Title: Tales and teachings of the Buddha
Description: Originally published in 1979, Tales and Teachings of the Buddha aims   to further the work done by scholars like Gombrich, Spiro and Tambiah in their   field studies of lay Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand. But whereas   they highlight the syncretistic mix of imported Buddhist with indigenous animistic   beliefs, Tales and Teachings demonstrates that within the Buddhist tradition   itself there is, in the immensely popular Jataka tales, a vast fund of folkloric   material that is much more congenial to the average layman than the more austere   teaching found in the canon proper. In this book, the two aspects of Buddhist   tradition are thoroughly explored, revealing the extent to which concessions   have been made by the monks to the laity and also the extent to which the monks   themselves have been influenced by the folk tradition in which they were reared.   The author has completely revised the book for this new edition, correcting    minor errors in the original, pruning dead wood, and incorporating   some helpful observations gleaned from reviews and correspondence.
Subjects: Buddhism, Criticism, interpretation, Doctrines, Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Tipiṭaka, Buddhism, history