Ian Simmons (1)

“Fortean Times” related publications are (almost) always worth the admission price; full of bizarre stories covering all topics under the sun. “Exploding Pigs …” covers the world of animals, with stories about a mob of feral wallabies annoying North Staffordshire police, delinquent monkeys in New Orleans and elephant seals in New Zealand managing to poke holes in corrugated iron water tanks while trying to mate with it. Long story short; lots of chortling in store for you if you read this.… (mer)

As a long time reader of "Fortean Times" and its companion books, I had high hopes for their "Book of Life's Losers".

There were certainly some grand, appropriately bizarre entries, such as the doctor who diagnosed an unsteady patient with syphilis, only to later find it was a wobbly shoe that caused the unsteadiness, or the actor that thought the role required an earless performer, so chopped his ears off, only to find it was atypo and they wanted a fearless performer. However, "Life's Losers" doesn't reach the level of other Fortean books, such as "Bizarre Behaviour". Still worth dipping into for a smile when needed, though.… (mer)

If you love reading about bizarre behaviour, you could not do better than "The Fortean Times Book of Bizarre Behaviour". I mean, what other book could you open to a random page and read about the Icelandic zookeeper who was caught dressing a penguin named Brunella in women's underwear? (He claimed he was just trying to keep Brunella warm but, as a zoo spokesperson pointed out, a bra and sexy suspenders does not keep anything warm).

I've just turned to another random page to read of a naked man who walked into a petrol station in Eunice, Alabama and claimed to have a gun in his back pocket. This was enough to convince the attendants to hand him $350. Another random page tells me that in Wyoming it is illegal to photograph rabbits between January and March without express written permission.

I could go on for ages but if you're a reader of "Fortean Times" you know you'll be in for a unique book. If you're not a reader of "Fortean Times", then you should be, starting with this book.… (mer)