Oddball Indiana: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places (Oddball series) [Paperback]

Jerome Pohlen (Author)

Book Description

Series: Oddball series | Publication Date: April 1, 2002

Square Donuts. The World’s Largest Stump. Oscar the Monster Turtle. Johnny Appleseed’s grave. The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. While other travel guides tell you about yet another cozy bed-and-breakfast and bike trails through Brown County, Oddball Indiana offers wacky travel destinations and little-known historical tidbits. Why is Nancy Barnett’s grave in the middle of a country road? Where can you go to communicate with your dead Aunt Clara? Who invented Alka-Seltzer? How did David Letterman get fired from his first broadcasting gig? This is the guide to the real Indiana, birthplace of corn flakes, Dan Quayle, and Wonder Bread, for those who want to laugh, not lounge, on their vacation.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"(Pohlen's) prose makes reading the Oddball guides a delight" -- Salt Lake Tribune

"Fortunately...people like Jerome Pohlen to...remind us that yes, this stuff, in all its geeky glory, is still around." -- Chicago Tribune

"Pohlen is one of those travelers who loves anything that smacks of individuality." -- Ellen Miller, Indiana Star

"Reads like a cross between Fodor's and Ripley's Believe It of Not" -- The Journal Gazette

"enough to make every Hoosier proud." -- The Evening Star (Auburn, IN)

"provid(es) plenty of opportunities to revel in the strangeness on public display" -- The Bloomsbury Review

"some of the most off-the-wall and off-the-beaten-path places ever overlooked by the usual travel guides" -- Electric Consumer

"takes a wry look at some of those little discoveries that can make your travel day" -- Associated Press

"what a great job Jerome Pohlen has" -- Indianapolis Prime Times Magazine

About the Author

Jerome Pohlen is the author of Oddball Illinois and Oddball Wisconsin. He is a regular travel contributor to the 848 Show on WBEZ, the Chicago affiliate of National Public Radio. He lives in Chicago.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press; 1 edition (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556524382
• ISBN-13: 978-1556524387
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #247,911 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delivers as promised but too much fascination with..., August 30, 2004

By 

DWD "DWD's Reviews" (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Oddball Indiana: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places (Oddball series) (Paperback)

...Dan Quayle and Jim Jones.

Th book does a great job of showing some of the odd things that make the Hoosier state unique, including Santa Claus, IN and the world's largest steer (he's stuffed). It also turns out that Indiana is the birthplace of Wonder Bread, Alka Seltzer, Corn Flakes, Pork and Beans and the unique shape of the Coca-Cola bottle. He includes driving directions that look to be accurate (I am familiar with some of these places) although a good map of Indiana would also be required to even find some of the towns that he mentions. He includes several pictures, which generally are helpful.

This really could have been a charming little book - one that I would have been 100% enthused about except for the author's fascination with Dan Quayle (not in a positive way, either) and Jim Jones (the cult leader who led his 900+ followers in a mass suicide in Guyana in the 1978). Do we really need to see Dan Quayle's frat house? Do we really need to see a picture of the bridge that his Jones' uncle jumped off of in order to commit suicide?

But, on the whole, the guide is useful and entertaining. It includes addresses, phone numbers, web addresses, visiting hours, costs (if any) and directions to every location he describes. I do recommend it for anyone who likes to travel off of the beaten path.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT GIFT FOR THE SHUTTERBUG, June 2, 2010

By 

Minda G. Lehman "MINAKA" (Wabash, IN, US) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Oddball Indiana: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places (Oddball series) (Paperback)

PURCHASED THIS FOR OUR SON WHO IS ADDICTED TO PHOTOGRAPHY - IT SHOULD GIVE HIM GOOD IDEAS FOR PHOTO ROAD TRIPS

4.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable and informative read., April 23, 2009

By 

William Nelson Beard "Zenzender" (Central Indiana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Oddball Indiana: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places (Oddball series) (Paperback)

I have seen about half of the entries, now I MUST go see the rest.
A very good guide for touring.