Complete Idiot's Guide to Urban Legends

by Yusuf Toropov, Brandon Toropov, Dashka Slater

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0028640071
• ISBN13: 9780028640075
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Alpha Books
• Length: 308 Pages
• Weight: 1.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.5" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Only took a day to read...

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!!!

Weird,Indeed!.strange,twisted tales & morbid fascinations...

Well worth it for 10 page rigourous Introduction..legend "lingo' like FOAF means 'friend of a friend'...impossible to verify for attribution. 3 page Glossary of terms about tall tales. Perpetual propagation...most are utterly false,but play to a common fear,or concern...Poltergeists! Anecdotes for skeptics.