Cape Cod, one of the nation's oldest regions, can claim many firsts, but not as many as some want you to believe. Boastfulness, tall tales and plain stretching the truth about history is widely practiced in this tourist mecca. Even esteemed institutions such as churches and historical societies are nimble in the art of gilding the lily. Discover where The Wizard of Oz film really premiered, whether Mercy Otis Warren had a hand in writing the Bill of Rights and who invented the hole in the doughnut. Along the way, you'll find out where the country's oldest Congregational meetinghouse is located, and whether "Mad Jack" was a thieving scoundrel. Local author and historian James Ellis separates fact from fiction.
Cape Cod, one of the nation's oldest regions, can claim many firsts, but not as many as some want you to believe. Boastfulness, tall tales and plain stretching the truth about history is widely practiced in this tourist mecca. Even esteemed institutions such as churches and historical societies are nimble in the art of gilding the lily. Discover where The Wizard of Oz film really premiered, whether Mercy Otis Warren had a hand in writing the Bill of Rights and who invented the hole in the doughnut. Along the way, you'll find out where the country's oldest Congregational meetinghouse is located, and whether "Mad Jack" was a thieving scoundrel. Local author and historian James Ellis separates fact from fiction.
A fascinating survey of the entire history of tall tales, folklore, and mythology in the United States from earliest times to the present, including stories and myths from the modern era that have become an essential part of contemporary popular culture. Folklore has been a part of American culture for as long as humans have inhabited North America, and increasingly formed an intrinsic part of American culture as diverse peoples from Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania arrived. In modern times, folklore and tall tales experienced a rejuvenation with the emergence of urban legends and the growing popularity of science fiction and conspiracy theories, with mass media such as comic books, television, and films contributing to the retelling of old myths. This multi-volume encyclopedia will teach readers the central myths and legends that have formed American culture since its earliest years of settlement. Its entries provide a fascinating glimpse into the collective American imagination over the past 400 years through the stories that have shaped it. Organized alphabetically, the coverage includes Native American creation myths, "tall tales" like George Washington chopping down his father's cherry tree and the adventures of "King of the Wild Frontier" Davy Crockett, through to today's "urban myths." Each entry explains the myth or legend and its importance and provides detailed information about the people and events involved. Each entry also includes a short bibliography that will direct students or interested general readers toward other sources for further investigation. Special attention is paid to African American folklore, Asian American folklore, and the folklore of other traditions that are often overlooked or marginalized in other studies of the topic.
The colorful Captain John "Mad Jack" Percival was a legend in his time. Known as a seaman of uncommon ability and fearlessness, he led such an extraordinary life that he drew the attention of the famous novelists Hawthorne, Melville, and Michener. The fact that his first and last ships are national shrines has only enhanced his reputation. Percival's naval career began in 1797 when he was impressed into British naval service aboard the HMS Victory and ended in 1846 after taking the USS Constitution on her only around-the-world cruise. This book draws from unpublished journals, letters, and logs to provide previously unknown details about his adventures and the formative years of the U.S. Navy. Hailing from Cape Cod and recognized by Congress for meritorious action in the War of 1812, Mad Jack fought against the French and British and had the Constitution off the coast of Mexico when war with that country broke out. In between he chased West Indies pirates and Globe mutineers, tussled with South Pacific chieftains, policed distant American whalers and merchantmen, charted unknown waters, quarreled with missionaries, educated and trained midshipmen, and skirmished with local forces in what is now Vietnam. This work is just as entertaining as the tall tales about this heroic figure spun by generations of seamen, but it is completely true.
Fairy tales for our times from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Hours A poisoned apple and a monkey's paw with the power to change fate; a girl whose extraordinarily long hair causes catastrophe; a man with one human arm and one swan's wing; and a house deep in the forest, constructed of gumdrops and gingerbread, vanilla frosting and boiled sugar. In A Wild Swan and Other Tales, the people and the talismans of lands far, far away—the mythic figures of our childhoods and the source of so much of our wonder—are transformed by Michael Cunningham into stories of sublime revelation. Here are the moments that our fairy tales forgot or deliberately concealed: the years after a spell is broken, the rapturous instant of a miracle unexpectedly realized, or the fate of a prince only half cured of a curse. The Beast stands ahead of you in line at the convenience store, buying smokes and a Slim Jim, his devouring smile aimed at the cashier. A malformed little man with a knack for minor acts of wizardry goes to disastrous lengths to procure a child. A loutish and lazy Jack prefers living in his mother's basement to getting a job, until the day he trades a cow for a handful of magic beans. Reimagined by one of the most gifted storytellers of his generation, and exquisitely illustrated by Yuko Shimizu, rarely have our bedtime stories been this dark, this perverse, or this true.
