Urban Legends: The As-Complete-As-One-Could-Be Guide to Modern Myths (Paperback)

by Ngaire E. Genge (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Verbally transmitted stories that have influenced history, beliefs, morals, and humor, folktales usually derive from a retelling by a "friend-of-a-friend" through which the tale has become accepted as fact. In the past half-century, the study of these brief vignettes--which range in theme from animal horror stories to accidents, business and professional events, and pranks--has achieved academic status. These two anthologies recount legends from the oral American tradition, using classic and contemporary sources. Brunvand, the unchallenged master of narratives that incorporate the absurdities and fears of modern urban life, adds another tome to his impressive collections of urban tales and humor. Along with more esoteric entries, familiar nuggets of oral fiction are included, such as title pieces from "The Mexican Pet" and "The Vanishing Hitchhiker." Equally valuable is Canadian raconteur Genge's anthology. His work is a remarkable collection of myths that make the rounds in offices, college dorms, and wherever people swap stories that spring from our deepest fears and fascinations. Including tales like "Scare Me!" and "Corporate Convulsions," these legends have appeared in the popular press and circulated via photocopies, faxes, and computer links, Well crafted and riveting, these anthologies are essential to Americana collections. Recommended for all libraries.
-Richard K. Burns, MSLS, Hatboro, PA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Here's a thorough, enlightening, entertaining look at urban legends: those sounds-too-good-to-be-true stories that always seem to happen to a friend of a friend. Genge, who's also written books about the television series The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has put together a collection of the familiar (the "Mexican pet" that is not quite a dog) and the little known (footage of a wedding reveals the father of the groom picking the father of the bride's pocket). She also debunks some myths that aren't quite urban legends, e.g., the common belief that the suicide rate is higher during the Christmas season (in fact, Genge says, it's lower). Best of all, she reveals that some so-called urban legends are in fact true stories. The book could use an index--it's tough to find a specific story if you happen to be looking for it--but it's otherwise a fine addition to the urban-legend literature. David Pitt

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (April 11, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609804944
• ISBN-13: 978-0609804940
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,775,324 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great topic, horrible execution., November 3, 2001

By	Daniel V. Reilly (Upstate New York, United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

The worst sin a book about Urban Legends could commit is to confuse the reader about what is fact, and what is fiction. This book does that time after time. The author hops around between Urban Legend and the truth that may have inspired it, and the writing is so poor that you can't keep track of what's what. The book is also filled with nonsensical run-on sentences; I often had to go back and reread certain sentences 3 or 4 times before just giving up. This book looks and reads like somone published it from their basement. N.E. Genge goes on my list of "Must-NOT-Read" Authors.

People interested in a well-done book on the same topic should start with Paradox Press' excellent "Big Book of Urban Legends".

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Please don't buy this book!, August 23, 2000

By	Prometheus - See all my reviews

This is without doubt THE most horribly written book I've ever read. The author can't even write a story well - most of the legends she recounts have no logical progression at all. To give one quick example: only this author could take a promising plot involving rednecks, beer, a jeep, dynamite, a frozen lake, and a retriever named 'Gump', and leave the reader wondering why they bothered to read the thing in the first place.

Although there's a lot of info in here, many of the stories are simply NOT urban legends. Those that are, are written so badly that one would think that the urban legend genre would die off within a few months if Genge had anything to do with the telling. Ngaire E. Genge manages to turn the most compelling/tragic/bloodcurdling/funny stories into the most boring tales imaginable. This author has an uncanny gift for turning the stuff of campfire tales into pure boredom.

Don't make the same mistake I did - leave this book on the store shelf where it belongs.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Packed with info but abysmally written., June 8, 2000

By	Pat McDougall (Oregon, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

If ever a book cried out for a competent editor, this is the one. It's rife with misspellings, typos and incredibly obtuse prose. While it does fulfill its stated purpose of being a compendium of both classic and contemporary urban legends, it's an exhausting read because of its startling lack of polish. And if you find you're interested in learning whether or not a particular legend is true or even based in truth, I hope you're the patient type: the author often waits several pages before deciding to comment on the veracity of a story, sometimes saving up multiple stories and commenting on them collectively. That's when she chooses to weigh in on a tale's truthfulness at all, mind you. There are definitely better titles in this genre, not to mention the great Web sites covering the same territory.