Bruce Jackson is SUNY Distinguished Professor and the James Agee Professor of American Culture at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. His numerous books include The Story is True: The Art and Meaning of Telling Stories, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded; Ways of the Hand: A Photographer's Memoir; and Voices from Death Row (with Diane Christian), all published by SUNY Press. He lives in Buffalo, New York.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction to the 2024 EditionPreface to the 1974 EditionThe Toast World THE TOASTSBADMEN, CRIME, AND JAIL1. Stackolee2. Stackolee in Hell3. Brock Hankton4. Dolomite5. Jesse James6. Boothill McCoy7. Herman from the Shark-Tooth Shore8. My Reflection (The Wanderer's Trail; All You Tough Guys that Thinks You're Wise) 9. Feeble Old Man (Feeble Old Man and a Kid Named Dan) 10. Subject to a Fall11. Derringer Youngblood12. Satan's Playground of Hell13. Eddie LeDoux14. Limpty Lefty McCree15. I Was Sittin' in the Jail to Do a Stretch of Time16. They Can't Do That17. Life of a JunkiePIMPS, WHORES, AND OTHER LOVERS AND FRIENDS18. Joe the Grinder and G.I. Joe19. Hobo Ben20. Treacherous Breast21. Three Whores Settin' Down in Boston22. Pimping Sam (Wicked Nell; The Pimp) 23. Hustlin' Dan24. Ping Pong Joe25. Don't Look So Downhearted, Buddy (Don't Feel So Downhearted, Buddy) 26. Sweet Lovin' Rose27. Strange, Strange Things28. You Told Me a Lie29. Cocaine Nell30. L.A. Street31. The Lame and the Whore32. Toledo Slim33. Pretty Pill34. Dogass Pimp35. Ain't It a Bitch? 36. If You See My Little Girl in Denver (Lady Liberty) 37. Corner of Forty-seventh and South Park (Little Old Wicked Nell) 38. Little Girl in the Gambler's Nest (While Playing Short Coin) 39. Winehead GirlFREAKS AND SUPERSEX40. Dance of the Freaks41. Freaks' Ball (Twenty-Two-Twenty; Bulldaggers' Hall) 42. 'Flicted Arm Pete (Pisspot Pete) 43. Casey Jones44. Cocaine Shorty45. Herbert Hoover46. The Voodoo Queen47. Marie48. Annabelle JonesSIGNIFYING AND POOLSHOOTING MONKEY49. Signifying Monkey50. Poolshooting Monkey 51. Partytime MonkeyTHE TITANIC TOASTS52. TitanicMISCELLANEOUS NARRATIVES53. Ups on the Farm54. I Got a Job Down in Florida for Croft55. Once I Lived the Life of a Millionaire (Down and Out) 56. Life's a Funny Old Proposition57. Hoboes' Convention58. Junkies' Ball59. Junkies' Heaven60. Hophead Willie 61. Willie the Weeper 62. T.B. Bees 63. The Chinz 64. The Fly 65. The Alphabet 66. The Seven Wise Men 67. Get In out of the Rain 68. Drinkin' 69. Convict's Prayer 70. Pearl Harbor 71. Hitler, You Lied to Me 72. I Used to Be a Cowboy 73. I Woke Up this Morning with a Hard On 74. Ringo 75. Through the Keyhole in the Door SHORT VERSES AND DRINKING TOASTS76. My Uncle Sam 77. My Uncle Had a Old Gray Horse 78. Mary Had a Little Lamb 79. Miss Lookingood 80. Bend Your Back 81. The Rooster Crowed 82. The He-Frog 83. Running through the Jungle 84. Swinging through the Trees 85. Pussy 86. A Girl Told Me 87. Cock Is 88. The Ford 89. Forty-Nine Ford 90. Old Cods 91. I Used to Could Diddle All Night Long 92. Well Here's to the Fool that Writes upon the Shithouse Walls 93. Here's to the Lady with the Little Red Shoes 94. Well if I Had a Dog that Could Piss this Stuff 95. And Here's to the Duck that Swim the Pond 96. Well Here's to the Crane that Flew down the Lane 97. Here's to You, Mag, You Dirty Hag (Motherfuck a Woman Lay Flat on Her Back) 98. And May Your Life Become Unlivable, Boy 99. Knockin' down Chairs and Slammin' Doors 100. Hickory Wood is the Best of Wood 101. When I Begin to Think When I Was a Young Man and in My Prime 102. This Is to the Women of Texas 103. Talk Some Shit, Richard Bibliography Index Index of First Lines

Praise for the Original Edition "A brilliant, groundbreaking work in both the collection and analysis of African American oral culture. Indispensable." — Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard University"A stone cold classic!" — Robin D.G.Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination"Funny as all get out, full of biting wit and dazzling wordplay, this book drops more science than Einstein while proving the genius of black folk who created meaning and defended their lives through signifying words." — Michael Eric Dyson, author of Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves & Demons of Marvin Gaye"These poems are the source of rap." — Amiri Baraka, author of Blues People