Too Good to Be True: The Colossal Book of Urban Legends
Contents:
This one is fun, but not a must-read. Format of the book: The author divides the book into chapters based on the theme of the legends. Each chapter has many legends from his "files" , interspersed with his analysis. In his analysis, he may talk about the feasibility of a legend, the origin, other occurrances of the same or similar legends in history, or sociological aspects of the legend.
A few of the legends have some somewhat twisted sexual content. Fun book - it will keep you entertained and give you the upper hand next time someone tries to tell you one of these legends. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. The histories of specific urban legends were interesting but became tiresome after a while. The legends themselves were entertaining, providing satisfying casual reading, but would not purchase any more books in the author's collection.
Content lived up to book description. One person found this helpful. I heard all the stories growing up.
Table of Contents for: Too good to be true : the colossal book
Most of them anyway. Some of them I even believe until I read this book. It is amazing how vulnerable we can be to urban legends.
Just because she said that he said. Kind of like all the arguments and debates about vitamins whether they don't or do work. I recall the whole eggs debate, butter And a host of other savory items that were supposed to be really super bad for you This book would make excellent summertime reading. Certainly the author's dedication to dispelling urban myths is laudable. What caught my attention was the repeated instances of the media parroting these legends in popular print and TV.
To my mind this shows the real bias in the news industry-not a left-of-center political bias, but a strong tendency to substitute "human interest" and entertainment for research and critical reporting. What I was surprised to find was the lack of analysis explaining why certain myths keep returning and why the public insists on believing them. Sure, there are capsule summaries after each story, but these mainly consist of "see my book xxxx for the story behind this myth".
I could be a cynic and say this is a blatant attempt to sell more books; however I think it is the annoying to me anyway practice of authors using themselves as sources. If I have to see "book xxx" to find out about a legend, why should read this book in the first place?
- TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE: THE COLOSSAL BOOK OF URBAN.
- Too Good to Be True: The Colossal Book of Urban Legends - Jan Harold Brunvand - Google Книги.
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Sent to Sweden for the 17 year old granddaughterI am sure she loved it. Sheila O'Flanagan has written a really good story about " love at first sight". Whilst being somewhat predictable I nevertheless thoroughly enjoyed this light hearted tale. The two main characters were very likeable as were the extended family.
A good feel book which I can see being enjoyed by many Amazon readers. I took a folklore class about two years ago and we were required to get this book. It has such interesting stories, some of which give you chills, while others make you laugh or lift a brow. It served me well in my class, and while most people want to get rid of their college text books, I had to keep this one! Fun book full of UM's that I've heard over the years and some new ones. See all 45 reviews.
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Most recent customer reviews. Published 5 months ago. Published 8 months ago. The real meat of the book is in Mr. Brunvand's analysis of each legend, or group of legends. It is pretty amazing to see him trace the origins of each legend and pick apart the contents. Several of the legends actually have their root in real events, but most are pure fancy.
Why do I give it only a four star rating? I save the fifth for truly outstanding books. This one is fun, but not a must-read. Format of the book: The author divides the book into chapters based on the theme of the legends.
Each chapter has many legends from his "files" , interspersed with his analysis. In his analysis, he may talk about the feasibility of a legend, the origin, other occurrances of the same or similar legends in history, or sociological aspects of the legend. A few of the legends have some somewhat twisted sexual content. Fun book - it will keep you entertained and give you the upper hand next time someone tries to tell you one of these legends.
The histories of specific urban legends were interesting but became tiresome after a while.
The Colossal Book of Urban Legends. Too Good to Be True: The Colossal Book of Urban Legends 3. They are worded very matter-of-factly "This happened Nearly pages of oral tradition, about two pages per story. I tried to enter the new edition on goodreads website, but site would not allow.
The legends themselves were entertaining, providing satisfying casual reading, but would not purchase any more books in the author's collection. Content lived up to book description. I heard all the stories growing up.
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Most of them anyway. Jan 07, Andrew rated it really liked it. Second only to the Darwin Awards I think urban legends are some of the best and most misquoted stories of exaggeration and impossibility in current oral circulation. Don't get me wrong I am sure we all have a personal story we are adamant is true to the point of blindly arguing their truth if they are questioned BUT you have to admit their sheer impossibility or in some cases disturbing ease makes them so appealing. And this book has them all - from pop culture I have seen them referenced in Second only to the Darwin Awards I think urban legends are some of the best and most misquoted stories of exaggeration and impossibility in current oral circulation.
And this book has them all - from pop culture I have seen them referenced in films and in new broadcasts to variations told by family members they are the modern Aesop's fables, Baron Munchausen's tall tales and new entries in Edwards Lears book of nonsense - but we can all see their roots in truth and in more than one case I am sure have come close to becoming our own urban legend. Jan 05, Richard Martin rated it liked it. In 24 chapters and pages thus, "colossal" , Jan Brunvand presents a cornucopia of urban legends UL's. Each chapter starts with an overview of the subject being covered.
For clarity, the UL's are in one text font and the background is in another. The background consists of how the UL's were obtained and cites sources. This is not a book to be read in one sitting; I. I simply open In 24 chapters and pages thus, "colossal" , Jan Brunvand presents a cornucopia of urban legends UL's.
I simply opened the book to a random place and read that chapter. Two or three were adequate for one session. Sep 26, Taylor Mullane added it. I loved this folktale book. I could not stop reading all the different stories.
They all had endings that just made me laugh or I was lefted amazed. I liked how many different sections this book had. There were sections for all different types of topics, it was fun reading all the types.
Too Good to Be True: The Colossal Book of Urban Legends - eBooks em Inglês na bahana-line.com
It is hard for me to say one thing I did not like about this book, but if I could say one thing it would be how large this book was. There was almost too many stories. This book would be useful for a teacher read I loved this folktale book. This book would be useful for a teacher reading folktales to students.
This is the motherlode of urban legends with each one given a look into its history and the possibility of its being real surprisingly there are a few. I'm sure you, like me, will find several that you believed. Note that I read the edition which, although not labeled as updated, in fact has quite a few references to things and reports that were subsequent to the last paperback edition in I tried to enter the new edition on goodreads website, but site would not allow.
Mar 16, Lydiajett rated it really liked it. This is a collection of all your favorite Urban Myths - from alligators in the toilet to the crazy guy with the hook for a hand. These are the tales we grew up on. I highly recommend it. Especially to those of you who constantly pass on those emails that are loaded with some of these stories - check it out, you might be surprised just what "myths" you have been exposed to.
Oct 31, Jennifer Daniel rated it liked it Shelves: I like how the author tried to find the root of many urban legends. He would interview some one who allegedly saw the actual event only to be told it was in fact thier cousin's, neighbor's mail man who they got the story from. It was interesting how old some of these legends were, only having small details tweaked to make them current.
The Colossal Book of Urban Legends
Jul 22, Chelsea rated it liked it. This book was fun if you like reading about stories that you've totally heard and thought were true because you are a gullible sucker like myself. My only problem with it is that it is huge, so about a third of the way through I started getting a little antsy and just jumped around looking for specific stories.
It's a good bathroom book. Jun 13, Bunny rated it really liked it Shelves: Super fun, easy read. Read some Urban Legends I know and love, some I'd never heard, and some that I truly thought were just jokes or classic scary stories, but apparently people actually think they're true?
Also, all of the earwigs in the brain, spiders in the hair, and cats in the microwave seriously creeped me out.