New Releases by Barbara K. WALKER

This long-running reference series indexes interpretations written in major Western European languages since 1900 of short stories published since 1800. The original series -- Twentieth-Century Short Story Explication, Third Edition, edited by Warren S. Walker -- is indexed and available in seven volumes and covers 16,691 stories by 2,304 authors. The New Series, edited by Wendell Aycock, does not duplicate or compete with this coverage. It is a new series, with a slightly altered format, which begins where the old one leaves off.

A collection of tales about the folk hero Nasreddin Hoca, as he appears in the legends of Turkey.

In casting them into English, Walker has paid particular attention to capturing the flavor and excitement of the Turkish telling, while not infringing "on the narrator''s right to have the tale recreated as he had told it." ...The Beauty, power, and appeal of the present volume for the general reading public, however, depends largely upon Barbara Walker''s own consummate skill as a teller and re-teller of tales and her commitment to conveying as much of the Turkish performance context as possible. ...In a gesture which is perhaps symptomatic of the reasons for this volume''s success, [Barbara Walker] recognizes in the Acknowledgments section each and every tale-teller by name--all forty of them, ranging in age from nine to ninety and coming from the many different walks of life, both urban and rural, to be found in twenty out of Turkey''s seventy-four provinces from Mugla to Kars and from Istanbul to Diyarbakir. In presenting the works of "all these generous bearers of tradition" to an English-speaking audience, [she] has achieved her aim of opening a small window on the art of the Turkish tale in a volume which stands as a tribute to the art of book making as well. Sarah Moment Atis, Chair, Middle East Studies Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison President, Turkish Studies Association This will stand as a fine, quintessential contribution.... One hears the whispers of the original voices in these versions, all of which are... artful, recast in colloquial rhythms, and couched in a style that conveys the substance, the shape, the spirit, and the sumptuousness or the simplicity of the tale. Talat Sait Halman, Turkey''s former Minister of Culture, then Ambassador for Cultural Affairs; now Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Literatures, New York University

A biography of the first President of the Turkish Republic which emphasizes his childhood and early military career.

A fox steals a fine dinner from a fish-seller, but a wolf, following his example, is not so lucky.

Despite their mother''s warnings, three brothers go into the forest to play and encounter the witch-woman who eats little children.

Recounts how a timid shepherd becomes a hero.

Three Greek swineherds outsmart the pirates who steal their pigs.

At his wife''s urging, the poor woodcutter volunteers to help find the lost ring of the sultan''s daughter, and through luck becomes the chief stargazer.