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A review by peter_j_reader
Too Good to Be True: The Colossal Book of Urban Legends by Jan Harold Brunvand
5.0
This is perhaps the most comprehensive of Brunvand's work. Although, I wish it were as analytical as some of his others. He writes interesting books about those stories we are all "sure" are "true" and exposing them as legends. He also does a fantastic job of expaling what makes an Urban Legend an Urban Legend as opposed to just a rumor or a piece of gossip. Brunvand is also careful to explain and explore situations where the legends have truth to and in them (for example, the idea that people posion halloween candy was around long before there was a case invoving tainted candy - and even then the murderer knew the victims and did not act randomly, relying on the legend to cover his tracks). Buy this one as a handy refrence, but read the others (he also rarely doubles back on legends in the others without a reason to do so or without acknowleding that he's done this before and providing refrence points).