Marshall Dodge

These stories about plain people sympathetically caricatured are universally enjoyed, although they just wouldn't work as well set anywhere else than in Maine. The unmistakable Down East Maine accent enhances the stories on the companion CDs and audiocassettes, while the book contains Mark Andres's wonderful pencil sketches.

Combining the polish of a turn-of-the-twentieth-century parlor recitation with the rough-and-ready quality of a folk tale, Frost, You Say? is a timeless story told as an old Maine farmer's rambling response to a simple question. Proving that sometimes getting there is a more pleasant experience than arriving, this is wry Maine humor at its very finest.

The iconic "Bert and I" stories were first created by Yale University students Marshall Dodge and Robert Bryan in the late 1950s and performed around campus. The two amateur storytellers soon recorded a short 10-inch album of 11 stories for friends and family, but ultimately pressed just a few hundred. However, growing popularity prompted them in 1958 to record and release the seminal commercial album of New England humor and storytelling - Bert and I . . . And Other Stories from Down East. Featuring 13 stories, the album depicts Maine fishermen and woodsmen with dry, classic humor and set the tone of direction of the genre for decades. The 13 rib-tickling tracks include "Gagnon" and "Harry Startles Wiscasset." Track List for The Return of Bert and I: The Return of Bert and I Directions Gagnon The Return of Virgil Bliss Harry Sleeps at L.L. Bean By a Fluke The Silent Chain Saw M'am Hacket's Compost Heap At the Graveyard The Stove with the Powerful Draft The Captain and the Lady The Chicken Truck Harry Startles Wiscasset

Marshall Dodge and Bob Bryan began swapping funny Down East stories when they were students at Yale in the 1950s. Their fascination and appreciation for Maine and its people triggered the production of several “Bert and I” records, from which 14 stories were selected for the first edition of this book. Now, eleven more have been added for this expanded second edition. Dodge and Bryan were groundbreaking in their appreciation of the oral tradition and paved the way for contemporary storytelling icons like Garrison Keillor, Tim Sample, and Tom Bodett.

Collects many of the classic Down East stories told by Bert and I, as performed by Marshall Dodge and Robert Bryan, in print. Dodge recorded five humor albums as Bert and I or as himself and starred in a regional television show that aired on public television in the early 1970s.

This wonderful CD captures the magic of a Marshall Dodge performance. It was originally recorded at the University of Maine in the fall of 1977. All tracks on this CD were digitally remastered in 2008 for improved audio quality. The stories include "Set 'er Again" and "One Heckuva Draft".