Cajun Folktales (American Storytelling (Paperback))

Was hoping for creative Cajun folklore like I grew up with in South Louisiana. You know: Boudreaux and Thibodeaux are walking down the street... Instead, these stories wouldn't keep a 6 year old entertained. Lame!

This is a very entertaining book. However some of the stories are more like ghost stories. I read before bedtime on recent mini-vacation. Most stories are very short, some I read aloud to my husband while he drove. It's a quick read. Thanks foo for the quick shipping.I purchased this book as a used book but it is more like new.

I really enjoyed this book! I have also read other books by the late J.J.Reneaux and listened to her tapes, and I believe she was a master storyteller. Another reviewer complained that Reneaux was "dumbing down" her Cajun persona, but I think it was JUST a persona she was putting on to make the stories more "flavorful" and entertaining. Anyway, it is a wonderful collection of folktales. My children loved them!

While I commend Reneaux for putting traditional stories into a convenient format, I read each of these stories feeling as if Justin Wilson was telling them. Wilson was over the top with his delivery, and so is Reneaux. It's one thing to tell a story in an interesting way, it's an entirely different thing to tell it in such a way as to "dumb down" the characters in the story. Also, judging by Reneaux's photograph on the back cover, it looks as if she's torn between wanting to be a voodoo queen and a theater student at the local university. In other words, she seems to be trapped in the the commercial idea of what is "Cajun." With no intended offense to Voodoo or its followers, Cajuns were never known for their mystical Voodoo powers as far as I know. We might be a little superstitious and quite a bit Catholic, but Voodoo never seemed to play heavily into the culture.Anyway, the stories are fun to read, but just be cautioned that not all Cajuns act like Justin Wilson and J.J. Reneaux may want you to think they do. In fact, most of them are pretty intelligent people.

Authentic Cajun Folktales was well written and authentic. I hated for it to end.

great stories! loved them

I had listened to this many years ago and was entranced by J.J. Reneaux's storytelling. Because I had listened to it as a cassette tape, I figured it was updated to a CD. Did not notice anything in description mentioning that it was a cassette tape vs CD. I returned it to the seller for return but have not heard back.

When was the last time you had fun reading about folktales with the kids. This is a great collection for all ages.Great little collection of folktales.