Hank's Tall Tales and Harmless Exaggerations: From Brown County and Beyond - Softcover

Swain, Henry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0985225726 ISBN 13: 9780985225728

Publisher: Shook Rick Press, 2012

Synopsis

Henry (Hank) Swain is a long-time Brown County, Indiana resident and storyteller. The late Frank Hohenberger’s The Liar’s Bench photograph has often been used to portray the fact that some of the county residents were prone to exaggeration in the telling of their stories. Swain was not a natural born liar but the many years of exposure to stretching the truth by some of his contemporaries has rubbed off on him. The malady has infected him through this persistent exposure and caused his understanding of truth to become unusually flexible. Every year, as autumn leaves fall in glorious color, hidden tall tales fall out of the trees along with them. Like the secret places of the mushroom hunters in Spring, he knows where to look for them. He gathers the fallen tall tales and files them for winter reviewing. Before a flickering fire, he edits them to make sure the misstatements of facts are credible. Few writers of tall tales can lie as authentically as Swain. The hills of Brown County have a long history of producing genuine tall tales. Some have suggested it may be caused by something in the water. Others speculate there may be a genetic factor caused by perpetual generational fibbing. Swain believes it would be a terrible waste if these tales were not preserved for future generations. This book contains 34 of his worst tall tales and that’s the truth. Previous books by Henry Swain include Leaves for the Raking (2005), a montage of stories, essays, poetry and observations on the human condition, and Why Now? (2006) detailing the evolution of a conscientious objector.

Edition details

• Publisher: Shook Rick Press
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0985225726
• ISBN 13: 9780985225728
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160