Nebraska Curiosities: Quirkly Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff (Curiosities Series) [Paperback]

Rick Yoder (Author), David Harding (Author)

Book Description

Series: Curiosities Series | Publication Date: January 19, 2010

The definitive collection of Nebraska’s odd, wacky, and most offbeat people, places, and things, for Nebraska residents and anyone else who enjoys local humor and trivia with a twist.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Whether you’re a born-and-raised Nebraskan, a recent transplant, or just passing through, Nebraska Curiosities will have you laughing out loud as Rick Yoder and David Harding take you on a rollicking tour of the strangest sides of the Cornhusker State.

 Go mooclear with two animal husbandry students who, in 1963, participated in the first cattle fallout-shelter survival test—by spending two weeks in close quarters with thirty-five cows . . . and one bull.

 Be wowed by the Chickendale Dancers at the annual Wayne Chicken Show—whose attractions also includea “cluck-off” competition.

 

Visit the Avoca Quack-Off—when more than 1,000 people descend on Avoca (pop. 270) in mid-winter to drink beer and howl at the ducks racing across a flooded, frozen tennis court. (You can rent a bird for $5.)

About the Author

Rick Yoder has spent his career working on sustainability solutions for businesses and his leisure time looking for Nebraska’s most curious people, places, and things.

 

David Harding is a regular columnist on Nebraska history for the Omaha World-Herald.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Globe Pequot; First edition (January 19, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762746831
• ISBN-13: 978-0762746835
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,195,137 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just plain fun!, March 27, 2010

By 

Kathy Kerr - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nebraska Curiosities: Quirkly Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff (Curiosities Series) (Paperback)

This is a great book for Nebraska residents who think they have to travel out-of-state to see anything interesting, and for everyone else who thinks Nebraska is just a flat place you have to drive through to get to whatever is on the other side. The authors present a variety of sites to see and places to visit along with some fun bits of trivia. Did you know actress Myrna Loy was named after a little town in Nebraska? Or that the founder of Scientology was born in another small Nebraska town? The authors combine photography, geography, and clever word-play to take the reader on a virtual tour of Nebraska's best kept secrets. A great gift for the hard-to-buy-for people on your list!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Plenty of "Nebraska", not enough "Curiosities", April 9, 2010

By 

Guy Greasyfinger - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nebraska Curiosities: Quirkly Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff (Curiosities Series) (Paperback)

I bought this book during a recent trip to Nebraska, both as a travel reference and an addition to my collection of other books in the same series. In short, I am somewhat disappointed. It contains plenty of interesting factoids, but overall it's sorely lacking when compared to other "Curiosities" books.

For one thing, many of the sites covered do not match the usual series criteria for "Curiosities." Traditionally, the focus has been on offbeat visitable locations, such as roadside oddities, strange museums, and the like. Just because a town has a semi-quirky bit of history, or is the hometown of someone notable, does not mean that there is something "curious" to be seen there. Nebraska Curiosities ignores this and ends up feeling unfocused because of it.

In many of the entries, I get the impression that the authors were trying to cover for a perceived dearth of interesting sights in Nebraska. Strange, since I found many, and more deserving, "Curiosities" in the Omaha area alone, which were not covered in this book. I can't help but wonder what else was overlooked statewide.

Finally, much of the writing is padded with "cutesy" wordplay that reads like a forced exercise in creative writing. It gets confusing at times; on more than one occasion I found myself thinking, "Get to the point, already!" The incessant repetition of terms like "Huskers" and "Flyover Country" gets tedious pretty quickly, too.