Eccentric South Africa - Pat Hopkins

South Africa, healthily, abounds with eccentrics in every form. They are black and white, artists and adventurers, spiritualists and atheists, men and women - all brilliant. They can be found everywhere-in large cities, platteland towns, in caves, trees or even next door.

Some are gregarious, others are reclusive; and some will only join a crowd if it is rioting. Eccentric South Africa is a celebration of the weird and wonderful people and places in our country. The book features the wandering Outa Lappies Schoeman, spiritual artists Noria Mabasa and Jackson Hlungwane, alternative Afrikaners Koos Kombuis and Nataniel. There are interviews with ghost hunters, a white sangoma, and a man who lives in a shoe.

The book showcases curious pubs, restaurants and guesthouses, and explores the remarkable history of places such as Groot Marico and Matjiesfontein. Also covered are some of the more outlandish events in which South Africans take part, such as the Klein Karoo Arts Festival and the Dagga Olympics.

Illustrated with striking photographs, this is a fascinating view of our extraordinary society. PAT HOPKINS is a history and political science graduate from the University of Natal. An award-winning writer and a regular contributor to magazines, he has published two books: The Boy, on Baden-Powell and the Siege of Mafikeng and The Rocky Rioter Teargas Show, on the 1976 Soweto Uprising.