John J. Kohut

The Fringe. Not part of the normal, mainstream, socially acceptable, daily, expected behaviors. Weird. Different. Extreme. Awesome!

This book collects little snippets of news from around the world that definitely come from the fringe. A bank customer who quacks like a duck when his loan paperwork is rejected. A man who killed his wife for putting vegetables in front of the milk in the refrigerator. A boy who saved his brothers life thanks to an episode of The Simpsons. Just interestingly weird happenings from around the world.

I had so much fun reading this book! While there are some disturbing entries (like Japan returning remains of 20,000 noses cut from Koreans in 1597 during an invasion), most of the snippets are light hearted and amusing. There are mentions of more adult subjects like sex, drugs, violence, murder, etc so I would say the book is PG-13, but nothing is too graphic.

My favorite bit from the book is this one:

In Missouri, Larry Lands was showing off a turkey he had shot and put in his trunk when the not-yet dead bird started thrashing around and pulled the trigger of Land's gun, also in the trunk. Lands was shot in the leg. "The turkeys are fighting back,'' said County Sheriff Ron Skiles.

This book was published in 1993 by two of the authors who compiled the News of the Weird series. The stories don't seem dated though, mostly because weirdness is pretty much weird no matter how much time passes. Fun read!



… (más)

There are always strange stories in the news. Human beings just have a talent for doing ridiculous and weird things. This book collects some funny and strange goings-on from around the world. Separated into categories like ridiculous lawsuits, weird science, stupid criminals, baffling incidents, etc., there is a little bit of everything in this book.

Each chapter has several short tales of the strange. Some are funny, some disturbing and some just plain weird....but all are interesting. There is some sexual weirdness discussed but nothing outrageously graphic....so I'd give this book a PG-13 rating.

This book was printed in 1991 so most of the stories cited date from the late 80s and early 90s. That makes some things a bit dated....but funny headlines and weird news are still weird no matter how many years go by. These stories don't have to be current to make a reader laugh or roll their eyes. Just proves dumb criminals and silly people have been doing weird things for a long time.

With the short paragraphs and organization of this book, it would make a great bathroom book, or a smile generating collection of snippets when a person is in the mood for a cute joke. I used it for a palate cleanser between books. When I finish reading a thriller or suspense novel, sometimes I just need something light and funny to clear my head before I jump into another one. This book was perfect for that! One of my favorites was the story about a skinny prisoner in Stockholm who escaped from the prison by saving all the margarine from his meals, which he then used to oil himself and squeeze between the bars of his cell. Now that's a slick escape! :)

Fun book! There are several books in this "news of the weird' series. I'm definitely going to read more! The book is out of print after so many years but used copies appear to be easy to come by.… (más)