So
Ole Says to Lena
Folk
Humor of the Upper Midwest
Second Edition
Compiled and edited by James P. Leary
with an introduction by W. K. McNeil
“A funny book, but no mere
joke book.”
—The Country
Today
In
the land of beer, cheese, and muskies—where the polka is
danced and winter is unending and where Lutherans and Catholics
predominate—everybody is ethnic, the politics are clean,
and the humor is plentiful. This collection includes jokes, humorous
anecdotes, and tall tales from ethnic groups (Woodland Indians,
French, Cornish, Germans, Irish, Scandinavians, Finns, and Poles)
and working folk (loggers, miners, farmers, townsfolk, hunters,
and fishers). Dig into the rich cultural context supplied by
the notes and photographs, or just laugh at the hundreds of jokes
gathered at small-town cafes, farm tables, job sites, and church
suppers. This second edition includes an afterword and indexes
of motifs and tale types.
“A treasure
trove of ‘occupational humor’ that’s often slightly racy and
usually shot through with a blunt appreciation of the peculiar
ways of the Midwestern world.”
—Tom Laskin, Isthmus
“An accomplished
blend of firsthand familiarity with the region and broad academic
knowledge of the discipline of folklore.”
—Robert T.
Teske, Minnesota History
“Leary
conveys a palpable sense of the original joke telling experience.”
—Clyde
Wade, Humor: International Journal of Humor Research
James P.
Leary is director of the Folklore Program and professor in the Department
of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
His books include Wisconsin
Folklore,
also published by the University of Wisconsin Press, Minnesota
Polka, Yodeling
in Dairyland,
and, with Richard March, Down Home Dairyland.
Media & bookseller inquiries regarding review copies, events, and interviews can be directed to the publicity department at publicity@uwpress.wisc.edu or (608) 263-0734. (If you want to examine a book for possible course use, please see our Course Books page. If you want to examine a book for possible rights licensing, please see Rights & Permissions.)
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September 2001
272 pp. 6 x 9
29 b/w photographs
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