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"Boot & Milk Balls take us back in time to the mirth and madness of a bygone era. The antics of fun-loving, hometown characters, often turn bazaar. Two popular legends, grossly entwined, evolve to become one macabre tradition. Three additional short stories; Lost Books Found, Hidden Treasures and The MPA; bring this mischievous Des Peres, Missouri era to a close. Boot and Milk Balls The delights of being raised in the small home towns of yesteryear, cannot compare to the sprawling municipalities of today's generation. Long before we locked ourselves in our air-conditioned homes, a bygone era boasted a community blending heritage. Families often united to help one another, and barn-raising, a popular event, always drew much of the town together. With construction completed, the local big bands provided entertainment for its christening. Hay rides and dances became a part of these festivities. Some of the antics which occurred along with, and after these gala celebrations, would often be talked about for years, if not decades to come. A feature event; instigated by the Probst brothers, owners of the local blacksmith shop; always brought hundreds of laughs. While hiding behind the scenes, they painted a face on their large, bare, beer bellies, and donned grass hula skirts. After a few more beers, they reappeared wearing large straw hats, which completely covered their heads, the brim resting on their shoulders. The boisterous comedy dance they performed in this attire is indescribable. During this wonderful era of mirth and mischief, many traditions were born, and the characters who initiated them emerged. St. Louis County, Missouri; host of several diverse nationalities, had more than its share of these unique personalities. They emanated from every neighborhood and occupation. The prodigious German citizenry, living in the small municipality of Des Peres, project two distinct and opposite hereditary traits. Often only one generation apart, the attributes of

A collection of fantastic tales by the French writer Marcel Aymé including his most famous story which has been filmed several times. Reminiscent of Borges in many ways he tells tales of men who can pass through solid objects, women who can replicate themselves, about governments who legislate leaps in time or who ration life all presented, in the best magic realism tradition, as the most ordinary things in the world.

Each year, the storyteller, Hassan, gathers listeners to the city square to share their recollections of a young, foreign couple who mysteriously disappeared years earlier. As various witnesses describe their encounters with the couple-their tales overlapping, confirming, and contradicting each other-Hassan hopes to light upon details that will explain what happened to them, and to absolve his own brother, who is in prison for their disappearance. As testimonies circle an elusive truth, the couple takes on an air as enigmatic as their fate. But is this annual storytelling ritual a genuine attempt to uncover the truth, or is it intended instead to weave an ambiguous mythology around a crime?

The haunting record of a journey in search of the man-seal legends of the Celts. David Thomson's travels in the Hebrides and the west coast of Ireland brought him into contact with a people whose association with the sea and its fertile lore runs deep. These simple people were gifted with the most ancient storytelling arts. They told of men rescued by seals in stormy seas, of babies suckled by seal-mothers, and of men who took sea-women for wives-stories centuries-old handed down to them by their forefathers. This book seeks to brings these fascinating legends alive