Stories of Our Lives: Memory, History, Narrative

NEW ORLEANS - Aug. 26, 2013 - PRLog -- In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the value of personal narratives in enlightening us about our lives and our world. With an increasing number of oral history programs and projects across the country, particularly the national StoryCorps, it’s clear that narratives matter. As Frank de Caro demonstrates in his new book, Stories of Our Lives: Memory, History, Narrative (Utah State University Press, August 2013), we all live with legends, family sagas, and anecdotes that shape our selves and give meaning to our recollections.

De Caro shows that everyone’s memory matters, all our lives are of interest, and the stories we tell--however particular to our own circumstances or trivial they may seem to others--reveal something about ourselves, our societies, our cultures, and our larger human existence.

With colorful stories from de Caro’s personal life and years of field research as a folklorist, the book is part memoir and part exploration of how the stories we tell, listen to, and learn play an integral role in shaping our lives. His narrative, which recalls many details of American life, includes:
   * A family history of pioneers, a near-mythic capture of a golden-haired grandmother by Plains Indians, an Italian rags-to-riches grandfather, and another grandfather who was a bigamist in Brooklyn.
   * His own experiences growing up in a culturally rich 1950s New York City.
   * Living in the 1960s as part of the East Village scene and in India amid the fading glories of a former princely state.
   * Becoming a folklorist at Indiana University against the backdrop of student protests in the late 1960s.
   * Years in semi-tropical Louisiana as sugar cane sprouted on vast plantations and infamous Governor Edwin Edwards strutted around in rhinestone-studded suits.
   * Conducting field research with Day of the Dead altars in Mexico and the old British sahibs who once served the imperial Raj.
   * Coming home to a battered New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and finding a slew of “urban legends” that comment on the disaster in odd but cogent ways.

“While memoirs and collections of family stories abound, Frank de Caro makes an original contribution to our understanding of narrative in this beautiful memoir. With a wry sense of humor and fine attention to detail, he demonstrates how the impulse to create and tell stories infuses an individual life. This book will engage anyone interested in stories.” --Steve Zeitlin, Executive Director, City Lore

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Frank de Caro is a folklorist and professor emeritus of English at Louisiana State University. His previous books include Louisiana Sojourns: Travelers’ Tales and Literary Journeys (1998, with Rosan A. Jordan), which received the Louisiana Humanities Book Award; An Anthology of American Folktales and Legends (2008); The Folklore Muse: Poetry, Fiction, and Other Reflections by Folklorists (2008); and Folklore Recycled: Old Traditions in New Contexts (2013). He lives in the historic Garden District in New Orleans with his wife Rosan Jordan. Visit Frank at http://www.fdecaro.com and https://twitter.com/FdeCaroStories

ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: Stories of Our Lives: Memory, History, Narrative
Author: Frank de Caro
Publisher: Utah State University Press
August 2013, 220 pages, 20 B&W photographs
Paperback: ISBN 978-0-87421-893-0 $26.95
e-book: ISBN 978-0-87421-894-7 $22.00

More information on the book is available at http://www.fdecaro.com and http://www.usu.edu/usupress.

Photo:
https://www.prlog.org/12198820/2