Why I'm an Only Child and Other Slightly Naughty Plains Folktales

2017 Nebraska Book Award Nonfiction: Folklore One day Roger Welsch ventured to ask his father a delicate personal question: Why am I an only child? His fathers answer is one of many examples of the delightful and laughter-inducing ribald tales Welsch has compiled from a lifetime of listening to and sharing the folklore of the Plains. More narrative than simple jokes, and the product of multiple retellings, these coarse tales were even delivered by such prudish sources as Welschs stern and fearsome German great-aunts. Speaking of cucumbers and sausages in a toast to a newly married couple, the prim and proper women of Welschs memory voice the obscene and unspeakable in stories fit for general company. Why Im an Only Child and Other Slightly Naughty Plains Folktales is Welschs celebration of the gentle and evocative bits of humor reflecting the personality of the people of the Plains.