After you've browsed through this entertaining and captivating compendium, you will better understand why Elmira, New York, has a greater "quirk" quotient than most places. To prove his point, author Horace Martin Woodhouse has dug up bits of esoterica - odd, amusing, and little-known strands that make up the city's variegated fabric. Can you name Elmira's astronaut, Playboy Magazine centerfold, North Pole explorer, NASCAR champion, TV judge, or the local boxer who fought Joe Louis? What is the Lincoln assassination's connection to Elmira? Who turned a local newspaper into a national media empire? Why is Elmira College obsessed with the color purple? Where was Mark Twain's favorite local saloon? How did Elmira come to be called the "Queen City"? What in the world was the King of France doing here? Readers will learn the answers to these intriguing questions and much, much more. Fascinating tangents and tidbits in purposely random sequence (with generous cross-references) create a ready-to-explore trail of knowledge about Elmira and its environs. It's brimming with amazing true stories, corrected myths, and peculiar particulars about the people and events that have shaped local culture. This winningly irreverent little book is guaranteed to reveal things you never knew about this upstate New York city.