta is beautiful, spoiled, and demanding and has very little talent—Egypt, her elephant, dances better than she does. How can a giant like Babe and a dwarf like Carlotta ever see eye to eye? They don’t at first, but soon they understand that a common enemy can bring anyone together—even a giant and a dwarf. "Platt proves again she is unafraid to tackle intensely emotional issues for young readers in this beautifully written piece. Like its title, it inspires both curiosity and delight.” —Booklist