Roadside History of Oklahoma (Roadside History (Paperback))

Rating:
Summary: An unexpectedly surreal and entertaining book
Review: The corpse of an unidentified drifter is taxidermied and passed off as John Wilkes Booth to paying tourists. A con artist convinces an entire town to plan a big reception for a coming circus, makes off with hundreds of dollars in ticket sales, and the townsfolk after realizing the circus was a hoax, celebrate anyway and begin a tradition that continues to the present day. The sole survivor of a notorious outlaw gang moves to Hollywood and socializes with cowboy movie stars. This book is filled with such stories, hundreds of them. The age of rioting and looting Indians, ramshackle buggy rides through the wilderness, mobs of thousands bidding on ridiculously underpriced real estate which already belongs to others, public executions, Messiah scares, genocide, and the like is brought vividly and frustratingly to life. This book is like a cross between Tom Robbins' outrageous humor and Italo Calvino's novel, Invisible Cities. And all of it, every droll word, is true. 'Beliveve it or not,' as the man said.

I would recommend this book not only to Oklahoma history buffs, but also to people who enjoy more fantastical fiction such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, even to those with only marginal interest in Oklahoma at all.