Arizona Curiosities

Arizona Curiosities is a fun books for basically two types of people: those who have been in Arizona a long time and think they've seen it all, and those who enjoy scavenger hunts. This book is a light read, suitable for teenagers and septuagenarians alike. There's no plot to Arizona Curiosities. It is a series of short descriptions of unusual places and things you'll find in Arizona. There's no need to read it cover to cover, but I did!

Arizona Curiosities was written by Sam Lowe, who has lived in Arizona for more than 35 years. He was a humorist and columnist for the Arizona Republic until 1999 when we retired.

Every unusual place or person or thing (or Thing!) he mentions in his book are totally unique to the State of Arizona. I was surprised that I was familiar with or had been to many of the oddities that he described. As a matter of fact, I didn't think some of them were very strange at all, which just shows you how weird I am. For instance, I knew that the Fountain in Fountain Hills was special, but it isn't really wacky or strange. However, I had no ideas that the world's largest rose bush is in Tombstone, and now I know I've got to get back there to see it. There are thousands of Arizonans who, like me, have driven by that sign inviting us to see "The Thing" but never stopped to see what "The Thing" is. Now I know. Did I want to know? I don't know.

The book is arranged by region of the state, so it makes it easy to take the book along on the family roadtrip and make a game out of finding the items Mr. Lowe mentions in the book. At least that's what I'd do.

This book would make a great gift for any family, newcomer to Arizona, or native Arizonan. Arizona Curiosities will make even the most traveled Arizonan say, "Gee--I never knew that!"