Irving Wallace herein presents the stories of “some Americans who dared to be different”— crackpots, perhaps, all of them, but also exceedingly diverting people to meet, know, and watch as they pursue their peculiar activities. This picturesque and wacky crew is brilliantly dealt with in these nine chapters:

In Defense of the Square Peg

Wherein we meet Wilbur Glenn Voliva, who believed the Earth was flat, and wherein we learn the need for encouraging individualism and nonconformity.

The King of Thirty-Sixth Street

Wherein we meet Baron James A. Harden-Hickey, American ruler of Trinidad, who became an authority on the art of suicide.

The Man Who Was Phileas Fogg

Wherein we meet George Francis Train, millionaire member of the Commune, who was the first man to travel around the world in eighty days.

The Free Lover Who Ran for President

Wherein we meet Victoria Woodhull, stockbroker, spiritualist, and prostitute, who competed with Ulysses S. Grant for tenancy of the White House.

The Forty-Niner Who Abolished Congress

Wherein we meet Joshua Norton, self-appointed Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, who issued orders to Abraham Lincoln.

The Lady Who Moved Shakespeare’s Bones

Wherein we meet Delia Bacon, schoolteacher frustrated in love, who became the implacable enemy of the Bard of Avon.

The Explorer of the Hollow Earth

Wherein we meet John Cleves Symmes, hero of the War of 1812, who planned an expedition into the interior world through holes in the North and South poles.

The Editor Who Was a Common Scold

Wherein we meet Anne Royall, widow and author, who interviewed a Chief Executive while he was in the nude.

The First in the East

Wherein we meet Timothy Dexter, merchant prince and foe of grammar, who sent coals to Newcastle and published a book without punctuation.