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Reviews 141 recount their careers as history without leaving a bad taste in the mouth. This doesn’t seem to happen in The Gunfighter. In the end, it is still hard to separate fiction from fact as one re-reads the careers of Wyatt Earp, Ben Thompson, John Wesley Hardin, and the others. Mr. Rosa is best when he writes authoritatively about the development and performance of the Colt’s revolver and its rivals; such artifacts do give reliable testimony on both their existence and their capabilities. Mr. Rosa makes these facts quite clear; but this book otherwise has still not succeeded in defining the killer on the frontier as hoodlum or in dispelling the heroic image of the gunfighter as superman. J o h n B a rsness, Boise State College The Study of American Folklore. By Jan Brunvand. (N.Y.: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1968. xiii + 383 pages, index, $6.50.) Jan Brunvand, who has taught in the past in Idaho and in Illinois, is now at the University of Utah. He is one of this country’s highly regarded folklorists, book review editor for Journal of American Folklore, and the author of many articles and papers. By writing the Study of American Folklore, he has performed a real service to anyone interested in the field of folklore. Brunvand begins his volume by defining folklore in generally satisfactory terms: “folk” applying to any group having one or more interests in common and “lore” embracing that body of traditional knowledge common to such a group. He then proceeds to discuss the major branches of folklore: verbal, partly verbal, and non-verbal. His discussion of each branch is logical and well organized. The style is generally effective. The examples used are interest­ ing and selected to make the major points as clear as possible. Each chapter is devoted to a type of folklore, succinctly and accurately delineated. Also, each chapter ends with informative bibliographic notes. These are of con­ siderable value to anyone who wishes to pursue the study of one of the types to any great extent, and it is hoped that more people will. An appendix includes three scholarly essays, one for each of the major types of folklore discussed at the beginning of the book: The Taming of the Shrew Tale in the United States, by Jan Brunvand; The Folklore of Academe, by J. Barre Toelken; and the Types of the Southern Mountain Cabin, by Henry Glassie. The index is good and effectively pinpoints the major items. A good many books have been written on American folklore, some of them very worthwhile (Dorson, Dundes, Coffin), but this volume is the one 142 Western American Literature which has the best chance of being used as a basic text for introductory courses in folklore. It is better, for this purpose, than almost any other book in the field, partly because the Brunvand work is a general survey of the discipline. Taking all aspects into consideration, Brunvand has filled a definite need with his work, a volume which evinces thorough scholarship based in part on his study at Indiana with Richard Dorson and others who rank among the leading folklorists of this country. The Study of American Folklore is very sound in every important respect. It should be given high priority as a basic text by every teacher of folklore, provided that teacher has an adequate knowledge of the discipline before he takes on the teaching assign­ ment. Each folklorist and each library in the country should have a copy of this book even though a single volume can do little more than scratch the surface. Brunvand himself is well aware of this aspect, and perfectly willing to admit it, as is shown in the labeling of the work as an introduction. With a companion volume of selected readings, yet to be edited by someone, The Study of American Folklore can serve as the primary text for any basic course in folklore of the United States. It is highly recommended. It is likely to have an excellent record of adoption, well deserved, as it holds the interest of amateur and professional folklorist alike. K en P e r...

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