Iowa Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff - Softcover

Coffey, Dan; Jones, Eric

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0762725486 ISBN 13: 9780762725489

Publisher: skirt!, 2005

Synopsis

When Iowa is quirky, it's quirky in a powerfully subtle way. The familiar made strange is much scarier than the strange made strange. Coming upon a three-headed monster from outer space doesn't hold a candle to the shock visitors get from the 13-foot giant sloth wearing a Santa suit in Iowa City.
Iowa is the most normal place on the planet, so the people and places covered in this book will be as everyday as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread, but as twisted as a corn dog dipped in horseradish. As film maker David Lynch ("Blue Velvet," "Eraserhead") shows in his movies, it's what's beneath the surface that's really tells the story. As for Iowa's story, well, we'll let the facts speak for themselves.

About this title

About the Author

Dan Coffey, best known as public radio's "Dr. Science," was the star of a PBS special and a Fox television series. Along with Merle Kessler, he developed the "Ask Dr. Science" show and co-wrote Dr. Science's Big Book of Science (Contemporary Books) and Dr. Science's Big Book of Science, Simplified (William Morrow). He lives in Iowa City.

Coauthor Eric Jones is a recent graduate of The University of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program. A personal essayist and travel writer, he also works as a mover and as a nursing assistant at the University of Iowa Hospital's Burn Treatment Center.

From the Back Cover

Iowa Curiosities is your round-trip ticket to the wildest, wackiest, most outrageous people, places, and things the Hawkeye State has to offer. Humorist Dan Coffey and travel writers Eric Jones and Berit Thorkelson have combed Iowa for one-of-a-kind gems that make their home turf truly unique.

You'll meet the Guinness World Record-holding house-of-cards builder, a 13-foot giant sloth wearing a Santa suit, and a man who hiccupped for sixty-nine years.
You'll discover the best places to play Hoover Ball and Chicken Bingo; bathe in a Murphy tub; or drink a strawberry phosphate, Pink Lady, or Dipsy Doodle.
You'll tour the rotating Squirrel Cage Jail, the only all-mule cemetery in Iowa, and the "Medical Marvels" exhibit, featuring Dr. Downing's choke collection of objects removed from his patients' food and airway passages.

Whether you were born and raised in Iowa or are a recent transplant, the authors' home-grown humor will have you laughing out loud as they introduce you to the neighbors you never knew you had and take you to places you never knew existed-right in your own backyard.

Edition details

• Publisher: skirt!
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0762725486
• ISBN 13: 9780762725489
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 271