Joseph Sobol is one of a select few contemporary scholar-practitioners to chart the evolution of storytelling. These collected essays move between cultural history, critical analysis, and personal narratives to showcase the efforts of traditional and contemporary storytellers to make their presence felt in the world.

"This book presents a collection of essays on the art and tradition of storytelling. The essays range in topic from traditional Jack Tales to well-known storytellers, such as Ray Hicks and Kathryn Windham Tucker, to the nature of folklore and the future of storytelling as an art form"--