Named by the Library of Congress in a 2012 exhibit as among the top ampldquo100 Books that Shaped Americaamprdquo this twovolume set contains 500 stories and 100 songs collected from the authoramprsquos time as national folklore editor for the Federal Writeramprsquos Project 193839 as well as his work as archivist of folksongs at the Library of Congress. As Carl Sandburg writes in his foreword ampldquoSo here we have nothing less than an encyclopedia of the folklore of America. An encyclopedia is where you get up into box car numbersamphellipbesides giving you the company of nice darnfool yarn spinners it will give you something of the feel of American history of the gloom chasers that moved many a good man who fought fire and flood varmints and vermin as region after region filled with settlers and homesteaders.amprdquo