Author Description

Bungee jumping (the first from Golden Gate Bridge) and BASE jumping, cliff jumping and hang-gliding (off Kilimanjaro), skiing down almost vertical slopes in double-decker London buses, jumping off huge bridges in oversized kangaroo costumes -- this is the inside story of an informal group of amateur adventurers who broke laws, legs, and chandeliers around the world, leaving a trail of crashed cars, unpaid bills, empty bottles, and over-turned conventions in their wake. World famous (they were on "That's Incredible" and "immortalized" in the film "The History of the Dangerous Sports Club") and little understood, they were a mixture of artists and engineers, soldiers and academics, an MP, and one of the Monty Python team (Graham Chapman), united by their interest in creative forms of excitement. Lyster, an accomplished skydiver and hang-glider, was involved in the club throughout the '80s, traces the progress of the club from its beginnings at Oxford, through its heydey of innovation and entertainment, to its eventual decline into chaos and irrelevance. Strange Adventures is a story of English eccentrics and adventurers: real-life Phineas Foggs. It's a tale of nerve, drunkenness, and wild spending; of movies, sponsors, and TV shows; of surrealism, irresponsibility, and bounced checks; of hugh public recognition and utter commercial failure....it's the story of the Dangerous Sports Club.