Tickling Catfish: A Texan Looks at Culture from Amarillo to Borneo

By Jerry Craven

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 once elegant and simple, a mixture of up-tempo phrasing and brief story lines that flow naturally to one of three conclusions: punchline, moral, or wish. The stories share observations on customs, language, home, and human nature and serve as a hedge against parochialism, even when focusing on snipe hunts, armadillo grabs, and hog boxing. Whimsically illustrated by Jean Dixon and recognizable to readers anywhere, Tickling Catfish offers new, recent, or would-be Texans a cheerful companion in their quest for full Texas citizenship.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0890967288
• ISBN13: 9780890967287
• Release Date: November 1996
• Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Tickling Catfish Is Interesting Fun!

Tickling Catfish is a romp through the weirder aspects of Texas as seen through the eyes of Jerry Craven, a good old boy turned college professor. Using many of the typical devices of the tall tale, Jerry presents a laid-back series of short essays that tell us about some interesting and strange Texas beliefs and practices. To make the book even more interesting, he throws in accounts of the many other places he's lived, including Malaysia and South America. Beyond that, he explores the netherworld of English, with such items as palindromes and how to speak Texan with correct grammar and pronunciation. I've known Jerry for over 20 years and have always appreciated his keen eye for detail, his sympathetic appreciation of all kinds of nonsense, and his love of irony. I think you will, too.