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This two-volume collection of folktales represents some of the finest examples of American oral tradition. Drawn from the largest archive of American folk culture, the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, this set comprises magic tales, legends, jokes, tall tales and personal narratives, many of which have never been transcribed before, much less published, in a sweeping survey. Eminent folklorist and award-winning author Carl Lindahl selected and transcribed over 200 recording sessions - many from the 1920s and 1930s - that span the 20th century, including recent material drawn from the September 11 Project. Included in this varied collection are over 200 tales organized in chapters by storyteller, tale type or region, and representing diverse American cultures, from Appalachia and the Midwest to Native American and Latino traditions. Each chapter begins by discussing the storytellers and their oral traditions before presenting and introducing each tale, making this collection accessible to high school students, general readers or scholars.
List of contents
Introduction - A Note on the Recordings and How The Are Transcribed American Folktales: Their Stuff and Styles; 1. The First Face of American Folktale-tellers: The Hickses and the Harmons; 2. Sara Cleveland, Brant Lake, New York; 3. J.D. Suggs: Itinerant Master; 4. Joshua Alley, Jonesport, Maine; 5. Will Gillie Gilchrist: Tales of Injustice in the Urban South; 6. Jane Mancy Fugate; 7. First Family of American Collectors - John and Alan Lomax; 8. Legendary America; 9. Tall Tale America; 10. Jokes; 11. Passing It On: Stories for Children; 12. Hard Times: Personal, Regional, and National Struggles; 13. Folktales in the Making - The September 11 Project; Notes on the Tales; Index of Storytellers; Index of Regions, States and Locales of the Storytellers; List of Tales from this Book Available Online or in Other Audio Forms; Major Folktale Collectors and Collections; Tale Type Index; Motif Index
