Tickling catfish

Tall tales and "true stories" are mixed here with author Jerry Craven's mind-teasing musings on culture and language. Starting with West Texas, Tickling Catfish builds its way surely through anecdotes and allusion into the ways of people elsewhere - from a street musician playing a leaf in Mexico City to gem smugglers in Malaysia, from Texas boys tripping cows to Singaporians listening to dogs bark in Chinese. And all the stories are told with an appropriate dose of sophisticated prairie humor. In his art of telling stories, Craven balances timing, rhythm, style, and content. His style is at…