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Lao Folktales. By Steven Jay Epstein. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, 2005 (first edition 1995). 124 pp. Illus. $10.95/£9.95 (pbk). ISBN 974-9575-87-3
This collection of twenty-three Laotian folktales is an important contribution to the study of Southeast Asian folklore. Even in the Francophone world, there is very little source material on the oral folklore of Laos. The author taught English in Laos for seven years from 1990 to 1997. He very early on discovered the Lao tradition of storytelling and began to use English translations of the tales that he heard as a teaching device in his classes. The tales here probably reflect the tales as he introduced them in his classes. Twenty-one of the tales are illustrated by works done by the leading Lao illustrator, Anoulom Souvandouane. Most of the tales presented here are about a trickster; indeed, many of these are about the renowned Laotian trickster Xieng Mieng, although there are also the familiar animal tricksters as well. The tales in this book present a strong strand of social criticism, formally directly against "the King," but one can assume...