The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales (review)
2007; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 61; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2007.0578
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies
ResumoReviewed by: The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales April Spisak Datlow, Ellen , ed. The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales; ed. by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling; illus. by Charles Vess. Viking, 2007 [544p] ISBN 978-0-670-06194-5$19.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 7-12 Contributions from twenty-six authors explore tricksters through myriad lenses, cultural perspectives, and storytelling styles in this intriguing anthology. Though most selections are stories, there are a few poems in the mix, such as Carolyn Dunn's "Coyote Woman," about a sultry and nurturing trickster who cannot be tied down by patriarchal notions of female decency. Even with most of the stories set in the United States, there is striking variety within this geographical boundary: the historical one-room schoolhouse haunted by a ghost who doesn't care for diagramming sentences in "Uncle Bob's Visit" is worlds away from Holly Black's contemporary take on the devil's-fiddle challenge (now an eating contest involving gummy frogs) in "A Reversal of Fortune." The benefit of drawing from such a range of authors, each of whom brings different interpretations of tricksters to this assignment, is that everything including animals, humans, spirits, and toys take their turn, all but guaranteeing that every reader will find a sample that fits their expectations of tricksters perfectly. Stories do depart somewhat from folkloric [End Page 14] tradition in the number of times tricksters get bested, which results in a very un-tricksterly inflation of the human position. Although the stories easily stand alone with short author notes, the editors offer extensive context for the evolution and history of trickster tales through an introduction, prologue, and wide-ranging list of further readings. Copyright © 2007 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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