Tossers and Arseblowers: An Alternative Romp Through Europe - Softcover

Daeschner, J R

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099484528 ISBN 13: 9780099484523

Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd, 2008

Synopsis

Not all Spaniards are Goat Tossers, not all Frenchmen are Arse Blowers, and not all Portuguese are Penis Cake Eaters. But JR Daeschner knows quite a few who are. In Tossers and Arseblowers, he picks up where he left off with True Brits and crosses the Channel in search of Europe's most surreal traditions. From the far west of Ireland to the Continental divide in Istanbul, he ventures where few foreigners have gone before, witnessing spectacles such as the Baby Jumping Festival and the Rigor Mortis Procession in Spain, Snake Handling and Fire Dancing in Greece, Cow Fighting in Switzerland and the celebrations in honour of England's patron saint in the heart of the EU. Along the way, he's inducted into the Order of the Priceless Sardine and catches countless characters in action, including a German detective turned 'love spy', the last of the Irish matchmakers, a Sicilian coprophile and a gay Turkish 'Bear'. Whether it's the furore over the camp following for Oil Wrestling in Turkey or the controversy surrounding the Dutch 'Santa' and his black sidekick, Daeschner finds that these centuries-old events reveal surprising insights into our Continental neighbours.

About this title

About the Author

Raised on a ranch in Colorado, J. R. worked for the New York Times after university, then on Fleet Street and Wall Street, with stints in Mexico and Peru before settling in Britain. Now 34, he has lived in the UK for the past decade. His work has been published on both sides of the Atlantic, including The Times and the International Herald Tribune. His last book was True Brits, also published by Arrow.

From the Back Cover

From the author of True Brits, a tour of twenty-first century Europe in all its bottom-blowing, goat-tossing, oil-wrestling glory.

In True Brits American writer JR Daeschener travelled the UK seeking out its weirdest and wackiest traditions. After witnessing shin kicking, horn dancing and faggot cutting he thought he had seen it all - until he travelled across the channel to see our continental neighbours.

Tossers and Arseblowers is the hilarious account of JR's travels around Europe and of his quest to find out why people do such extraordinary things. From goat-tossing and baby-jumping in Spain, cutting ties and tailing spies in Germany, battling dragons in Wallonia and cow-fighting in Switzerland, JR not only talks to countless colourful characters and catches them in action, but also takes part in the events himself. Along the way he discovers that many of these weird and wonderful traditions have their routes in the most unlikely of places, and provide an insight in what it means to be European today.

Edition details

• Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0099484528
• ISBN 13: 9780099484523
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400