Maine Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, and Other Offbeat Stuff

U.S. State Curiosities

by Tim Sample, Ms. Steve (Stephen) D. Bither

This definitive collection will be a great read for Maine residents and anyone else who enjoys local humor and trivia with a twist.

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[A.D. Morel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sense of the real Maine shines through these little vignettes, told with affection by a kind-hearted humorist and history buff. I liked the section about Bither Brook in which Sample relates some of his own family history, and tells what it's like to put one's feet in the little stream that one's ancestors knew, back through generations. How many of us can do that? The Maine in this book is one that short-term visitors might not uncover on their own, how could they? But Sample makes it available to us all by encapsulating the former, the new, and perhaps a hint of the future Maine. Beyond the Maine mystique, this is a chance to understand a little more of the mystery that is Maine. Recommended!

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite four stars, really, but fun nevertheless. At it's best, among the 91 articles in this book about 10% were memorable: people who rehab canoes, and another who does Land Rovers, the invention of the ear muff, the life of Vaughn Meader (for those of us old enough to remember him), NH liquor stores, candlepin bowling and more. I also admire the authors for having the "moxie" (heh!) to include a profile of Wilhelm Reich whom I heard of in HS in New York but who is unknown to Mainers, as far as I know.

But there is repetition which gets tedious. It seems as if every supersized store sign sculpture is covered, there are too many uninteresting small museums, and products. Surprisingly, what I found the least interesting were the profiles of living Mainers, all of which were somehow drab reading. I think there are more interesting people here than the authors have chosen (though no example comes to mind as I write this). The low point of the book for me was a collection of what are described as the ten funniest outhouse jokes, none of which even made me smile somehow.

To some extent, the book succeeds in capturing Maine's culture, and maybe that's all that can be done with a collection of short articles. I admire the authors' enormous knowledge of details about the state, though it doesn't somehow integrate into a big picture. Maybe that was not their intention...
Finally, the alphabetical organization by town of location is not functional. No one visits towns alphabetically. Organization by region or county or roads might be useful for people driving around, which is certainly how many people (even those "from away") spend the summer here.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly book...Title kind of says it all...My home state.