Eccentric Lives and Peculiar Notions

by John Michell

Takes us into the bizarre and often humorous lives of such people as Lady Blount, who was sure that the earth is flat, Cyrus Teed, who believed that the earth is a hollow shell with us in the inside; Edward Hine, who believed that the British are the lost Tribes of Israel; and Baron de Guldenstubbe, who was sure that statues wrote him letters. British writer and housewife Nesta Webster devoted her life to exposing international conspiracies, and Father O'Callaghan devoted his to opposing interest on loans. The extraordinary characters in this book were and in some cases still are wholehearted enthusiasts for the various causes and outrageous notions they adopted, and John Michell describes their adventures with spirit and compassion.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Essays

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

John Frederick Carden Michell was an English writer whose key sources of inspiration were Plato and Charles Fort. His 1969 volume The View Over Atlantis has been described as probably the most influential book in the history of the hippy/underground movement and one that had far-reaching effects on the study of strange phenomena: it "put ley lines on the map, re-enchanted the British landscape and made Glastonbury the capital of the New Age."

In some 40-odd titles over five decades he examined, often in pioneering style, such topics as sacred geometry, earth mysteries, geomancy, gematria, archaeoastronomy, metrology, euphonics, simulacra and sacred sites, as well as Fortean phenomena. An abiding preoccupation was the Shakespeare authorship question. His Who Wrote Shakespeare? (1996) was reckoned by The Washington Post "the best overview yet of the authorship question."

Reviews

[Jill H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another of those obscure books that one finds on a sale table at the library which turns out to be a bit of a gem. What we have here are 22 chapters, each dedicated to eccentric people/groups, whose lives and strange ideas are detailed without bias from the author. Many of these subject's notions are well known although the people may not be.

Some of the beliefs, many of which are still extant, are:

* Flat earth theory
* Hollow earth theory
* Druids
* The lost tribes of Israel in Britain
* Shakespeare vs. Bacon
* Ufology

How and why these issues became controversial (and frankly, sometimes ludicrous) is covered in detail and make interesting reading. Some of the originators of these theories were very talented in defending their beliefs, even when it was proven that they were wrong. And you won't be surprised to see the word "conspiracy" and "cover-up" pop up again and again.

I give the author credit for never demeaning the individuals who believed so deeply in their eccentric ideas. A very interesting book indeed.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed it and buying several copies (there are some hard copies around on amazon) to take back to the States and Australia...I'd love to have met the author who is clearly somewhat eccentric himself and would have sat comfortably among the pages of his anthology.

[Lenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personally, I LOVED this book. There's an unbelievably sick bibliomaniac who's obsessive drive to collect ruins him, the inventor of the ice battleship (he proposed them to Mountbatten and Churchill!), but my favorites of all were the trephanationists--I want so very badly to see the film "Heartbeat in the Brain" after reading this book! US President Bill Clinton's favorite professor at Oxford, James Neidpath, is a trephanation advocate. What? Don't know what trephanation is? Start here and cringe: http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/...

OK, so I'm getting a bit carried away, but anyone with a love of high weirdness should read this book! I mean, it's not Apocalypse Culture, but I can't help feeling some of the folks that made that volume were simply trying too hard.

[Carlton Duff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Mitchell’s wry & dry British wit, and he does a great job of fair and insightful investigation into some strange ideas/beliefs.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this free at the local library. It was a little dated and a little on the pseudoscience side, but that was the purpose of the book, so I knew what I was getting into. The Oneida silverware people were originally a cult...whaaaat?! Also, I never knew so many people cared so much about who really wrote Shakespeare's works.....and this business of trepanation.....and the people who believe the earth is hollow.....

[Stuart Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

The characters described were certainly interesting. The author, however, comes across as a little too believing of some of their more outragious claims. Though I suspect this is more a fault of his writing style than his actually believing them.
The e-book also suffers from being poorly proof edited. Clearly it has been scanned from a hard copy but there are frequent errors that have not been corrected.

[Tod Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining!

[Marian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very entertaining, got me interested in the "Who wrote Shakespeare?" question again. Welsh Druids also new to me, as were most of the 18-19th century oddities.

[Marco den Ouden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I confess that I have a soft spot for oddballs and weirdos. Probably because I am a libertarian and an ardent individualist. Often governments want to silence eccentrics, or curtail their behaviors. Me? I find them endlessly fascinating, and as long as they're not hurting anyone, I say "let them be."

Eccentric Lives, Peculiar Notions is a fascinating collection of stories about oddballs throughout history. Flat earthers, trepaneurs (people who believed they could improve their health by drilling holes in their heads), cave dwellers, conspiracy theorists, ufologists and more.

Sure to please the trivia buff and lover of weird stuff.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful little book that explores - in a gentle and gentlemanly fashion - the delusions of various groups and individuals, including - but not limited to - flying saucer aficionados, flat-earthers and dietary cranks.

[Twilight · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comical, informative and entertaining book that examines the weirder side of humans.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bibliomaniacs, Druids, heretics, ufologists. Ignatius Donnelly, Francis Galton, Nesta Webster.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to read it twice to appreciate this bunch of eccentrics.... how dull we have all become!