Too Good to Be True: The Colossal Book of Urban Legends - Hardcover

Brunvand, Jan Harold

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393047342 ISBN 13: 9780393047349

Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, 2000

Synopsis

In a hilarious, insightful exploration of the "urban legend," the author debunks many sacred modern-day myths, from the stoned baby sitter who mistook a baby for a turkey to the fabulously expensive recipe for chocolate chip cookies. 10,000 first printing. Doubleday.

About this title

About the Author

Jan Harold Brunvand is the author of numerous books, including The Vanishing Hitchhiker, The Choking Doberman, Curses! Broiled Again!, and The Baby Train. He lives in Salt Lake City, where he is professor emeritus at the University of Utah.

Reviews

If a story sounds too good to be true, well, then it's probably an urban legend. Brunvand, the nation's leading authority on these contemporary folktales, draws from five previous collections (The Choking Doberman, Curses! Broiled Again!, etc.), from letters to his syndicated columns and from newspapers around the country, in this truly colossal anthology of horrendous and hilarious stories that sound as if they're true and most of the tellers believe are true, but somehow can never be verified. These are stories told by a FOAF (a friend of a friend) or a neighbor of the radio dispatcher who knows the deputy who talked to the doctor who treated 18 slash victims at the local mall. Many are familiar talesAof the hook heard rasping against the car door handle, of alligators in the sewers of New York, of earwigs in ears and spiders in bouffant hairdosAthis last traced back to the 13th century. Everyone will find at least two or three stories they could have sworn really happened. These are stories that turn up in every region of the country, every walk of life, and that invariably involve laughing paramedics, a dead grandmother stashed on the luggage rack, a fantastically cheap price for a Porsche or an exorbitant one for a cookie recipe from Neiman MarcusAor is it Marshall Fields? In demonstrating how such stories spread, change and endure, and how certain kinds of stories attach themselves to certain franchises and products ("Kentucky Fried Rat" is an especially gruesome example), Brunvand has constructed not only an entertaining anthology, but an excellent introduction to the study of folklore itself. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Brunvand (The Choking Doberman, The Vanishing Hitchhiker) is the dean of urban folkloreAfor 20 years he has collected and documented tall tales swapped at social gatherings. This anthology embraces over 200 fanciful, amusing, and often exaggerated stories and beliefs that have, through repetition, become part of the American oral heritage. Brunvand invented the acronym FOAF (Friend of a Friend), the anonymous source of every tale. Everyone has a few favorite stories: alligators in the sewer and pets in the microwave are familiar to most folks. Collectively, this is the best gathering of urban legends extant. They have passed through generations and represent an important body of traditions, myths, folkways, and folksay. The tales are thematically arranged, e.g., "Bringing Up Baby" is an assembly of episodes of child-rearing gone wrong. Thoroughly researched and exhaustive, this fascinating work is characterized by impressive scholarship. Unconditionally recommended for all audiences.ARichard K. Burns, MSLS, Hatboro, PA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393047342
• ISBN 13: 9780393047349
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 480