Customer Reviews
4 stars in the Loo Reading category - By: Joseph Haschka, 07 Dec 2002 
Urban legends are anecdotal yarns, sworn to be factually based, which become embellished to the point of being "too good to be true" as they percolate through society. Today's urban legends will become the future's fairy tales.
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE is an assemblage of over 200 such stories gathered by Jan Brunvand, who is an expert, perhaps obsessively so, on the subject. They cover a wide range of source topics: pets, criminals, cars, sex, accidents, babies, work, technology, human nature, mistaken ID, academia, food, the supernatural, wild animals, & more. They inspire laughter, horror, disbelief, or just plain "Oh, yuck!" Each story is followed by a paragraph, sometimes lengthy, on the times & places the anecdote, or some variant of it, has appeared. Some go back to the 19th century. After the first twenty-five or so, I decided to leave this last bit to the truly compulsive.
My favorite was the one about the American couple staying at the Moscow hotel during the bad old Soviet era. Obsessed with the possible presence of listening devices, the couple searched the room for "bugs". Finding only a metal plate under the carpet, they removed the screws from it. The next morning on checkout, the desk manager asked if they'd spent a pleasant night. He was concerned since the couplein the room below our intrepid travelers had the chandelier fall on them. My wife said she's never seen me laugh so hard.
The trouble with these stories is that they have no developing plot, no hero to love, & no villain to hate. Like eating popcorn, the experience, however delightful, ends with the last kernel/paragraph. Nobody ever exclaims, "Wow, I had a great bag of popcorn last week!" Similarly, I doubt this book will stay memorable for more than a minute. As reading for those contemplative momentsin the loo, it stands out with a capital "L" for Light.
Fascinating and fun! - By: , 24 Jul 1999 
A great read- debunks so many of the myths I've heard & SWORE were true.
The only book on Urban Legends you'll ever need! - By: , 21 Jul 1999 The movie "Urban Legend" sparked my interestin the topic, but the authorin his book exceeded everything I ever wanted to learn about all the modern day "fables" I have heard all my life. I actually got red-faced reading stories that I had believed all my life because I heard it from a friend that heard it from "a friend that it actually happened to..."! Can't wait to see what the author has coming up next!
Great Book on Interesting Subject!!!! - By: , 09 Jul 1999 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"
