Trickster in Tweed

Thomas S. Frentz is a professor of Communication at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. An eclectic scholar in both the social sciences and humanities, he has published three books, twenty-nine scholarly articles, four book chapters, over fifty convention papers, and has lectured extensively at colleges and universities across the country. He teaches courses in rhetorical theory, criticism, film, ethnography, and myth. In 1994/1995 he served as president of the Southern States Communication Association. In 2006 he was named Master Researcher by the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas. In 2007 the Rhetoric and Communication Theory division of the National Communication Association named him Distinguished Scholar of 2007. He lives in Fayetteville with his cat, Mollie.

'This is a powerful, compelling book that is destined to have a seismic impact. It will be widely read, partly for the critique it offers of the forces that diminish life and learning within the world of the academy, partly for its story of a rebellious life lived on the margins of that world, and partly for the joy, anger, and tragedy of the personal life it reveals. Beyond these factors, the book is simply one hell of a good read: I can't remember when I stayed up so long beyond bedtime with an academic book simply because I could not put it down.' Michael Osborn, University of Memphis 'This is a powerful, compelling book that is destined to have a seismic impact. It will be widely read, partly for the critique it offers of the forces that diminish life and learning within the world of the academy, partly for its story of a rebellious life lived on the margins of that world, and partly for the joy, anger, and tragedy of the personal life it reveals. Beyond these factors, the book is simply one hell of a good read: I can't remember when I stayed up so long beyond bedtime with an academic book simply because I could not put it down.' Michael Osborn, University of Memphis

• Chapter 1 The Call; Chapter 2 Women’s Ways; Chapter 3 Life with Father; Chapter 4 Burying Ghosts; Chapter 5 Turning Tricks; Chapter 6 Sheep Speak; Chapter 7 Or Comes the Wolf; Chapter 8 Janice; Chapter 9 Festum Asinorum; Chapter 10 Shepherd Tales; Chapter 11 Trials in the Trenches; Chapter 12 Eye of the Storm; Chapter 13 On Becoming a Better Outlaw; Chapter 14 Last Call; Chapter 15 Performing Quality in Baby Steps;