diff --git a/README b/README
index 163b715..fb58642 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -65,6 +65,12 @@ Then invoke:
 
   $ restclient private_site
   
+Use as a one-off, curl-style:
+
+  $ restclient get http://example.com/resource > output_body
+
+  $ restclient put http://example.com/resource < input_body
+
 == Logging
 
 Write calls to a log filename (can also be "stdout" or "stderr"):
diff --git a/bin/restclient b/bin/restclient
index 5a7fb70..0fbfb19 100755
--- a/bin/restclient
+++ b/bin/restclient
@@ -7,10 +7,18 @@ require "yaml"
 
 def usage(why = nil)
 	puts "failed for reason: #{why}" if why
-	puts "usage: restclient url|name [username] [password]"
+	puts "usage: restclient [get|put|post|delete] url|name [username] [password]"
+	puts "  The verb is optional, if you leave it off you'll get an interactive shell."
+	puts "  put and post both take the input body on stdin."
 	exit(1)
 end
 
+if %w(get put post delete).include? ARGV.first
+	@verb = ARGV.shift
+else
+	@verb = nil
+end
+
 @url = ARGV.shift || 'http://localhost:4567'
 
 config = YAML.load(File.read(ENV['HOME'] + "/.restclient")) rescue {}
@@ -22,7 +30,7 @@ else
 end
 
 usage("invalid url '#{@url}") unless @url =~ /^https?/
-usage("to few args") unless ARGV.size < 3
+usage("too few args") unless ARGV.size < 3
 
 def r
 	@r ||= RestClient::Resource.new(@url, @username, @password)
@@ -30,6 +38,15 @@ end
 
 r # force rc to load
 
+if @verb
+	if %w(put post).include? @verb
+		puts r.send(@verb, STDIN.read)
+	else
+		puts r.send(@verb)
+	end
+	exit 0
+end
+
 %w(get post put delete).each do |m|
  eval <<-end_eval
 def #{m}(path, *args, &b)