Customer Reviews

Pissing in the Snow and Other Ozark Folktales

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I took a strange but ultimately interesting course in American Folklore back at good old MWC. Our Professor made us read this book, and I can never thank him enough. I am still not sure what the purpose of us reading this book was, but the stories were hilarious. I laughed so much reading these stories. Many of which were simply extended dirty jokes. This was by far the best book I read at college. I don't know much about Folklore, but at the very least if you want to read a funny book, get pissing in the snow.

After the kids were snug in their sleeping bags and tents, their parents would pop the corks on their favorite brews and this collection of dirty, one-pager, country stories was passed from person to person around the campfire and read aloud. People would literally fall over, roaring with laughter, gasping for breadth. And often,the reader was paralized with laughter and couldnt continue. The stories are red neck filthy and funny beyond words. I didnt get the cultural relevance, I was too busy laughing. Not for the politically correct.

I have a copy of this book that has been with me for a number of years now and every now and again, I find myself leafing through it. It never ever fails to bring a chuckle or a down right laugh. This is a collection, for lack of a better word, of Dirty Jokes, dating back to the 1800's. The jokes and stories range from the cute to the absolute raunchy. They, for the most part are presented in the dialect of the teller. The author has gone to great pains to research their origins and has given credit to the individual teller when ever possible. Being well in to my dotage now, these jokes are the ones I grew up with here in the Ozarks (in fact, I personally know some of the individuals mentioned in the book), and they never fail to bring back fond memories. Most of the jokes, like most of the people in this area at that era, are very earthy and to the point. I suppose there may be those who might be offended, but they are, the jokes and stories, apart of our heritage and I am grateful to the author for having preserved them. For those that are offended, and I rather pity them, well they certainly need not read past the first page. Many of these stories would be lost now for not for his research and his recordings. Recommend this one highly and recommend this one be one you buy and keep as you will no doubt want to give it a reread and it is certainly something that future generations should have.

When I fetched this book from a friend I knew it was a-going to be a good'un. Filled to the brim with rural anecdotes, for womenfolk and fellas alike, "Pissing in the Snow" is sure to get any reader plumb excited.

All regionalisms aside, I truly did enjoy this book. It starts a bit slow, but once the old-fashioned nature is understood and appreciated, the country boy jokes about bodily functions and not-so-veiled references to intercourse keep the laughs coming. Replete with colloquialisms such as "twitchet" for female sexual anatomy and "tallywhacker" for the male organ, the stories should elicit a sense of nostalgia from anyone who's heard a good campfire joke told by someone from The Great Generation.

Most of the time the stories revolve around a preacher, a traveling salesman, clever country folks tricking dumb city folks, or the ubiquitous farmer with a young naïve daughter about to be deflowered. The language used throughout is interesting to say the least, with improper verb conjugation and pronoun usage sentences like, "That's just what Bobby Ray done, too!" are not uncommon.

My favorite part of each story was the ending. Each ending is supposed to confirm the veracity of the story, but only adds doubt. It's like hearing someone end every story with, "For real!" They come across like a story from your Grandpa, creating a positive, enjoyable vibe that amplifies the innocence past. Without what would be considered vulgarity by today's standards, "Pissing in the Snow" proves there is more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to humor. There may be times when readers from the big city will dismiss this as boring or unintelligent, but I reckon if you-uns read this here collection of stories you'll think differently, because Amazon readers is smarter than that, anyhow.

When I first read this book 20 years ago, I had no idea that this type of material (dirty jokes, to be precise) constituted folklore or any other basis for serious study. I merely thought that it was a guilty entertainment. You might imagine my delight to find that in addition to some very funny, albeit very crude and crass, stories, there was a thoughtful, intellectual critical introduction and a series of short annotations after each nasty excerpt, including thematic code numbers under the Stith Thompson indexing system. I simply can't recommend this book to highly for anyone with earthy tastes, but an aspiration toward the higher and more thoughtful aspects of the vulgar. Also, it's very reasonably priced, compared to the other works in the genre.

Excellent old American humor! Taken from supposedly real stories from the Ozarks, and the surrounding areas. Keep a Kleenex close by, because you will laugh till tears come to your eyes.

This book was a supplemental text for an anthropology class I took at Arkansas College, Batesville, AR. in the late '70's. My grandfather grew up in the Oklahoma territory in the early days of this century and traveled quite a bit. He'd heard variants on many of the bawdy stories in the book, and relayed the stories as he knew them to me. I still have copies of this book in paperback,and I try to buy them as I find them since I have friends who always enjoy having a copy for themselves. I went to college with people who lived in the areas where these stories are told to this day, and the places and some family names are familiar to them.

I like to read this book whenever I'm stressed out and realize I shouldn't take life so seriously. The fact that the tales are short but witty allows me to read them whenever I want, instead of having to read the whole book at once.

I happened upon a copy of this book randomly and after reading a few pages decided on a whim to pick it up. Without a doubt, this single volume has been responsible for more laughter in my living room than any thing else, ever. After reading the whole thing cover to cover and laughing my self silly, I shared it with my friends, who couldn't get enough. We would sit around for hours taking turns reading the stories out loud, with either an okie accent or whatever accent the reader felt like doing (which, by the way, is well worth doing if you know anyone who can do a good Christopher Walken). This is by far the funniest collection of stories I have ever read, and I love that it also has a little historical breakdown, with credit given to the teller and a small history of the joke itself. It never fails to bring out the laughter, and is a perfect companion for some friends, some good beer, and some fun nights. God bless the America that gave rise to this amazing, hilarious collection of folky humor! Some might be offended, but come on! This is earthy humor at its best.

This book is a great collection of Ozark Folktales and stories. I wouldn't recomend reading this book to a 10 year old because of the content of some of the stories, but I would recomend this book to the older reader who would appreciate the wit and humor.