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They thought it might be fun.

But one bonsai becomes 150, and kite flying takes a turn for the cutthroat in this collection of vignettes about seemingly mild-mannered people enthralled by their one particular interest.

Sheehan and Means chronicle the all-consuming pastimes of those who harbor passions for marbles, postcards, eating at McDonald's or wearing purple.

Not surprisingly, the most intriguing chapters concern those whose quests seem the most extreme.

Jim Dreyer has swum across all the Great Lakes except Lake Superior. His first swim, across Lake Michigan, took almost 41 hours. He discovered he could swim in his sleep.

There are more than 12,000 McDonald's restaurants in the United States, and Peter Holden has eaten at 10,509 of them. He has sampled regional fare such as grits and culinary experiments such as hot dog McNuggets. If he can't go to a new McDonald's, he revisits one. His ultimate vision is one of having eaten at every McDonald's in the world.

In the telling of these endeavors, Sheehan and Means include a laundry list of details that reads less like a laundry list and more like an exciting culmination of someone's rarefied dream. It's as if Rocky had been reincarnated into a middle-aged man checking off each McDonald's, receiving three parking tickets in Manhattan in three hours — all to further his training.

And while their subjects' pursuits and interests vary, the authors show how certain character traits are common to each of them. These "contestants" (as one is tempted to call them) find assurance in the knowledge that their collections and quests are of an infinite nature. When Dreyer swam across Lake Ontario, he threw in a marathon run and a 130-mile bike ride.

Postcard collector Leonard Lauder says: "For me, the pleasure is in the chase. Possession is far less exciting. I don't ever really want to have a complete collection."

The people portrayed also share a sense of unwavering optimism, sometimes revealed in an endearing lack of self-consciousness. One man recalls joining the Tiddlywinks Club when he matriculated at MIT because he wanted to "change from being a nerd into being a person."

In fact, most of these chapters also are brief testimonies of what a passion can do for a person. And while the actual pursuits might not entice, the telling is always engaging.

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