From the canefields of the antebellum South, the villages of Caribbean islands, and the streets of contemporary inner cities, here are more than one hundred tales from an "incredibly rich and affirmative storytelling tradition" (Choice). Full of life and humor, these tales range from the earthy comedy of tricksters to stories explaining how the world was created and -- fairly or unfairly -- got to be the way it is to moral fables that tell of encounters between masters and slaves. They offer a robust demonstration of the ways an uprooted people have drawn from the traditions of their past to fashion a life -- and with it, a new and vital culture -- in the New World.