In Search of the English Eccentric

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‘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.’

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READ AN EXTRACT

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Sebastian Horsley on Eccentricity and America

King Arthur Uther Pendragon

 

Links

The Sebastian Horsley Appreciation Society
King Arthur’s Election 2010 homepage
Ann Atkin’s Gnome Reserve
The Retirement of the Leopard Man
Captain Beany
A Peter Doherty website
Cryonics UK
Air Guitar Championships
Circlemakers
Lord Bath
Brian Haw

 

In Search of the English Eccentric

*

‘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.’

*

READ AN EXTRACT

*

Sebastian Horsley on Eccentricity and America

King Arthur Uther Pendragon

 

Links

The Sebastian Horsley Appreciation Society
King Arthur’s Election 2010 homepage
Ann Atkin’s Gnome Reserve
The Retirement of the Leopard Man
Captain Beany
A Peter Doherty website
Cryonics UK
Air Guitar Championships
Circlemakers
Lord Bath
Brian Haw