Laughter in Appalachia: A Festival of Southern Mountain Humor

by Loyal Jones, Billy Edd Wheeler, Jacqueline Froelich (Illustrator)

As you chuckle through these tales you find the thread of self-effacing, good-natured warmth that characterizes Appalachia. -Southern Living From the people of the Appalachian Mountains comes a special brand of dry, colorful and earthy, aimed sometimes at the hillbilly's own foibles, but often at the outside world's pretenses, too. As longtime fans of and contributors to Appalachian lore, Jones and Wheeler collected the material for this popular and timeless volume at the Festival of Appalachian Humor sponsored by the Appalachian Center at Berea College. Includes jokes and yarns on such topics as hunting, lawyers and doctors, alcohol, and religion, along with essays on the nature and origins of humor. This hilarious collection based in Appalachia America will teach readers the importance of resourcefulness, trustworthiness and respect.

Genres: Humor

155 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1987

Reviews

[Melissa Hedges- Rankin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book.
A collection of humorous stories/folktales from people in southern states. Some of the stories had a real 'in person' feel of someone telling a group story while gathered on the front porch. Other tales were similar to other humorous rants we've all heard at one time or another. Enjoyed the history of what classifies Appalachian humor.
My favorite tales were the longer folklore as well as the denture stories.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories told I've hear before. Several that made me laugh and I told those to my husband.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Laughter in Appalachia: A Festival of Southern Humor by Loyal Jones and Billy Edd Wheeler (August House Publishers Inc. 1987)(817.008). This book is filled with good old Southern farm jokes, and I mean “old” jokes. Most of them are funny, but I heard them years ago! If the reader grew up in the South or with farm dirt in his veins, there is nothing new in this collection at all. My rating: 6/10, finished 1/27/11.