Pissing in the Snow and Other Ozark Folktales

My husband told me about this book 36 years ago, as it was one he'd owned (and lost) before we met. After all these years, I decided to find a copy, and I'm cheering that Amazon makes it possible to discover even the most obscure title.The author spent 40 years collecting the folklore of the Ozark mountains (near where my husband grew up in Missouri, which explains their original appeal). While Randolph was generally regarded as a "distinguished collector of folk tales," he had a set of "bawdy" stories that universities would frown upon in the five books published in the 50s....And thus this book. Because by "folklore," I mean, "101 dirty jokes that you could no longer getting away with telling in public." As the prologue explains, "Obscenity in folklore was, in fact, an issue that most early folklorists avoided. Many either refused to collect such materials (when informants offered them in the course of singing ALL the ballads in their repertoire) or refused to deal with them once they had been collected." But Randolph felt that "obscene elements occupy a prominent place in American folklore, and should be accorded proportional representation in the literature."You can take the book for the scholarly collection it is (really it IS), or enjoy it as a set of jokes you most certainly cannot tell at work.Need a sample? Of course you do. The folktale of the title:One time, there was two farmers that lived out on the road to Carico. They was always good friends, and Bill's oldest boy had been a-sparking one of Sam's daughters. Everything was going fine till the morning they met down by the creek, and Sam was pretty god-dam mad. "Bill," says he, "from now on I don't want that boy of yours to set foot on my place.""Why, what's he done?" asked the boy's daddy."He pissed in the snow, that's what he done, right in front of my house!""But surely, there ain't no great harm in that," Bill says."No harm!" hollered Sam. "Hell's fire, he pissed so that it spelled Lucy's name, right there in the snow!""The boy shouldn't have done that," says Bill. "But I don't see nothing so terrible about it.""Well, by God, I do!" yelled Sam. "There was two sets of tracks! And besides, don't you think I know my own daughter's handwriting?"...whereupon we also learn that it dates from 1853, and that as early as 1952 it was told in Albuquerque. This is suggested to be among the earliest examples of "good news, bad news" jokes. And... hey, you aren't listening! You're still too busy giggling.Well, there 100 more stories where that came from. Go get your OWN copy.

Pissing in the Snow is a collection of extremely short stories (one to two pages, max), told between 1890 and the 1950s, of which the main theme is adultery, followed by measuring/appreciating "tallywackers." There's a healthy dose of incest (example: an Arkansas virgin is a girl who can outrun her brothers), the clap (usually involving incest somehow), and a sprinkling of bestiality involving jackrabbits and donkeys. A few of them are hilarious. A few I wish I could scrub from my brain. Weirdly, I'd like to photocopy the sixty-ninth story so I can best illustrate to the next person who asks me why Arkansas doesn't rhyme with Kansas. Of course, looking back on that story, this is probably a horrible, horrible idea.

The author traveled the Appalachians and chronicled Ozark folk tales in the 1950s. He published them, but there were certain stories that could not be published in those more restrictive times.This is a compilation of the stories they couldn't print. I have always loved short stories, and these are as short as you can get.Very nice to purchase books at such great prices.Unfortunately a neighbor saw me right after I took it out of the mailbox. He thought I picked it up from a stack of books in the lounge. He looked at it, put it in his pocket and left.

I was going to use the word unusual. Colloquial is better and truthful. This material is part of Vance Randolph's collection of Americana specifically from the Ozarks. He collected a lot of folklore about everyday life and backwoods magic and healing. This book is about the other stuff, the same stuff as legends and fairy tales, but more earthy. Dirty stories, play on words, size comparisons, performance and ignorance, dimwits, city versus country, revenge, all are handled here. He collected this lore while this lore was still fresh. And he used the words we're all familiar with, the ones that required a mouth washing.

This book has many, many Ozark folktales contained within its covers and "Pissing in the Snow" is one of the best. I do own a used copy purchased from Amazon.com. I do not know whatever happened to my first copy. One day when browsing Amazon.com I accidentally ran onto this book and just thinking about it brought back such fond memories that I placed an order for it that day. I have loaned this book out many times over with the results of this being one of the best books any of these folks have ever read. In my opinion it is a book that everyone should read.

Arrived in new condition. Great read.

This book is exactly what I expected.I am from the Missouri Ozarks.I knew what to expect and it didnt disappoint!

The stories, most probably fictional, were pretty crude. That is not necessarily bad, but in this case the crudeness was, almost without exception, lacking in wit. They were also written in the dialect of the Ozark people at the time, with its truly poor grammar and usage. I got bored. This book might appeal to those who giggle at "naughty words"or for scholars researching these people in those times but for others don't waste your time or money.

Second instalment I sent abroad to my bro-in-law for cultural upkeep.Sadly it didn't go down well...some people just can't smile.I did like it having read it prior to it's sojern to San Fran, it was more mildly amusing than a hoot.

some good stories ...doubtful finding and the title attracts, but not as much as the contents.About 40% usable ...and adaptable

It's a funny book for young readers, but not for "old guys", i.e., if you are over 30 years old and read it again, you might find the book is not as funny as the first time you read it at high school. I recommend the book to young readers, but not to "grown ups".

I had read this book many many years ago and enjoyed it so much, but lost the book in one of my moves. The writer has a way with the Ozark tales, you'll be laughing so hard. I'm glad I have it again. It's brought back some of the laughter b

Not a compelling read but fun in that crude little stories have interesting and sometimes diverse origins.not a book one gives to Auntie Maud for her birthday.