The Lives of Eccentrics

The Lives of Eccentrics
Japanese Name	変人偏屈列伝
Alternate Names	Eccentrics, Chronicles of the Bizarre and Eccentric, Bizarre Lives of Eccentric People, The Lives of Eccentrics
Author(s)	Hirohiko Araki Hirohisa Onikubo
Genre	Drama, Historical, Horror, Mature, Mystery, Psychological
Release Date	June 1989 - September 2003 (Publication) March 19, 2004 (Hardcover) April 18, 2012 (Bunko)
Chapters	7
Pages	~30-50 per chap
Publisher	Shueisha
Medium	Manga

The Lives of Eccentrics (変人偏屈列伝, Henjin Henkutsu Retsuden) is a series of short stories written by Hirohiko Araki and illustrated by him and his assistant, Hirohisa Onikubo, released between 1989 and 2003. A hardcover volume compiling all the stories was released by Shueisha in 2004, and was converted into a paperback in 2012.

The manga explores the lives of several famous eccentrics and bizarre real-life people. Each chapter features a different story and concludes within the same chapter. The only exception is Ty Cobb's Story with two chapters.

Characters

While the base composition is provided by Araki, the only stories drawn by him are Typhoid Mary and Sarah Winchester. The rest are drawn by Hirohisa Onikubo.

• History's Greatest Hitting Machine! Ty Cobb (史上最高！　強打製造機　『タイ・カッブ』) (Allman No.10-11, 2001): A famous American baseball player renowned for his performances and his irascible character.
• Oliver's Turn of the Century Showman: Kou Yoshio (オリバー君を仕掛けた世紀の興行師　『康 芳夫』) (Ultra Jump March 2003): A promoter wishing to sell the strangest events to people, the latest of which is the discovery of "Oliver", the so-called "missing link" between apes and humans.
• The Real Ultimate Choice of Typhoid Mary (実在した究極の選択 腸チフスのメアリー) (Ultra Jump September 2003): An ordinary woman who was a carrier for typhoid, yet didn't suffer from it, leading to her infecting dozens of people while she was cooking for them.
• House of Mystery Expanded: Winchster Mystery House (未亡人が増築しつづけた謎の館 ウィンチェスター・ミステリー・ハウス) (Ultra Jump August 2003): The widow of William Winchester of the famous Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Supposedly haunted by those killed by the weapons her husband sold, she had a mansion with improbable layout built in order to confuse them.
• The Brothers that Nobody knew: Collyer brothers (誰も知らない兄弟　『コリヤー兄弟』) (Allman No.2 2002): Two brothers who were unremarkable except for their obsessive hoarding, resulting in their house being full of junk and deadly traps to ward off intruders.
• The Genius Who Made Edison Cower: Nikola Tesla (エジソンを震えあがらせた大天才　『ニコラ・テスラ』) (Super Jump June 1989) (Assistance by Fuji Nobuyuki): An eccentric scientist mostly known for inventing alternative current and his feud with Thomas Edison.

Gallery

<gallery> Lives_of_Eccentric_2.jpg|Bunko Version - Cover 2 EccentricsHard.jpg|Original Hard Cover Version

Trivia

• All the stories are based on real life people. While the story of each character is respected, Araki takes liberties necessary to impregnate his narrative style.