Norm Cohen's edition of Ozark Folksongs is a useful addition both to Missouri folklore and to Vance Randolph studies. While there can be no argument that an abridgement is not as useful for scholarly purposes as an unabridged work, there are other positive considerations, such as convenience. If the work does not pretend to be what it is not, and if it is true to the author's purpose, then it should be judged on its own merits.

Is Cohen's work true to Randolph's purpose? I think so. The introductory material details very carefully not only what changes Cohen made but also why he made them. His judgements are honest and valid. For instance, Cohen chooses "[t]o present only texts for which tunes were also published" (p. xxi), a reasonable constraint given his audience of "students, scholars, and other interested readers" (p. viii). Of course, this audience consideration is not the only principle guiding Cohen's selection and arrangement. He attempts, successfully, I think, to remain true to the proportions of the original while at the same time focusing more specifically on the "Ozark" element of the title. He has given preference to materials "that are peculiarly 'Ozark"' (p. xxi) and to those for which "Randolph's original headnotes are particularly interesting, important, or otherwise useful" (p. xxi).

Cohen has moved songs within and between chapters, but with good purpose and positive results. That some songs are not where Randolph put them will trouble only a few pendantic purists who ought to be using the four volume set anyway. If anything, Cohen's text is of more use to its intended readers than is the original because Cohen has availed himself of the folksong scholarship of the intervening years. In that respect, the book is better than the original. Furthermore, Cohen has cleaned up typos and "other minor mistakes" in Randolph's headnotes.

Because Cohen does not lose sight of the central point that this is an abridged edition of Randolph's work, his volume is a useful addition to Missouri folklore studies. It will be welcomed by those readers among us who can also remember that it is an abridged edition.

Jim Vandergriff
Warrensburg, Missouri