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In Search of the English Eccentric: A Journey [Hardcover]

Henry Hemming
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Book Description

12 Jun 2008

The English eccentric is under threat. In our increasingly homogenised society, these celebrated parts of our national identity are anomalies that may soon no longer fit. Or so it seems. On his entertaining and thought-provoking quest to discover the most eccentric English person alive today, Henry Hemming unearths a surprisingly large array of delightfully odd characters.


He asks what it is to be an eccentric. Is it simply to thrive on creativity and non-conformity, and where does this incarnation of Englishness stem from? Hemming concludes that this tribe is, in fact, in rude health, as essential as ever to the English national identity, only they are no longer to be found where you'd expect them.


Featuring interviews with Dame Vivienne Westwood, the Marquess of Bath, Pete Doherty, the modern-day reincarnation of King Arthur, the Leopard Man of Skye, Sebastian Horsley, Chris Eubank, Captain Beany and Brian Haw among others.



Product details

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: John Murray (12 Jun 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0719522129
  • ISBN-13: 978-0719522123
  • Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.6 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 615,548 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Product Description

Review

'A lovely, heartfelt paean to English eccentrics, by a member of the tribe. A funny, timely and moving encounter with a  dying breed.'

(Jon Ronson )

'Hemming keeps up a stream of comic patter'

(Guardian )

'Hemming makes some good points'

(Sunday Telegraph/ Seven )

The new Michael Palin

(Tatler )

'If nothing else this book confirms the old adage "there's nothing so strange as folk"

(Folkestone Herald & Dover Express )

'Entertaining and thought-provoking ... Hemming unearths a surprisingly large array of delightfully odd characters'

(Cambridge Evening News )

About the Author

Henry Hemming is 27 years old. His first book, Misadventure in the Middle East: Travels as a Tramp, Artist and Spy, the product of a year-long journey through the Middle East, was published this year to critical acclaim.

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Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommend it 8 Mar 2009
Format:Hardcover
I found In Search of the English Eccentric in the travel section of my local bookstore, but it is far more than a travel book. In the context of travel writing, the author exoticises his native Britain led by a quest for eccentrics. The travel is also across time, reviving dandies dustied with age, in an effort to update the concept of the eccentric from its Victorian roots.

Unlike a travel book, however, this is not a list of people or places to see. The book is carefully structured around themes and introduces us to characters who fail to meet the definition of eccentric as well as to those who come out triumphant. Questioning the concept of eccentric leads Hemming into provocative terrain regarding the relationship between eccentricity, madness, perversion and creativity.

Creativity is clearly a theme close to the heart of the author, who is an artist of his own right. Each chapter is illustrated with etchings made by Hemming in the manner of a 19th century botanist. And the narrative is peppered with metaphor, creating unexpected images at every page turn. The book also reads like theatre in parts, full of carefully recorded dialogue between Hemming and his subjects.

In short, this is a playful book with an entertaining approach to serious and well researched questions about the relationship of individuals to society. I highly recommend it.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Brainfood 14 July 2008
By Olivia
Format:Hardcover
Wow - this was such a fascinating book! It shook up my ideas about difference and marginality. It portrays how the eccentrics' lives develop a contemporary notion of eccentricity without loosing the dimensions of the people. From the weightlessness of remembering what it is like to be childlike to issues of a national identity, it charts a journey of theoretical development with a sense of adventure and fun. Almost above all, the writing opens out moments in vibrant and vivid ways and manages to be both wide-ranging in its historical reach and yet also specific and intimate.
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2.0 out of 5 stars Sorry not good 22 Oct 2012
Format:Kindle Edition
I foumd this book heavy going because its focus is on the author and his 'journey' rather than the elusive, attention-shunning eccentric. Better to read Edith Sitwell (or indeed any of the Sitwells' books) if you are interested in eccentricity.
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