It All Began Innocently Enough: An Investigative Report on the Origins, Escalation, and Institutional Mismanagement of American Streaking, 1799-1977 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798189716041)

It All Began Innocently Enough is a satirical historical report written in the deadpan voice of aninvestigator working for the fictional (and conveniently defunded) Interagency Working Groupon Ambulatory Nudity.

Framed around sixty-one cartons of primary research, the report traces the phenomenon of public running from a 1799 ten-guinea bet in London to an 1804 Virginia college senior who streaked his way into the U.S. House of Representatives, before culminating in the wild nine-week national mania of spring 1974.

The narrative chronicles the escalation of campus records-complete with pep bands, gorilla masks, paragliders, and the 46th Academy Awards-while examining how American institutions responded across four predictable stages: Denial, The Statement, The $10 Fine, and Scheduling. Sellers combines meticulous historical reality with absurd satirical invention to examine how fads spread, how scorekeeping replaces rebellion, and why every participant across every state stubbornly kept their shoes on.