From Publishers Weekly
Brunvand, an English professor at the University of Utah and author of four previous collections of modern folklore, including The Vanishing Hitchhiker , here offers another engaging compilation. He groups these resonant anecdotes, found in slightly modified versions around the world, into such sections as Sex and Scandal, and On-the-Job. In the former, the title piece tells of a train whose early morning whistle wakens couples in bed and leads to pregnancies. From the section titled Fun and Games, "Built in a Day" refers to taxi drivers' descriptions, tendered most often to tiresome American tourists, of such local monuments as the cathedral in Milan's Piazza di Duomo. Expanded from Brunvand's syndicated newspaper column, these accounts, for the most part, are attributed to the notorious FOAF--a "friend of a friend." Illustrations not seen by PW . Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Folklorist Brunvand has compiled another collection of stories originally published in his nationally syndicated column, "Urban Legends." The author gives a lively analysis of these contemporary folk tales, also including accounts and variations received from his readers. Although the narratives are reported as true, they were most often told by an unnamed "friend of a friend" and involved outrageous antics or unbelievable coincidences. The study reveals recurrent motifs and concludes with "A Type-Index of Urban Legends" classifying the tales from all five of Brunvand's books. Not as informative as The Vanishing Hitchhiker ( LJ 10/15/81), but equally entertaining.- Eloise R. Hitchcock, Tennessee Technological Univ. Lib., CookevilleCopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
Brunvand's fifth collection/analysis of ``urban legends'' (Curses! Broiled Again, 1989, etc.)--and the formula's wearing thin. As before, the industrious professor of English (University of Utah) has tracked down myriad stories that, through mass circulation, have gained the ring of truth--for instance, the title legend, in which an early morning train wakes local college students who, unable to get back to sleep, allow ``young love [to run] its natural course,'' resulting in an unusually high birth rate on campus. Brunvand discusses origins and possible variants of each legend (for example, pointing out the similarity of ``The Baby Train'' legend to the legend that birth rates soared in N.Y.C. nine months after the 1965 power blackout). It's a charming presentation, often witty, and loosely organized into categories such as ``Sex and Scandal Legends,'' ``Animal Legends,'' and so on. But few of these legends have the classicality, punch, or resonance of those covered in earlier volumes (e.g., stories like ``The Hook'' or ``The Microwaved Pet''). The well seems to be running low: One of Brunvand's ``Horrors'' legends here, about a West Virginia ``flying monster'' named ``Mothman,'' was covered extensively in John Keel's classic work of cryptozoology, The Mothman Prophecies (1975); and the author's lead-off kicker, his ``experience unique in my three decades as a folklorist: I witnessed the genesis of a legend firsthand,'' turns out to be a trifle about a waitress mistaking the words ``plan one'' for an order of ``plum wine.'' The text concludes with ``A Type-Index of Urban Legends,'' a classification grid organizing the several hundred legends that Brunvand has reported on to date. And then there's the legend about the author who, as his inspiration faltered, began to write the same book over and over again.... (Photographs and drawings--not seen.) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

ANNOTATION

America's premiere folk-detective is back on the case, sniffing out those zany but dubious stories that "absolutely happened" to a friend of your sister's boyfriend's accountant's mechanic. Brunvand tracks the most fabulous tales making today's cocktail-party circuit, showing why those stories that sound too good to be true are too good to be true. Photographs and drawings.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

America's premiere folk detective is back on the case, sniffing out those zany but dubious stories that "really happened" to a friend of your sister's boyfriend's accountant's mechanic. Jan Harold Brunvand - "Mr. Urban Legend" (Smithsonian) - tracks the most fabulous tales making today's cocktail-party circuit and shows why those stories that sound too good to be true probably are too good to be true. The Baby Train offers a revealing peek behind the story of "The Exploding Bra"; exposes the embarrassing source of "The Hairdresser's Error"; resurrects a "Failed Suicide" Buster Keeton would have died for; and shows why adults are better off not bringing their comic-book fantasies out of the closet. From "Superhero Hijinx" to "The Shocking Videotape" to "The Accidental Cannibal," The Baby Train uncovers the mysteries behind some of the bawdiest, goriest, funniest, most pyrotechnic urban legends yet. The eponymous episode - "The Baby Train" - sheds light on certain predawn activities that have linked unusually high birth rates to the whim of train schedule-makers. Hottest legend of the year? - undoubtedly "The Toothbrush Story." A couple is robbed while on vacation; the only items not stolen, two toothbrushes and a camera. When the film is developed, they discover...

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Brunvand, an English professor at the University of Utah and author of four previous collections of modern folklore, including The Vanishing Hitchhiker , here offers another engaging compilation. He groups these resonant anecdotes, found in slightly modified versions around the world, into such sections as Sex and Scandal, and On-the-Job. In the former, the title piece tells of a train whose early morning whistle wakens couples in bed and leads to pregnancies. From the section titled Fun and Games, ``Built in a Day'' refers to taxi drivers' descriptions, tendered most often to tiresome American tourists, of such local monuments as the cathedral in Milan's Piazza di Duomo. Expanded from Brunvand's syndicated newspaper column, these accounts, for the most part, are attributed to the notorious FOAF--a ``friend of a friend.'' Illustrations not seen by PW . (Mar.)

Library Journal