Tutuola's short stories, written in English, are derived from the oral tradition of his native African tribe, the Yoruba. Tutuola's literary style is noted for its preservation of the speech patterns characteristic of oral storytelling, which boldly defy the dictates of standard written English. Daniel Fangunwa earlier transcribed similar traditional stories into the Yoruba language, and some critics have denigrated Tutuola for borrowing too heavily from his work, while others note that Tutuola has added his own literary voice to these traditional tales. Tutuola's renditions of stories he heard among his family and fellow members of his tribal village can also be categorized among written works of folklore based on oral traditions, such as Italian Folktales, by Italo Calvino, and Grimm's Fairy tales, compiled from German folktales by the Brothers Grimm. Tutuola's fiction also belongs to the category of African fiction written in English which emerged...