An agent of chaos and deceit, the trickster has been a favorite character type in stories spanning thousands of years and multiple peoples. From legends belonging to Native Americans such as the Creek, Natchez, Seminole and Catawba, to those across the sea to Africa and Europe, this work has compiled 73 trickster tales into one volume. Beginning with Creek tales, this work continues with a blend of Native American and African American folktales, organized according to the indigenous people who told them. These stories include the American Southeast's most notorious trickster, Rabbit; his gullible victims such as Alligator, Wildcat and Wolf; and other tricksters such as Buzzard, Pig, Possum and more.

Retelling 30 myths and legends of the Eastern Cherokee, this book presents the stories with important details providing a culturally authentic and historically accurate context. Background information given within each story so the reader may avoid reliance on glossaries, endnotes, or other explanatory aids. The reader may thus experience the stories more as their original audiences would have. This approach to adapting traditional literature derives from ideas found in reader response and translation theory, and from research in cognitive psychology and sociolinguistics.