Richard Chase (1) (1904–1988)

In 1943, Richard Chase - an authority on Anglo-American folklore - published The Jack Tales, a collection of eighteen traditional stories from the southern Appalachian tradition, all featuring the often silly (and always fortunate) hero Jack. This picture-book, originally published in 1950, is a follow-up to that collection, and presents an additional nineteenth Jack tale.

Here, the eponymous hero sets out to market with his wife's cow, having received strict instructions to return with no show more less than fifty dollars for her. But some rambunctious bovine behavior on the road convinces him to make a trade - the first of many - and when his wife next sees him, he has significantly less than fifty dollars! Infuriated by his behavior, Jack's wife leaves home, vowing not to return until she encounters three peoples as silly as he is...

This is an amusing tale, told in the dialect of the region, and illustrated in both color and black and white by Joshua Tolford. The tale-type, in which a series of foolish exchanges is made, will be very familiar to folklore enthusiasts. Recommended to all readers with an interest in Appalachian folklore and the "Jack Tales!" show less

This is a 1943 collection of Appalachian folk tales about Jack, the hero of the beanstalk story. Jack also kills a whole family of giants, tames wild critters, thwarts witches and devils, ties Death up in a sack, and has a pile of other adventures. Richard Chase collected the stories from storytellers he identifies, and he annotates extensively. He also amends some of the stories, but his notes let the interested reader know where he has left his fingerprints. It's a fascinating book.

You know Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk? He got up to much more than just giant-killing. If I remember correctly, Richard Chase traveled around the southern Appalachians collecting all the Jack stories that had been passed down in the oral tradition for generations and this is the result. They probably get kind of predictable, but we used to fight over who got to check this out of our school library. This book was a lot of fun.

I first read this book in 1982 as a sophomore in high school taking a folklore and mythology course at Harvard Summer School. Back then, while enjoyable, it was an academic affair, leading to papers and comp lit. What a difference from my recent out loud readings to my six year old son. Speaking the words in the Appalachian dialect which Chase captures, I couldn't help having a southern drawl. Jack remains the quintessential Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn: clever, mischievous, cunning, successful show more and not above a mean prank. The Jack Tales are great for kids, though a bit violent in this PC age, as well as adults. They remain a rich resource for scholars who want to study their European roots. Above, all, this is true American literature in its rawest and purest form. show less