Many perfectly ordinary people assert that they're a little crazy. As proof, they'll say they prefer their pancakes with a dollop of peanut butter. Of course, these folks are total wimps on the eccentricity scale. Just ask Dr. David Weeks, co-author of Eccentric.
Weeks, an American neuropsychologist and therapist at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital in Scotland, and his associates interviewed more than 1,000 eccentrics across two continents. His study suggests that about 1 in 10,000 people is a "classic, full-time eccentric." They tend to be creative, curious, idealistic, intelligent, opinionated, outspoken, humorous, single, usually the eldest or an only child, and healthier than most people (probably because they're less prone to the stresses of conformity). Oh yeah: most of them are bad spellers.
Eccentrics, which Weeks wrote with journalist Jamie James, is highly entertaining and sometimes moving. The Achilles' heel of Weeks' study, however, may be that the majority of his thousand-plus subjects initiated contact, possibly excluding shy or anti-social eccentrics. As a scientific endeavor, the book is flawed. But as a serious pop-cultural exploration of a little-understood phenomenon, it's a gratifying read.
Eccentrics: A Study of Sanity and Strangeness, by David Weeks and Jamie James: US$23. Villard: (800) 726 0600, +1 (212) 572 2843.
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