Noodlehead Stories

There's no better ice-breaker than these zany stories that portray moments (We all have them!) when our elevators don't go all the way to the top! Call it that you will -- nincompoop, knucklehead, ninnyhammer, numskull, noodlehead -- stories of the fool have been around as long as people have been telling stories. Everyone has had a noodlehead day, a day when the brain takes a leave of absence and nothing but noodles seems to fill the head space above the sinuses. Noodlehead Stories reminds us that we are not alone when we hear a story in which someone else is the fool. Although they're told primarily for entertainment, much about human nature can be learned by the reading and telling of stories featuring the fool. Knuckleheads come in all forms and shapes -- young and olds, weak and powerful, rich and poor, male and female. There's a ninnyhammer for everyone! Not meant to be told for the purpose of making fun of others, these noodle stories are presented in the spirit of laughing at the "noodlehead" in us all. They're fun to read out loud to a friend, or just to read by yourself. But they are especially fun to tell. Weiss and Hamilton have included source notes and storytelling tips to encourage the budding teller's creativity, whether he or she be spinning yarns of "The Wise Fools of Gotham", "The Knee-High Man", "Clever Elsie", or "The Men With Mixed-Up Feet". Cultural sources of the tales prove that a numskull can live any place in the world: Denmark, Uruguay, Lebanon, Algeria, Indonesia, Moldova, Poland, Iceland, Ghana, Ireland -- even the good old U.S. of A! With rollicking good humor, Noodlehead Stories reminds us of the wise words of the French humorist FrancoisRabelais: "If you wish to avoid seeing a fool, you must first break your mirror".