Before Joseph R. Smallwood became premier of Newfoundland, he was best known throughout the province as the Barrelman, a title given to him based on his radio broadcast of the same name. The Barrelman aired in the late 1930s on VONF (predating CBC radio) and was a lighthearted program that combined commentary dispersed with tall tales. The Best of the Barrelman is a collection of Smallwood's finest commentaries from the show which remain relevant today.

In fifteen minutes, six nights a week, eleven months a year, Smallwood displayed his own pride and love of Newfoundland and worked to insure Newfoundlanders shared in this pride. He informed us and reminded us about: our magnificent and diverse geography; the successes and enduring potential of our economy; the chronicle of the great accomplishments, individual and collective in our history and our ability to imagine, entertain and teach through story in the tall tales of our folklore.

Connors has gathered the radio transcripts from the Newfoundland archives and chosen those programs which have stood the test of time. He assembled the pieces by topic, rather than chronologically and the stories have been supplemented by archival photographs from the Holloway studio. Connors has written an introduction giving a background to Smallwood's life prior to politics, enabling those readers only familiar with Smallwood as a politician to have a broader view of the man and his times.