The Oral Tradition of the American West: Adventure, Courtship, Family, and Place in Traditional Recitation (American Folklore Series)

There was a time in the American West when oral performance of stories, often in rhyme, was as natural as speaking-when to recite, or "give a piece'" was a favorite way to entertain family and friends. That time is almost-but not quite-gone. In this book, Keith Cunningham brings us transcriptions of the performance of twenty-eight people for whom the oral tradition of the West is alive and lively