A POSTMODERN TRICKSTER TALE - Set on the Carolina coast, this modern-day trickster tale recounts the legendary origins of a mysterious marine research institute. This tale chronicles the events that occur in a small Southern beach town when a giant, unidentifiable creature washes up one day in front of a cottage owned by a strange man named Künstler. Aided by his best friends-a marine biologist, an elderly American Indian man, and a local Gullah woman- Künstler starts to investigate. Reactions to the "terrible monster" on the beach turn the town into a media circus and get everyone involved, whether they like it or not. On a more philosophical level, the story is a series of conversations about the nature and methods of science, the meaning and place of religion in the contemporary world, the growing necessity of hearing all the cultural voices that make up our society, and the possibility that indigenous cultures might have something important to teach us . something that might help us sort out the postmodern dilemmas that seem to beset us on all sides. Above all, the book asserts the potential significance of re-introducing the concepts associated with the trickster character in indigenous mythologies. With more of a "trickster sensibility," we can perhaps begin to solve society's more pressing problems, or at least gain the capacity to think things through from a fresh perspective.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:   Ed Huffstetler (Edward W. Hoffstetler) grew up on the Carolina coast but now lives in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. He is a Professor of English and American Literature at Bridgewater College, where he teaches (among other things) courses in American Indian literatures and cultures, nineteenth-century American literature, twentieth-century American literature, and creative writing. He has published, along with a number of short stories and poems, a collection of American Indian myths, Tales of Native America(Myths of the World) [Michael Friedman Publishing, 1996]. as well as scholarly articles on a wide variety of literary subjects. He lives in Bridgewater, Virginia, in a large household which includes his wife, children, and animals of various descriptions.