Tall:

• Fanciful or exaggerated; boastful

Tall:

• Incredible; exaggerating the events of something beyond the bounds of probability; a tall tale

Tale:

• A relatively simply narrative. Formerly, no very real distinction was made between the tale and the short story. Tale, however, has always been a more general term, because short story has been reserved for fictional narratives having a conscious structure and tale has been used loosely for any short narrative, either true or fictitious. Some titles of full-length novels seem to suggest understatement--for example, A Tale of Two Cities. (Handbook to Literature)

Frontier Literature:

• Writing about the American frontier and frontier life. Up to 1890, when all the free lands had generally been claimed, one aspect of American history was the steady westward movement of the frontier. . . . The extent to which this westward-moving frontier colored and shaped American thought and life and the extent to which its passing marked a sharp turn in the character of the American experience are matters of debate. But, whatever one may think of Frederick Turner's thesis that the frontier has been the dominant influence in American history, there is little question that frontiers have consistently found literary expression in a robust, humorous, often crude body of songs, tales, and books that have been marked by a realistic view of life, sanguine contemplation of violence, and immense gusto. Much of the writing of this frontier was subliterary, confined to oral tradition and to newspapers, but it kept constantly alive in America a hearty humor and a healthy realism, even if the face of the Genteel Tradition. . . . . (Handbook to Literature)