The stories in this book are the kind you might hear sitting on the porch past dark listening to distant hounds after a fox in the southeast Texas bottoms, tales with some truth and some lies and much pleasure take in the telling and the listening, tales with a strong sense of place and people, rooted firmly in the oral tradition. Sure enough, there “ain’t no such animal” as a completely honest man, as the title story shows. Other stories tell of justice as swift and sure as a mule’s kick, of epic brawls and the trials of courtship, of poachers, politicians, and preachers, of hogs and dogs and horse traders, of good neighboring and bad blood, of life and death and youth and age in southeast Texas as it was early in the twentieth century. In the tradition of Frank Dobie and Fred Gipson, Bill Brett writes with the natural humor and wisdom of the folk themselves. His stories will delight anyone with an interest in folk life or with the inclination to stop and “set a spell” and listen to a good yarn.

There Ain't No Such Animal and Other East Texas Tales

Brett, Bill

Literature & Fiction

Texas A&M University Press

Author tells stories and tales of the way people live in southeast Texas with humor and wisdom. Stories of boys, dogs, horses, farmers, preachers and the country life.

This Here's a Good'un

Short Stories & Anthologies

Bill Brett's folk tale of life in the Big Thicket takes place in the years around the turn of the century. Brett heard the story from the old man who had lived it. He retells it as a captivating, earthy yarn that won the National Cowboy Hall of Fame's Western Heritage Award for folklore in 1978, when it first appeared in cloth edition. The narrator, a young man hurt in an oilfield accident and down on his luck, runs out of money. When the opportunity presents itself, he steals a small herd of steers and a horse and sets out to drive them to a distant market. Suddenly his plans are halted when he comes down with a severe case of malaria. Fortunately he meets a poor but generous black man and woman who nurse him back to health, spending their last dollar to buy his medicine. Like a modern Robin Hood, the young man shares the fruits of his theft with the poor, trading the stolen steers for a small farm he then signs over to his benefactors. They never learn the source of their wealth, which they in turn continue to share with others. In one more effort to repay his friends--and in a final act of revenge for a wrong done to them--he ensures their security while giving up his own.

The Stolen Steers: A Tale of the Big Thicket

Contemporary

Hear from more than two dozen of the most original and experienced voices at On The Water magazine as they share their tips and techniques for catching the beloved striped bass. If you want to catch more striped bass in more places, you'll find the keys in the first two sections, "Striper Destinations" and "Tackle &amp; Techniques." For some of the finest writing about the sport of striped bass fishing, open up to the third section, "Striper Tales."

New England Stripers: A Fishing Anthology

Sports & Outdoors

Hunting & Fishing

On the Water Llc

History

Americas

In fact, all the stories in this collection are good’uns. Bill Brett has a fine ear for the ways of speech and a sharp eye for the way of life of the forests and swamps of the southeastern region of Texas. Some might say that the tone of many of these tales is more autobiographical than that of his earlier collection, There Ain’t No Such Animal, and perhaps that’s true, for in these stories he shows a keen understanding of what it was like for a boy growing up in the early decades of the twentieth century, passing into manhood, and accepting the responsibility that comes with maturity. But there are also stories here about such topics as the strains of married life, the hazards of an obsession for deer hunting, the drawbacks to being part of a family, and the foibles of politicians. In other words, Bill Brett writes with natural humor and perceptive wisdom about the way folks live through all their years. These stories will appeal to anyone who likes a well-told yarn about boys, dogs, horses, farmers, preachers, and the country life that was common to us all just a few generations ago.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Brett, Bill. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Brett, Bill

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Brett, Bill. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

There Ain't No Such Animal and Other East Texas Tales

This Here's a Good'un

The Stolen Steers: A Tale of the Big Thicket

New England Stripers: A Fishing Anthology

There Ain't No Such Animal and Other East Texas Tales

This Here's a Good'un