The Truth Never Stands in the Way of a Good Story

Rating:
Summary: A good study
Review: I agree with the Olympia reader, below. If you want a collection of stories, you're better off with his 1999 book, "Too Good to Be True." But if you are more deeply interested in this subject, this is the book for you. The only down side is that he has tackled most of these legends already in previous books. The upside is that he goes more into depth, in some cases tracking them all the way back to a person named in the story and finding out how that person is connected to it.

Rating:
Summary: Do not flash your headlights in San Jose!
Review: I frequently receive urgent warnings from from friends and colleagues via e-mail. They always provide me with crucial information, e.g. do not use your cell phone near a gas pump (the pump will explode); do not open certain e-mail messages (your drive will be wiped); and of course - do not flash your headlights in San Jose (you will be murdered to facilitate a gang initiation). Thanks to the works of Brunvand, I amaze and mystify my friends by my ability to recognize these electronic urban legends. This book carries on the urban legend tradition of the author's other works: "The Mexican Pet", "Curses! Broiled Again", for example . I recommend this new book without reservation. You too can become an urban legend spotter.

Rating:
Summary: good as always
Review: i love this authors books. this one is also great.like pepole said before its not good as a beniger book in urbans legends. however, if your really intrest in urban legends this is the book for you.my fave legend in the book is the biscut can stroy its so fuuny.

Rating:
Summary: The saga continues...
Review: More text-booky than previous endeavors, Brunvand brings us yet another urban legend anthology. Perhaps "anthology" isn't the best word. "The Truth Never Stands..." is more of a work of research, delving into the origins and travel patterns of the legends rather than legends (and variations of the legends) themselves. I do recommend this book, but only to die-hard UL enthusiasts and folklore aficionados. If you don't really care about where the urban legend came from, then this book will be a bore. As for the casual UL reader, I recommend any of Brunvand's other books.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and well researched.
Review: This is the first Brunvand book that I've read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I'm usually very skeptical and don't believe Urban Legend stories that I hear but I must admit this book debunked a few tales I assumed to be true. This book does tend to have an acedemic tone to it at times and I didn't mind this. Some readers may not want this much detail however. If you are at all interested in Urban Legend, folklore, or even those ubiquitous internet rumors then you'll enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and well researched.
Review: This is the first Brunvand book that I've read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I'm usually very skeptical and don't believe Urban Legend stories that I hear but I must admit this book debunked a few tales I assumed to be true. This book does tend to have an acedemic tone to it at times and I didn't mind this. Some readers may not want this much detail however. If you are at all interested in Urban Legend, folklore, or even those ubiquitous internet rumors then you'll enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Scholarly, detailed approach off-putting
Review: Unlike Bunvand's other collections of urban legends, this book, as several other reviewers have noted, in more textbook-like in its approach, with chapters that trace the author's research about major urban legends and their potential origins rather than a wide variety of legends and analysis of those stories. This book may appeal to some hardcore urban legend-ologists, but I found some chapters tedious. I think some strenuous editing could have eliminated what felt like a lot of fact-checking and superfluous detail and still made a convincing case for Brunvand and the thouroughness of his research. I missed his humor and the lighter tone of the previous book.