Reception Celebrates Barre Toelken and His New Book

Reception Celebrates Barre Toelken and His New Book

Chapter Two Books (130 North 100 East, Logan) hosts a reception honoring author and folklorist Barre Toelken Friday, Aug. 15, from 7–9:30 p.m. at the bookstore. Toelken's bookAnguish of Snails: Native American Folklore in the West was recently published by Utah State University Press.

Toelken, a Utah State University professor, got his start as a folklorist when he was adopted by a Navajo family at age 19. He was a lost uranium prospector who came down with pneumonia in their canyon. Now he's written a book that repays his debt to the Navajo culture and those who saved his life, "bodily, spiritually, culturally and professionally."

The Anguish of Snails examines Native American visual arts, dance, stories and songs, humor and thought patterns.

"Toelken's book is the culmination of a lifetime spent working and living with American Indians and studying their traditions," said editor John Alley. "His study of Native American folklore in the West demonstrates what can be gleaned from Indian traditions by Natives and non-Natives alike.

"Toelken considers popular distortions of Indian beliefs and demystifies many traditions by showing how they can be comprehended within their cultural contexts," Alley said. "He also considers why some aspects of Native American life are not meant to be understood by or shared with outsiders. He emphasizes how much can be learned through sensitivity to and awareness of cultural values."

Toelken is the author or editor of numerous books and articles on folklore and related topics, including The Dynamics of Folklore, Morning Dew and Roses: Nuance, Metaphor, and Meaning in Folksongs and (with Larry Evers) Native American Oral Traditions: Collaboration and Interpretation. He is the author of the journal Western Folklore and professor of English at Utah State University.

For more information on The Anguish of Snails, call Brooke Bigelow at Utah State University Press, 1-800-239-9974.