Come along on a great pirate adventure with hand-picked literary classics and true stories about the legendary outlaws: History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates (Captain Charles Johnson) The Book of Buried Treasure The Pirates' Own Book Treasure Island (R. L. Stevenson) Captain Blood (Rafael Sabatini) Sea Hawk (Sabatini) Blackbeard: Buccaneer (R. D. Paine) Pieces of Eight (Le Gallienne) Captain Singleton (Defoe) Gold-Bug (Edgar Allan Poe) Hearts of Three (Jack London) The Dark Frigate (C. B. Hawes) Isle of Pirate's Doom (Robert E. Howard) Swords of Red Brotherhood (Howard) Queen of Black Coast (Howard) Black Vulmea (Howard) Afloat and Ashore (James F. Cooper) Homeward Bound (Cooper) Red Rover (Cooper) Facing the Flag (Jules Verne) Pirate Gow (Daniel Defoe) The King of Pirates (Defoe) The Pirate (Walter Scott) Rose of Paradise (Howard Pyle) Captain Sharkey (Arthur Conan Doyle) The Pirate (Frederick Marryat) Three Cutters (Marryat) Madman and the Pirate (R. M. Ballantyne) The Offshore Pirate (F. Scott Fitzgerald) Martin Conisby's Vengeance (J. Farnol) Coral Island (Ballantyne) Pirate of Panama (W. M. Raine) Under the Waves (Ballantyne) Pirate City (Ballantyne) Gascoyne (Ballantyne) Captain Boldheart (Dickens) The Ways of the Buccaneers (J. Masefield) Master Key (L. Frank Baum) Black Bartlemy's Treasure (J. Farnol) A Man to His Mate (J. Allan Dunn) Tales of the Fish Patrol (Jack London) Barbarossa—King of the Corsairs (E. H. Currey) Robinson Crusoe (Defoe) Jim Davis (J. Masefield) Peter Pan and Wendy (J. M. Barrie) Mysterious Island (Jules Verne) Count of Monte Cristo (Dumas) Ghost Pirates (W. H. Hodgson) The Pagan Madonna (H. MacGrath) A Pirate of the Caribbees (H. Collingwood) The Pirate Island (H. Collingwood) The Devil's Admiral (F. F. Moore) The Pirate of the Mediterranean (W. H. G. Kingston) The Black Buccaneer (Stephen W. Meader) The Third Officer (P. Westerman) Narrative of the Capture of the Ship Derby ...
Come along on a great pirate adventure with hand-picked literary classics and true stories about the legendary outlaws: History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates (Captain Charles Johnson) The Book of Buried Treasure The Pirates' Own Book Treasure Island (R. L. Stevenson) Captain Blood (Rafael Sabatini) Sea Hawk (Sabatini) Blackbeard: Buccaneer (R. D. Paine) Pieces of Eight (Le Gallienne) Captain Singleton (Defoe) Gold-Bug (Edgar Allan Poe) Hearts of Three (Jack London) The Dark Frigate (C. B. Hawes) Isle of Pirate's Doom (Robert E. Howard) Swords of Red Brotherhood (Howard) Queen of Black Coast (Howard) Black Vulmea (Howard) Afloat and Ashore (James F. Cooper) Homeward Bound (Cooper) Red Rover (Cooper) Facing the Flag (Jules Verne) Pirate Gow (Daniel Defoe) The King of Pirates (Defoe) The Pirate (Walter Scott) Rose of Paradise (Howard Pyle) Captain Sharkey (Arthur Conan Doyle) The Pirate (Frederick Marryat) Three Cutters (Marryat) Madman and the Pirate (R. M. Ballantyne) The Offshore Pirate (F. Scott Fitzgerald) Martin Conisby's Vengeance (J. Farnol) Coral Island (Ballantyne) Pirate of Panama (W. M. Raine) Under the Waves (Ballantyne) Pirate City (Ballantyne) Gascoyne (Ballantyne) Captain Boldheart (Dickens) The Ways of the Buccaneers (J. Masefield) Master Key (L. Frank Baum) Black Bartlemy's Treasure (J. Farnol) A Man to His Mate (J. Allan Dunn) Tales of the Fish Patrol (Jack London) Barbarossa—King of the Corsairs (E. H. Currey) Robinson Crusoe (Defoe) Jim Davis (J. Masefield) Peter Pan and Wendy (J. M. Barrie) Mysterious Island (Jules Verne) Count of Monte Cristo (Dumas) Ghost Pirates (W. H. Hodgson) The Pagan Madonna (H. MacGrath) A Pirate of the Caribbees (H. Collingwood) The Pirate Island (H. Collingwood) The Devil's Admiral (F. F. Moore) The Pirate of the Mediterranean (W. H. G. Kingston) The Black Buccaneer (Stephen W. Meader) The Third Officer (P. Westerman) Narrative of the Capture of the Ship Derby ...
