Overview

[A] quixotic, mischievous and often hilarious work...Part travelogue, part memoir and part historical mystery, this book reads like a wry, witty novel and offers a delicious twist at the end. -- Publishers Weekly

Paul Collins takes us on a strange odyssey down the forgotten roads of history as he hunts for the bones of Tom Paine--exhumed and then lost, and now scattered around the globe. Crossing the paths of everyone from Walt Whitman and Charles Darwin to sex reformers and feral monkeys, this colorful search for a founding father's body simultaneously excavates the very soul of democracy.

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9781582346137

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&#8220;The embodiment of revolution comes in for an appropriately anarchic&#8212;and wild, and thoroughly enjoyable&#8212;appreciation&#8230;Literary travel meets history, laced with cartloads of trivia and endless humor.&#8221; &#8212; Kirkus Reviews <p> &#8220;This is research as the Great Library God intended&#8212;one part resourcefulness; one part curiosity; one part instinct; one part slow, keen observation of detail.&#8221;&#8212; Los Angeles Times <p> &#8220; The Trouble with Tom, which seems to begin as a quest to find the remains&#8212;a metaphor for understanding Paine&#8212;becomes a meditation on how elusive both are. The book is full of wry musings and incisive observations about history.&#8221;&#8212; Mother Jones <p> &#8220;What I appreciate so much about Collins is that he chooses to explore the byways of history rather than its highways (especially its superhighways). Rather, it&#8217;s always the odd and unusual that catches his eye and that he chooses to share with

The embodiment of revolution comes in for an appropriately anarchic--and wild, and thoroughly enjoyable--appreciation...Literary travel meets history, laced with cartloads of trivia and endless humor. -- Kirkus Reviews <p> This is research as the Great Library God intended--one part resourcefulness; one part curiosity; one part instinct; one part slow, keen observation of detail. -- Los Angeles Times <p> The Trouble with Tom , which seems to begin as a quest to find the remains--a metaphor for understanding Paine--becomes a meditation on how elusive both are. The book is full of wry musings and incisive observations about history. -- Mother Jones <p> What I appreciate so much about Collins is that he chooses to explore the byways of history rather than its highways (especially its superhighways). Rather, it's always the odd and unusual that catches his eye and that he chooses to share with us--and aren't we lucky that he does. --Nancy Pearl, NPR Book Beat

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