Like Studs Terkel's Working and David Brooks's Bobos in Paradise, The Banana Sculptor. captures the follies, the obsessions, and the dreams (sublime or ridiculous) that define our individuality and our notions of happiness. With wit and without ever passing judgment, the authors bring to life the amazing ways in which people relax, compete with others, and exercise their imaginations.The activities described range from an attempt to swim all the Great Lakes, to carving the "Last Supper" in wood, to amassing the world's largest collection of marbles. One person is determined to eat at every McDonald's in the nation, another to cross all the world's suspension bridges. There are collectors of talking birds and of Noah's arks; champion bakers, in-line skaters, and kite-flyers. But no matter how odd or how mundane their pursuits may seem, it is impossible not to admire their commitment to achieving their goals.