A wide-ranging, probing, and expressive work that defines the resonance of world cultures, this scholarly anthology brings together 100 brief essays evaluating the process and purpose of telling stories throughout the world. These essays, written by leading scholars such as Linda Degh, Jan Harold Brunvand, and William K. McNeil, analyze the anthropological and social implications of tale-telling, listening, and entertainment and consider audience interaction. MacDonald, who is a folklorist and storyteller as well as a children's librarian, has mined a great wealth of enduring literature, both oral and published, to put together this anthology. An important survey should be in most larger libraries.ARichard K. Burns, MSLS, Hatboro, PA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
It is not easy to take in the breadth of scholarship involved in compiling a work of this kind.... The essay are enlightening, convincing, and immensely readable.
–Reference Reviews
An essential reference work. Traditional Storytelling Today will appeal to a variety of users: students, teachers, librarians, folklorists, and storytellers, as well as the general public. Recommended.
–Reference & Users Services Quarterly
The piquant, engaging, cross-cultural 'stories' in this excellent sourcebook/bibliography will expand instruction and learning in literature, anthropology, oral history, geography, sociology, psychology, music, dance, art, and drama.... The analyses one could apply to the material in this astonishingly diverse collection are limitless.... For all collections.
–Choice, January 2000
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