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.

A collection of jokes, cartoons, riddles, rhymes, and short tales from around the world, with many jokes in the original language as well as English.

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

Hasan needs his new trousers shortened, but neither his wife, mother, nor daughter has time to do it--at first.

The gifts of an imp to three Turkish wanderers bring them good fortune until they meet a clever princess who wants the gifts for herself.

A clever hare who boasts that the lion is his horse sets about proving it.

Recounts how a timid shepherd becomes a hero.

The sultan could not lose weight until the hamal told him his fate.

The story of Korolu, the Turkish folk hero, who became an outlaw to avenge his father, blinded by a great landowner.

Three Greek swineherds outsmart the pirates who steal their pigs.

An object or animal beginning with each letter of the alphabet is packed in the trunk to go to Squintum''s.

By a stroke of luck the mouse survives his confrontation with the elephant still thinking he is master of the forest.

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.

A Turkish "silly tale" about a foolish servant who cannot remember from one minute to another what he is to do and always says the wrong things.