New Nebraska Author Booklist on BookGuide: Roger Welsch

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Roger L. Welsch is an author from Dannebrog, Nebraska. He is a nationally recognized folklorist, humorist and essayist, who has been publishing since the mid-1960s.

Roger Welsch writes in a variety of categories, but mainly as collections of humorous essays. For 13 years, he contributed to the CBS Sunday Morning news show, with "Postcards From Nebraska". In recent years, Welsch has become interested in old tractor restoration, and a series of his non-fiction books from the late 1990s to the present have featured that hobby. Welsch collaborated with Lincoln politial cartoonist Paul Fell on a series of humorous cartoon books about life in Nebraska.

You can see a complete list of his output, with hotlinks into the library catalog for those titles we own, at:

Nebraska Author Roger Welsch

Why I'm an Only Child by Roger Welsch

Why I’m an Only Child: and Other Slightly Naughty Plains Folktales
by Roger Welsch [398.2 Wel] 

A lighthearted yet also heartfelt examination of the category of folk humor he has christened “civil ribaldry”, this offering from Nebraska author Roger Welsch is a true, if sometimes “naughty”, delight. Welsch, whose career as a folklorist, critic, and commentator spans several decades by now, delves into his own inspirations for what he does (and loves), be it from his family members, his neighbors/townsfolk, the historic tradition, or the larger culture. Along the way he provides a clear explanation of this form of rural/folk humor and many fun (and a number of subtly racy) examples of jokes and comical conversations which are mostly suitable to share in mixed company. Grab an adult beverage, put your feet up, and enjoy!

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Shingling the Fog and Other Plains Lies or Everything I Know About Women I Learned from My Tractor, also by Roger Welsch]

[ publisher's official Why I'm an Only Child: And Other Slightly Naughty Plains Folktales web site ] | [ Roger Welsch page on the CBS Sunday Morning web page ]

Recommended by Becky W.C.
Walt Branch Library

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