“云南十八怪”其实是对云南各地某些奇特现象和独有风物的一种民间概括之说，主要以口头传承的形式在街头巷尾、村野乡僻之地广泛流传，没有文字记载。本书经过考证整理，对“十八怪”做出比较完整、详尽的记述。
书中提及的“云南十八怪”，都是有违悖于常态的。常识告诉人们，火车由于在平滑笔直的铁轨上运行，一般都快于在公路上行驶的汽车，而云南却是“火车没有汽车快”；鸡蛋一个个摆着卖，这是常理，可云南偏偏就要“鸡蛋拴着卖”；先恋爱，而后结婚生儿育女，此乃人之常情，这云南则有“背着娃娃谈恋爱”……诸如此类，不怪才怪！
无论如何，既然能招惹外地人大惊小怪、能致使本地人乐此不疲，其中自然有原因、有道理。云南十八怪，怪怪惹人爱，怪得有名堂，怪得有意思，怪得有讲究，还不赶紧翻开书本见识见识吧。

概说
A Survey of“The FAghteen Oddities”in Yunnan
云南十八怪寻踪
斗笠反着戴
A Quaint Way Of Wearing Bamboo Hat
姑娘四季把花戴
Flowers in Young Girls’Hair at All Seasons
鞋子后面多一块
A Weird Spade-Shaped Cloth Decorated on the Counter of a Shoe
四季同穿戴
Varied All Seasons Clothes Can Be Weared for Different People in a Day
粑粑叫饵□（特殊字体）
Here the Baba(a kind of cooked rice cake)Is Called Erkuai
豆腐烧着卖
Tofu(bean curd)Is Sold in a Way of Baking
鲜花当蔬菜
Fresh Flower Is Regarded as Vegetable
蚂蚱当做下酒菜
Grasshoppers Can Be a Dish That Going with Wine
竹筒当烟袋
Big Barnboo Tubes Are Used as Smoke Pipes
房子空中盖
Houses Are Built up on Bamboo or Wooded pillars
火车没有汽车快
Trains Can Not Go Faster than Cars Perform
溜索比船快
Going by a Overhead Cable Is Faster than by a Ferryboat
鸡蛋拴着卖
Eggs Are Sold in a Way of Biding Them Up with Straw Rope
草帽当锅盖
Straw Hats Are Used as Pot Covers
水火当作神来拜
Fire and Water Are Worshiped as God
有话不说歌来代
Singing Instead of Talking in Terms of Expressing Something
石头长到云天外
Stone Is Growing behind the Sky and Clouds
山有多高水常在
There Are Always Waters No Matter How High the Mountains
云南八十一怪一览
A Guide to the Eighty-One Queer Things Of Yunnan
编后记
Editorial Afterward