Tag: books

As Arizona celebrates its 100th year of statehood this month, The Arizona Republic has chosen to mark the occasion by choosing Weird Arizona as its book of the month for February!

The 14th officially marks the Copper State's centennial, and I am honored to have one of my books mentioned in conjunction with the celebration. As the Republic explains, "with all the official observations and speeches, we thought it might be good to remember it isn't all solemnity and that Arizona's weirdness goes way back."

Please take a moment to read Richard Nilsen's terrific review.

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The Arizona Republic - Feb. Book Pick: 'Weird Arizona'

It's been quite a while since the release of my last book, Weird Arizona, but the time has finally come. Weird Oklahoma is officially on the shelves!

Weeks on the road, months at the keyboard, hundreds of gallons of gas and nearly as much beer, and it's finally here. Head on over to the Souvenir Shop and find out all the bizarre stuff I've dug up across the Sooner State.

Stay tuned for excerpts, bonus photos and videos from my myriad research trips!

Night photographer Troy Paiva, who has contributed his work to both Weird Texas and Weird Arizona, e-mailed me recently to let me know he's made a major update to his website Lost America.

"I've just launched the largest update to the lostamerica.com website since I first put the work online in 1999," he says. "Literally, hundreds of new images. Even if you follow my daily postings on Flickr and Facebook, there will be well over 100 new images you haven't seen before."

If you aren't familiar with Troy's work, which depicts the forgotten, decaying side of America by the light of the moon, stars and specially adapted strobes, I highly recommend you head over to Lost America now and take a long look around.

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Lost America: Night Photography of the Abandoned West

Fans of Weird Texas, Weird Arizona and many of the other Weird books are probably already familiar with the work of Troy Paiva, photographer and roadside adventurer. As a contributor to the series, Troy has added a unique flavor to many stories with his incomparable night photography.

Shooting by the light of the moon, Troy visits decrepit aircraft, forgotten ghost towns and fading motels throughout the Southwest and creates stunning images with little more than a tripod, a flash and a stack of colored gels, transforming the old and decaying into scenes both unearthly and beautiful.

His site Lost America has for years been a popular stop for photographers and travelers alike, and in 2003 he released his first book, Lost America: The Abandoned Roadside West, hailed as "a seductive journey into the unique world his camera's lenses capture ... replete with evocative remembrances of the eerie and wondrous moments Paiva has shared with the so-called empty desert spaces." I have two copies, myself. ... Continued

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Today's Arizona Daily Star has printed in their Accent section a great piece on Weird Arizona.

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Valerie Vinyard last week on my travels to the Grand Canyon State and all the unusual stuff I saw out there. Naturally, being a Tucson-based paper, the Star was mostly interested in hearing about stuff in the "Old Pueblo," like Diamondback Bridge, the 280-foot rattlesnake spanning East Broadway; the Garden of Gethsemane, a decades-old park where you can lunch with Jesus; and El Tiradito, a shrine built in memoriam to an adulterer axed to death by the husband of his lover.

As mentioned in the article, the Tucson area tended to suck me in on my trips out west, but one can include only so much from one region when covering an entire state. One might infer from the article that I believe there are only six weird things in Tucson, but I'm certainly aware of many more; as a bonus for those of you who've followed the article here to the Roadside Resort, here's a list of several other sites in and around Tucson you might want to pay a visit:

... Continued

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The Arizona Daily Star: Loco Local Locales

There's good news for all the fans of the Weird series. The Marks (Moran and Sceurman) are currently tying up a sequel to Weird U.S.!

Weird U.S. 2, which should be released around October 1, will bring together another set of oddities from across the nation, some of which I myself have been lucky enough to contribute.

My additions, should they make the final cut, will include many of the sights I saw on my trip up north last August, like the Floyd Collins museum, featuring "the Greatest Cave Explorer Ever Known," the International Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo, an exclusive organization that does not revere what you probably think of as a "hoo-hoo," and the Mindfield, a bewildering Tennessee structure reminiscent of L.A.'s Watts Towers.

I also wrote about what I've termed the Stubby Hubble, a small town's tribute to Missouri native and astronomy legend Edwin Powell Hubble, the complete text of which I've posted here as an exclusive preview for all the fans of the Roadside Resort. ... Continued

You ever talk so much, your face gets tingly? You know, like a nice little facial buzz? Well, I don't know if it's all the talking I did over the last half hour or if it's the three cups of coffee I downed at 6:00 a.m. to wake myself up, but I've got that prickle in my cheeks like I've been making out with someone for the last 20 minutes and I've just come up for air.

Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. But I'm not all that disappointed. Fact is, I just got off the phone, having completed my first official interview for Weird Arizona! The promotion frenzy has begun.

And I'm happy to say that it's off to a good start. Had a nice long chat with Charles Goyette on Phoenix's KFNX, entertaining the capital's morning commuters with tales of ghosts, yoofos and roadside attractions. ... Continued

Tag: books

The Arizona Republic's Book of the Month: Weird Arizona

Weird Oklahoma Is on the Shelves!

Lost America Update

Night Vision: The Art of Urban Exploration

Loco Local Locales

Weird U.S. 2 Preview

How Did I Manage to Warrant Another 15 Minutes?