Too Good to Be True: The Colossal Book of Urban Legends [Paperback]

Jan Harold Brunvand (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2001

"If you enjoy these too-good-to-be-true tales, Brunvand's new book will give you hours of pleasure."—Chicago Tribune

A fabulously entertaining book from the ultimate authority on those almost believable tales that always happen to a "friend of a friend." Alligators in the sewers? A pet in the microwave? A tragic misunderstanding of the function of cruise control? No, it didn't really happen to your friend's sister's neighbor: it's an urban legend. And no matter how savvy you think you are, you are sure to find in this collection of over 200 tales at least one story you would have sworn was true. Jan Harold Brunvand has been collecting and studying this modern folklore for over twenty years. In Too Good to Be True he captures the best stories in their best retellings, along with their latest variations and examples of how the stories have changed as they move from person to person and place to place. To help you find your favorite, Brunvand has arranged the tales thematically. "Bringing Up Baby" is full of episodes of child-rearing gone wrong, including the grisly tale of the drugged out baby-sitter who mistakes the kid for a turkey. "Funny Business" showcases stories of infamous lapses in customer service, such as the story of the shockingly expensive chocolate chip cookie recipe. And "The Criminal Mind" features both brilliant --if they were real --scams, as well as the purported antics of the less mentally gifted. Whether you want to become an expert debunker or just have plenty of laughs, this book will surprise and entertain you. Illustrated throughout.

"Informative and entertaining.... Brunvand has collected more than 200 of the most-repeated and best-known examples of modern folk-myth."—Tampa Tribune "[N]ot only an entertaining anthology, but an excellent introduction to the study of folklore itself."—Publishers Weekly "A fun read... . All the classics are here from the killer upstairs to the Kentucky Fried Rat."—New City "Resonant stories that express our hidden anxieties ... make us laugh, [or] arouse our fascinated horror."—San Francisco Chronicle Book Review "Informative and entertaining... . Brunvand has collected more than 200 of the most-repeated and best-known examples of modern folk-myth."—Tampa Tribune "[N]ot only an entertaining anthology, but an excellent introduction to the study of folklore itself."—Publishers Weekly 70 b/w illustrations

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Have you heard the one about the new computer owner who mistook the CD-ROM player for a cup holder? Or the woman who thought her brains were oozing out of a gunshot wound, when the "truth" was that when her Pillsbury Poppin' Fresh can exploded, striking her on the head with the lid, the goo she felt was biscuit dough? Jan Harold Brunvand, professor emeritus at the University of Utah and author of numerous urban-legend collections, including The Vanishing Hitchhiker, The Choking Doberman, Curses! Broiled Again, and American Folklore: An Encyclopedia, has been studying urban legends for some 20 years, and his new book, Too Good to Be True, relates more than 200 of these indestructible tales.

There are relatively recent stories based on modern technology, such as the classic microwaved pet, and yarns that have been making the urban-legend circuit for decades, such as the solid-cement-Cadillac story, which can be traced back to the 1940s, at least, involving a cement-truck driver who spies a new Cadillac convertible in his driveway and his wife talking to some strange man. He dumps his load of concrete on the Cadillac, but later discovers the stranger was a car dealer and the car was to be a gift from his wife, one she'd spent years saving her pennies for.

The stories are grouped by subject, including "Dog Tales" and "Just Desserts," "Sexcapades" and "Losing Face." There are baby stories and work stories, criminal tales and college anecdotes, plus stories of mistaken identity, human nature, and technology. Brunvand achieves more, however, than a mere compendium of highly entertaining stories. He discusses the nature of urban legends--those almost believable, addictively retellable tales that always happened to a friend of a friend (FOAF, in folklorist parlance)--and for each individual story, Brunvand includes as much of its history as he has been able to trace, including newspaper accounts, alternative versions, and the story's natural cycle, that is, how many years, typically, between resurfacings. The result is an exceptionally engaging book and a great resource for debunking that next story, as heard from a friend by that unnamed acquaintance of unassailable honesty, that sounds just a little too perfect to swallow whole. --Stephanie Gold --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

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. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039332088X
• ISBN-13: 978-0393320886
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #520,300 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's amazing what people will fall for., October 20, 1999

By 

R. Laurence Davis (Wentworth, New Hampshire) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Too Good to Be True: The Colossal Book of Urban Legends (Hardcover)

I read this book from cover to cover (despite the warning of another reviewer). I was mostly appalled-first by the fact that people would actually fall for some of this stuff, and then by the fact that I had actually already fallen for some of it. If you are a curious person who keeps his or her ear to the ground, I guarantee that you will have heard 75% of these or variations. I especially like the fact that Brunvand frequently explores the origin of the legends. Many of them actually contain a germ of truth. I first found out about the book after hearing and NPR interview the author. I will now be adding some of his earlier books to my library

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There Really Was A Virgin Birth? Wow!, January 9, 2000

By 

Robert Derenthal "bucherwurm" (California United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Too Good to Be True: The Colossal Book of Urban Legends (Hardcover)

Lets not quibble about whether a legend or two got missed. This book contains 500 pages of tales that a lot of people have thought to be true. Yes, I admit it, I've been snookered into believing a few of them, but now I have been set straight. Actually, author Brunvand lets us know that a few of them actually are true. What's really important is that a lot of these stupid stories have circulated on the internet: send a dying kid a get well card and put him in the Guinness book of records; beware of having your kidneys removed in a motel room. Indeed one of the most serious of computer viruses seems to be the Gullibility Virus that attacks the minds of those who wander about the internet.

What makes it all especially interesting is that Mr. Brunvand traces down the origin of these legends. That bizarre "true" event related to you by a friend who heard that it happened to a relative of his ex-girlfriend has actually been circulating in one form or another for the last 70 years or so. My only quibble with the book is that occasionally the author tells too many versions of the same story, and you find yourself saying "enough already."

Oh yes, take Paul Harvey, Dear Abby, and the Reader's Digest with a grain of salt. They seem most gullible of all, having passed on a lot of these legends as true. The book is a veritable encyclopedia of these fun tales, and I heartily recommend it.

Finally, there was that strange incident regarding a virgin birth during the Civil War. Is it true? Get the facts in Too Good To Be True.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book on Interesting Subject!!!!, July 8, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Too Good to Be True: The Colossal Book of Urban Legends (Hardcover)

If you want to read about Urban Legends get this book!!! Unlike the Big Book of Urban Legends this one has alternate versions, explains how some came about or how long they have been around. The stories are very interesting even if they are untrue. Interesting because many are very plausible others so stupid its funny. Also interesting because you see how these stories travel around as truth. "I heard this one from my co-workers secretary's sister's boyfriend's cousin"