# Recommend me books/films about mythological & folk tricksters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072 "2012-07-22T20:29:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Imago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@Imago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imago)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/1 "2012-07-22T20:29:16Z")
Er, fiction or nonfiction, either is fine. Preferably from as many of the cultures that had them as possible. The more likely it is that I’ll be learning something new, the better. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/2 "2012-07-22T20:45:07Z")
You’ll get plenty of recommendations of classic tales, so I’d like to suggest a couple that might not come up. First, the nonfiction works of Jan Harold Brunvand about urban legends, a number of which fit into this category. Second, _Watership Down_, the classic novel by Richard Adams, featuring the rabbit trickster he invented, El-ahrairah. Also, don’t overlook the basics: _Aesop’s Fables_ is where you should start. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/3 "2012-07-22T20:51:40Z")
Neil Gaiman’s _American Gods_ has at least a couple of trickster gods as characters, possibly more, and his _Anansi Boys_ (the better book imo, and it’s not necessary to read one to read the other) is about the modern day human son of the African trickster god. And of course Joel Chandler Harris’s _Brer Rabbit_ tales are based on oral evolutions of tales of Anansi and other African trickster gods. ---
**Author:** ![Imago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@Imago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imago)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/4 "2012-07-22T22:10:49Z")
Huh. Should I make a note to exclude classics? I’m pretty sure I’ve been exposed to most of them. Same goes for _Watership Down_. Incidentally I’ve already read _American Gods_, too, and that may or may not be what got me thinking about it. Thanks for weighing in on _Anansi Boys,_ Samp. I’ve been debating whether to invest the time in reading that. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/5 "2012-07-22T22:28:50Z")
Christopher Moore’s \*Coyote Blue \*is terrific. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/6 "2012-07-22T22:55:36Z")
> [@Reno\_Nevada](#): > > Christopher Moore’s \*Coyote Blue \*is terrific. Beat me to it 🙂 And yeah, Ananzi Boys will hit the spot as well. ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/7 "2012-07-23T05:52:55Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Neil Gaiman’s _American Gods_ has at least a couple of trickster gods as characters, possibly more, and his _Anansi Boys_ (the better book imo, and it’s not necessary to read one to read the other) is about the modern day human son of the African trickster god. And his Sandman series has both Loki and Puck teaming up. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/8 "2012-07-23T06:37:59Z")
Pan is a secondary character in _Jitterbug Perfume_ by Tom Robbins. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/9 "2012-07-23T16:20:48Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > And of course Joel Chandler Harris’s _Brer Rabbit_ tales are based on oral evolutions of tales of Anansi and other African trickster gods. Which brings us to Disney’s SONG OF THE SOUTH… ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/10 "2012-07-23T17:00:45Z")
> [@Imago](#): > > Huh. Should I make a note to exclude classics? I’m pretty sure I’ve been exposed to most of them. Same goes for _Watership Down_. Did you read the companion book, _Tales of Watership Down_? I just recently read an anthology on tricksters from around the world. It gives off a “for younger readers” sense, but it was very interesting, and I can say I learned a lot. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the title or the author. Give me a few minutes to search around a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Parenchyma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Parenchyma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parenchyma)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/11 "2012-07-23T17:13:51Z")
Charles de Lint features tricksters [Coyote and Raven](http://www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/someplace-desc01.htm) in many of his urban fantasy novels. They can be pretty good, but I find I have to be in a certain mood to like them. I took out and returned one book to the library three times before I was ready to actually read it. And then I did enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/12 "2012-07-23T17:21:05Z")
I really like Terri Windling’s [The Wood Wife](http://www.amazon.com/The-Wood-Wife-Terri-Windling/dp/0765302934/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343064019&sr=8-1&keywords=woodwife). ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/13 "2012-07-23T17:35:38Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > I just recently read an anthology on tricksters from around the world. It gives off a “for younger readers” sense, but it was very interesting, and I can say I learned a lot. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the title or the author. Give me a few minutes to search around a bit. Aaaugh! I don’t remember the title. I don’t remember the author. I can’t find the right search terms for the library database. I only found the book because a TVTropes page I can’t remember led me to some interesting-looking novel. Which I can’t remember, of course. I did a search for the author’s name and they didn’t have the book I was looking for, but the trickster book looked interesting so I ordered it instead. I really, really want to recommend it to you. But I’m at loss here as to how I can do that.. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/14 "2012-07-23T19:30:49Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > I really, really want to recommend it to you. But I’m at loss here as to how I can do that.. Is this it? [The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales](http://www.amazon.com/The-Coyote-Road-Ellen-Datlow/dp/0670061948) Regardless, the OP should find it interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/15 "2012-07-23T22:34:11Z")
No, but that looks good. I’ll see if my library has it. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/16 "2012-07-23T23:33:18Z")
One of the greatest tricksters of them all is Panurge from Rabelais’ _Gargantua and Pantagruel_. He’s also one of the funniest. Of course, his master Pantagruel and Pantagruel’s father Gargantua were no mean tricksters themselves in their youth. Panurge makes his first appearance in the second volume of _Gargantua and Pantagruel_. One of his first tricks is played on a haughty Parisian lady. Finding a bitch in heat he kills her, cuts out her sexual organ and grinds it into fine pieces. He then contrives to place it into several parts of the woman’s dress. The result is that on her way to church every dog in Paris, crazed with lust, attempts to mount her, to the delight and amusement of the watching plebs. Panurge is up there with Loki as a trickster. ---
**Author:** ![nogravity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@nogravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nogravity)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/17 "2012-07-24T00:42:59Z")
You might want to check out the book [Monkey: Folk Novel of China](http://www.amazon.com/Monkey-Novel-China-Wu-Cheng-en/dp/0802130860). I had to read it in college a long time ago for a mythology class. I still have it and I think I’m going to reread it. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/18 "2012-07-24T13:22:12Z")
I immediately thought of “The Trickster” by Muriel Gray, excellent work of fiction in modern day times. about an evil spirit and Native Americans fighting it. very scary, it’s like one of Stephen King’s very best books. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/19 "2012-07-24T13:33:37Z")
Geoffrey Parrinder’s book **African Mythology** is a popular book with many examples of African tales of Anansi and other tricksters. You’ll recognize Br’er Rabbit stories in there. In the same series, Cottie Burland’s **North American Indian Mythology** is full of American Indian tales of Raven, Rabbit, Coyote, and other tricksters Another book is the very thick paperback **American Negro Folktales** by Ricjard M. Dorson. I found my copy a few months ago, having misplaced it for a long time. Lots of trickster takes there. [http://www.ecrater.com/p/1753063/american-negro-folktales-by-richard-m](http://www.ecrater.com/p/1753063/american-negro-folktales-by-richard-m) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072/20 "2012-07-24T13:43:45Z")
The most famous trickster in German folklore is [Till Eulenspiegel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Till_Eulenspiegel). Then there are the tales of the “lying baron”, [Baron von Münchhausen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_M%C3%BCnchhausen), which also may be called folk tales. There are two major film adaptions, the German one from 1943, [Münchhausen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnchhausen_%28film%29), and the Terry Gilliam adaption from 1989, “[The Adventures of Baron Munchausen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Baron_Munchausen)”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-films-about-mythological-folk-tricksters/629072.md?page=2)