In No Dribbling the Squid, armchair athletes—and anyone who enjoys tales of the strange and unusual—get a front-row seat at some of the world's most mind-blowing feats of strength, endurance, and eccentricity.

Here are profiles of more than 70 fringe, far-fetched, and frightening sports, all featured in up-close-and-personal photos. With everything from wayward warfare (Japanese mudflinging, team snowball fighting, professional shin kicking) to displaced races (swamp soccer, outhouse racing, underwater cycling, or elephant polo), to toe- and finger-wrestling, chess boxing, extreme mountain unicycling, spitting and hurling contests, city-wide brawls, and recess games gone grown-up, there's something here to tickle any competitor's freaky streak.