Mules and Men (P.S.)

Mules and Men is Hurston's collection of African American folklore, gathered in Florida and Louisiana during her fieldwork as an anthropologist. It presents tall tales, animal stories, jokes, songs and sayings, told as they were shared on porches, in work camps and at gatherings. Later chapters describe hoodoo practices she studied. Hurston writes as a participant as well as a researcher, so the book reads as lively storytelling. It preserves a body of oral tradition that might otherwise have been lost.