What was the secret of Le Petomane's act that it should have convulsed whole audience for more than twenty years, from 1892 to 1914, and broken all records at the box office? This tribute, a curious blend of vulgarity and filial pride, celebrates the career of a man whose natural endowments enabled him to perform feats that would be dismissed as impossible had they not been witness and vouched for by so many. A best seller in 1967 when it first appeared, this celebration edition, complete with the original, startling photographs, is a timeless memorial to the man who turned a physiological anomaly into a show business phenomenon.

Joseph Pujol was 'Le Petomane' a man who wowed audiences at the Moulin Rouge through his remarkable ability to control his abdominal muscles and sphincter allowing him to fart at will... His act involved mimicking canon fire and thunderstorms and he could play 'O Sole Mio' and 'La Marseillaise' on an ocarina by means of a rubber tube affixed to his anus. He could also blow out a candle from several yards away. -- The Crack * . *
There are two books that no aspiring toilet library should be without: Charles Sale's 'The Specialist' and Nohain and Caradec's 'Le Petomane' * author of Dot Dash and Mrs Darcy vs The Aliens *
Lovers of lavatory humour are in for a rare treat. -- The Oldie * . *

Francois Caradec, historian of the cafe-concert and Jean Nohain, the most famous host of French television, worked together on this book. Dominique Nohain, son of Jean, contributed, after the death of his father, to this new edition.