Brother Bill's Bait Bites Back and Other Tales from the Raton - Softcover

The tales in this collection are about everyday life with some fantastic elements. An African American mother and daughter confront a German prisoner of war in one story, while in another a coal miner’s gift for braying leads to a war between coal camps. Here are chronicles of a Mexican barber who extracts a ghoulish revenge for being forced to shave the beard of a killer; of the terrible fate that awaits boys who are lured into a dancehall during the Lenten season by the Devil and his beautiful cowgirls; and of an old coal miner who attempts to control his young wife by pretending to be the voice of the Lord. In other stories a lion who is accidentally caught and caged teaches a coal miner a lesson; two crusty cowboys come to understand the purpose of gnats and tumbleweeds and why rattlesnakes have rattles; and the Angel of Death is told to collect Hispanic souls or else. The account of a rootin’-tootin’ cowboy and his wife who use a pitch-baby to trap a pesky jack rabbit and a fish story round out this multiethnic collection of tales. Recounted in a lively, humorous style, the stories show how ordinary people managed to conduct dignified and happy lives—with occasional help from the spirit world—in a difficult social and physical environment.