Conjurers. Cheats. Hustlers. Hoaxsters. Pranksters. Jokesters. Imposters. Pretenders. Side-Show Showmen. Armless Calligraphers. Mechanical Marvels. Popular Entertainments.

The multitalented Ricky Jay (sleight-of-hand artist, actor, author, and scholar or the unusual) wrote and published a unique and beautifully designed quarterly called JAY'S JOURNAL OF ANOMALIES. Already coveted collector's items, the sixteen issues are now gathered here in a complete set, with significant new material and illustrations.

A brilliant excursion into the history of bizarre entertainments, the journal was described in THE NEW YORK TIMES as 'beautiful and elegant ... a combination of rigorous scholarship and personal rumination.'

In a delectably deadpan and winning style, Jay conveys his admiration and affection for the offbeat that characterized his best-selling LEARNED PIGS & FIREPROOF WOMEN. The journal covers such subjects as dogs stealing acts from other dogs, an anthropological hoax involving only the survivors of a caste of ancient Aztec priests, and the ultimate diet: eating nothing at all.

Jay explains how wags since the sixteenth century have cheated at bowling; he explores the ancient relationship between conjuring and denistry; and he chronicles the exploits of ceiling walkers and human flies.

Crammed full of illustrations drawn from the author's massive personal archive, JAY'S JOURNAL OF ANOMALIES will baffle, instruct, and, above all, delight.

Author: Ricky Jay
Publisher: Quantuck Lane Press
Pages: 202pp
Size: 8.5 x 11
Notes: paperback, b/w
Release Date: 2003
ISBN: 978-1593720001