You Can Get Arrested for That: 2 Guys, 25 Dumb Laws, 1 Absurd American Crime Spree »

Rich Smith is twenty-five and lives in Portreath on the north Cornish coast. He is currently studying for a degree in journalism. His ambition is to become a primary school teacher.

Two Englishmen on a crime spree break American laws!

Stupid, unreasonable, and long-forgotten laws—but laws just the same.

In 1787 the wise framers of the U.S. Constitution laid out the laws of the land. Since then, things have gone awry, and a few laws even the far-sighted framers couldn’t have imagined have worked their way onto the books in towns and cities across the country.

Did you know that in the United States it’s illegal to:

• Fish while wearing pajamas in Chicago, Illinois?

• Enter a theater within three hours of eating garlic in Indianapolis?

• Offer cigarettes or whiskey to zoo animals in New Jersey?

• Fall asleep in a cheese factory in South Dakota?

Englishman Rich Smith discovered these little-known laws during a great American crime spree that took him from coast to coast in search of girls to kiss (it’s illegal to kiss for longer than five minutes at a time in Kansas), oranges to peel (which the law says shouldn’t be done in hotel rooms in California), and whales to hunt (unlawful in Utah).

What inspired a perfectly law abiding, mild-mannered Englishman to come to America and take on the law? He simply wanted to know why. How did these “only in America” laws come to be, do the police know they exist, and would they care if he broke them? So with his best mate, Bateman, by his side—and at the ready should bail be required—Smith set out to break the law in the United States.

Part road trip, part chronicle of the absurdity of human behavior, part search for the ultimate in roadkill, You Can Get Arrested for That follows Smith and Bateman on their not quite Bonnie and Clyde adventure.

Library Journal

If you've ever Googled "silly laws" and "United States," you know that there are laws in all 50 states that just don't make much sense. Some laws clearly date back to frontier days (a group of five or more Native Americans is considered an "Indian Uprising" in Michigan), while others defy logic (you cannot fish while wearing pajamas in Chicago). Smith, along with his companion Luke Bateman (both are British), set out with the backing of some British newspapers to see if they can break laws from coast to coast. Along the way, they discover that a lot of things are wrong in the States (to be fair, England has its share of weird laws: placing a stamp of the current monarch upside-down is considered an act of treason). But once they venture into the heartland, they find a lot to like. This thoroughly enjoyable, occasionally provocative book will delight readers who might wonder why it's illegal in Colorado to lend your vacuum cleaner to your next-door neighbor. Recommended.-Joseph L. Carlson, Allan Hancock Coll., Lompoc, CA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.