Behavior: Rise of The American Oddball

U.S. eccentrics are kinder and less sarcastic than the British sort

Since he is a millionaire recluse who lives with a monkey and wears a single sequined glove, Michael Jackson qualifies. So does President Andrew Jackson, a card-carrying aristocrat who insisted on creating a backwoods image as "Old Hickory." Prominent achievers like Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford all fit the profile. Others that make the grade are less well known. They include a Long Island vampire expert, a California professor of frog psychology and a Virginia doctor who disports himself in a clown's nose and goofy hats and refuses to charge his patients.

All are certifiable American eccentrics. So says...

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