Bücher von Bill Brett

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.

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.