Buford McDougal is modeled after a legendary singer/songwriter and raconteur from central Florida. One could call Buford a wise fool or a wild wonder that keeps people from taking themselves too seriously--or just call him late for dinner.

Folktales teach, inform, and heal. Most of all, they entertain. Here's a collection of tales rich with homespun humor, charm, and wisdom--all told with flair by some of Florida's best and most sought-after storytellers. Their stories will make you feel part of the great "family" that is Florida. If it's spooky ghost stories you crave, let "The Silent Customer," "Kissimmee Bound," and "The Ghost Dog of the Biltmore" chill your spine. Heed the Cracker wisdom handed down in "Seek the Higher Ground," cow-hunter poetry with a message. Chuckle over the misadventures of Flossie, Bubba, and Flo in "Three Little Cracker Pigs," a tongue-in-cheek version of the classic children's tale. Test your wits against the little troll in "Angelina and Cigam." Will he have you running in circles, growing smaller with each snap of his fingers? Take "Cousin Cassie's Cookin" with a grain of salt. It's not true, of course. Then again, if Cassie asks you to dinner, say you have other plans. Many Indian legends attempt to explain why the world exists as it is. In this tradition, several tales target specific flukes of nature--the rabbit's short tail, the flamingo's long neck, the woodpecker's lack of song--and offer entertaining reasons for their existence. Discover these legends too: "The Devil's Millhopper," "The Legend of Lake Okeechobee," "Monkey, the Trickster," "Why Florida Key Deer Are So Small." A few history lessons never hurt anyone, and these are entertaining as well. Jonathan Dickinson, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Jake Summerlin have a thing or two to teach you about overcoming adversity and being resourceful. Settle back into your easy chair and let these tales entertain you.

Whenever you need an amusing story to hold attention, drive home a point in speech making to enliven conversation, or to read just for fun, the more than 4,100 peppery, bubbling stories in this volume will satisfy every demand. All are arranged alphabetically under subject. The index and cross-index makes it possible to locate the right story quickly. The range of this volume is far and wide. The stories are about people in all walks of life. All of them are wholesome and clean. And what is more, you will want to remember and retell these stories. Drawn from the vagaries, the foibles, and the peculiarities of human nature, they provide countless chuckles from many different locales. The ENCYCLOPEDIA of WIT, HUMOR and WISDOM is indispensable for public speakers, toastmasters, lawyers, ministers, educators, writers, salesmen, and those who love a good laugh.

Written in the gothic tradition of James Dickey's Buckdancer's Choice, R.T. Smith's Brightwood contains 38 poems set in the American South. This intellectual and emotionally powerful collection is an interplay of southern music, religion and culture with nature.

A collection of 20 studies of proverbs first published in 1981 by Garland. Among the general topics are structure, oral transmission, and practical reasoning. Proverbs examined in detail include African, Yiddish, Shakespeare's, Chinese, Irish, and those used in advertising. Includes an addenda to the bibliography. No index. Paper edition (unseen), $19.95. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

An indispensible guide to southernness from revered humorist and unapologetic curmudgeon Roy Blount Jr. When a simple-talking, peanut-warehousing, grit-eating Southern Baptist Cracker got himself nominated for president of the United States in 1976, it set Roy Blount Jr. to thinking—about the South, about southerners, and about southernness. The result is a collection of savagely funny and insightful takes on redneck heaven, whiskey, blood, possums, and a great number of other things. Blount turns his gimlet eye on his Dixie home, and in the process, he clears up long-held misconceptions (and creates new ones) about the people who reside below the Mason-Dixon line. Crackers delivers classic Blount, whether you are a proud southerner or a clueless Yankee.

"How would you, in the space of five minutes, so impress a shopkeeper as to make him give you a $125 tie, and then an expensive camel hair sport coat, at no charge, without your asking? The author did just that. He tells how being mistaken for a bellboy netted him several speaking engagements at a major corporation. Through dozens of stories both inspiring and hilarious, the author shows the wisdom of a philosophy of service and self-giving"--Amazon.com.