Complete Idiot's Guide to Urban Legends [Paperback]

Brandon Toropov (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Complete Idiot's Guide | Publication Date: May 1, 2001

Some stories are so good, we think they ought to be true, even if they aren't. Urban legends, or myths, passed on at office water coolers, over the Internet and in coffee houses, are stories that sound almost if not completely plausible. If anything, they're entertaining. The Complete Idiot's GuideA (R) to Urban Legends gathers numerous fables and tells you the whole story! Historic and psychological underpinnings are also discussed.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Some stories are so good, we think they ought to be true, even if they aren't. Urban legends, or myths, passed on at office water coolers, over the Internet and in coffee houses, are stories that sound almost if not completely plausible. If anything, they're entertaining. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Urban Legends gathers numerous fables and tells you the whole story! Historic and psychological underpinnings are also discussed.

About the Author

Brandon Toropov, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to Getting Along with Difficult People and co-author of The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to the World's Religions, is a Boston-area writer who has appeared on more than 100 local and national broadcast programs.

Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: Alpha; 1 edition (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028640071
• ISBN-13: 978-0028640075
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,174,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Only took a day to read..., December 19, 2001

By 

Diane Moore - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Complete Idiot's Guide to Urban Legends (Paperback)

I stayed home sick one day and decided to read this book. It was straightforward, interesting, fun, breezed right through it. I love books about urban legends anyway, but I also enjoy how they add history, Like "Did Shakespeare write Shakespeare?" and "Did Catherine the Great really do it with a horse?"

Also, it has a lot of emails that are circulated, since email is a big part of our lives nowadays which makes sense about how they can get passed from person to person so quickly.

I like the sidenotes that have "don't believe it" (you get the background on stories that are too weird to be true) or "fable facts" (trivia related to the legends) also "strange but true" (extended anecdotes, case histories, or other tidbits) and "legend lingo" explains the more difficult vocabulary words. There is even a chapter on what an urban legend is, and how to spot one. For example, is the story demonstrably false? Has the story appeared in multiple versions? Does the story carry an important lesson or warning? I remember being scared many times during my childhood because i thought the star tattoos were laced or if i went to the movies, i would be stuck with an HIV infected needle. It's great to put my fears to rest, but still entertaining!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Urban Freud, May 19, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Complete Idiot's Guide to Urban Legends (Paperback)

It seemed to me that this author found a way to link all of the mentioned urban legends to sex in some way. I found his statements for his reasoning to be confusing at best and downright silly at most times. As a continuing scholar of urban myths and legends, I think this book serves only to insult the intelligence of the average reader who does not know much about urban legends. The only reason the boook got three stars is the urban legends speak for themselves as classic tales everyone knows happened to someone they knew.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Rather Boring, November 27, 2004

By 

AllyieMG (Boston, Ma) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Idiot's Guide to Urban Legends (Paperback)

I had been wanting to brush up on some urban legends, so i purchased this book (used, thankfully). I normally enjoy the Idiot Guides, but this one not so much. I read it in about 2 hours time.

I started it like any other book, but it quickly became quite boring. i ended up skimming through most of the book, only slowing down when i came to the actual stories. I liked the actual urban legend stories that were including, but that's pretty much all i enjoyed.

I wouldnt recommend this for anyone who wants to add the actualy Urban Legend tales to their library. I only spent a few bucks on it, but it seriously wasn't worth it.