Amazing North Carolina [Paperback]

Theresa Jensen Lacey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2003

Amazing North Carolina offers a rare glimpse into unusual and sometimes bizarre people and events in North Carolina's 200-year history. Reading like the Tarheel State's own version of Ripley's Believe It or Not, this book explores hundreds of incredible stories, facts, and tidbits of human interest. It contains pictures, quizzes, trivia, stories, sidebars, lists, and more. Read about . . .

• How Lizard Lick, Cat's Square, Boogertown, and Rabbit Shuffle got their names
• Robert Null, who invented a UFO detector
• The Civil War battle where the Confederates fought without clothes on
• Chang and Eng, the original "Siamese twins" who settled in Wilkesboro and married local sisters Sarah and Adelaide Yates
• The strange story of Goat-Gland Binkley, who operated in North Carolina 75 years before Viagra
• The annual Bald is Beautiful convention in Morehead City
• The world's largest twins (at 800 pounds each)
• The road that goes nowhere
• Senate Bean Soup, the secret of Jesse Helms' longevity (recipe included)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (February 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558539654
• ISBN-13: 978-1558539655
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,330,194 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Historical Oddities, March 20, 2005

By 

Virgil Brown (White Oak, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Amazing North Carolina (Paperback)

Lacey's book is filled with interesting historical oddities about North Carolina. Some of these oddities really are very interesting to anyone. For example, the original Siamese twins lived near Mt Airy, NC. Though attached, each married a different woman. Each sired children of his own. And yet they quarreled because one of the twins had a drinking problem. This eventually led to the death of both of them.

Lacey's book reads like a mixture of Ripley's "Believe It or Not" and Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story." Perhaps Abraham Lincoln was not born in Kentucky but in North Carolina. Folks from Rutherford County who lived round about 1809 swear that Lincoln's mother had returned to Abraham Enloe in order to give birth to the man we know as Abraham Lincoln. Do you now know where Lincoln received his first name? Perhaps now you now know the rest of the story.

I can't vouch for all of the history of Lacey's book. But I can vouch for the fact that it is very interesting reading.

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, Entertaining, and "Amazing!", March 9, 2004

By 

Catherine Parker (Wilmington, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amazing North Carolina (Paperback)

This is a great book. I enjoyed visiting many of the sites written about in the book, and to know the "believe-it-or-not" stories behind what I visited. This is a book everyone can read and enjoy. With its short stories, trivia games, and recipes, it can go from the car, to the bathroom, and the kitchen! Stories I liked best: the ghost stories, lighthouse stories, Civil War and sports tales. I also like the Q&A at the end of each chapter--it's fun for discussing on car trips around the state. The index and websites in the back are great!