For the first time in paperback, an acclaimed look at the American South through the lenses of its most acclaimed storytellers and their tales. Rarely does a nonfiction work come along that is as original and refreshing as Sitting Up with the Dead. Here, take a ride with Pamela Petro as she embarks on a series of road trips through the states of the Old South to collect its stories and meet its tellers of traditional tales. Some of them are local...

A collection of tales, rhymes, riddles, superstitions, and sayings organized around the three distinct regions of the South: the Bayou, the Deep South, and Appalachia.

A collection of stories, featuring sparrows, jays, buzzards, and bats, based on those African American tales originally written down by Martha Young on her father's plantation in Alabama after the Civil War.

A collection of trickster tales from the American South, featuring such female animal characters as Molly Cottontail and Miz Goose.

Twelve trickster tales that show the migration of African culture to America via the West Indies.

A collection of sixteen tales about High John the Conqueror, the traditional trickster hero of blacks during and immediately after the time of slavery.

Turtle's shell is cracked when the wolves plot to stop his boastful ways.

A collection of folktales from people in the Deep South including Cajun, Creole, Native Americans, African Americans, those of English as well as Scotch-Irish-German traditions, and others living in Appalachia.

"An agent of chaos and deceit, the trickster has been a favorite character type in stories spanning thousands of years and multiple peoples. From legends belonging to Native Americans such as the Creek, Natchez, Seminole and Catawba, to tales borrowed from Africa and Europe, this work has compiled 73 trickster tales into one volume. Beginning with Creek tales, this work continues with a blend of Native American and African American folktales, organized...