Too Good to Be True

The Colossal Book of Urban Legends

By: Jan Harold Brunvand

Narrated by: Jonathan Yen

Length: 20 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

A fabulously entertaining audiobook from the ultimate authority on those almost-believable tales that always happen to a "friend of a friend". Alligators in the sewers? A pet in the microwave? A tragic misunderstanding of the function of cruise control? No, it didn't really happen to your friend's sister's neighbor: It's an urban legend. And no matter how savvy you think you are, you are sure to find in this collection of more than 200 tales at least one story you would have sworn was true.

Jan Harold Brunvand has been collecting and studying this modern folklore for more than 20 years. In Too Good to Be True, he captures the best stories in their best retellings along with their latest variations and examples of how the stories have changed as they move from person to person and place to place. To help you find your favorite, Brunvand has arranged the tales thematically. "Bringing Up Baby" is full of episodes of child rearing gone wrong, including the grisly tale of the drugged-out babysitter who mistakes the kid for a turkey. "Funny Business" showcases stories of infamous lapses in customer service, such as the story of the shockingly expensive chocolate chip cookie recipe. And "The Criminal Mind" features both brilliant - if they were real - scams as well as the purported antics of the less mentally gifted. Whether you want to become an expert debunker or just have plenty of laughs, this audiobook will surprise and entertain you.

©2014, 1999 Jan Harold Brunvand (P)2015 Audible Inc.

Critic reviews

"If you enjoy these too-good-to-be-true tales, Brunvand's new book will give you hours of pleasure." (Chicago Tribune)

"Informative and entertaining.... Brunvand has collected more than 200 of the most-repeated and best-known examples of modern folk-myth." (Tampa Tribune)

"[N]ot only an entertaining anthology, but an excellent introduction to the study of folklore itself." (Publishers Weekly)

A good book to listen to over time.

If you love this type of thing, and I do, this is a fun and interesting listen. It covers all the urban legends from scary to funny to just plain odd. The narrator reminds me of an old fashioned radio DJ.

OK, But Becomes a Compendium of Self Promotion

Truth be told, some of this was laugh-out-loud funny. Some I've heard before, many I haven't. However, it became a tangled weave of "I," "Me," "My," "Mine," regarding the author's previous books. Also, just include a downloadable PDF of references. No one really wants to hear the book, edition, and page numbers over and over again. I didn't care to hear the URLs either. It's not like I'm going to pull off to the side of the road to write it down or bookmark it. When saying URLs, it's always FORWARD SLASH or BACK SLASH. Don't ever just say "SLASH." The self-promotion of the author's previous books became such a turn-off that I'm not going to finish the book. Performance was the best thing going here.

Well performed, not the same in audio

I enjoyed this book, but I can't help but feel that it is better in print. There are many sections where the various versions of the legends and the authors comments run together in narration, which would be very clear on the page. The author's performance was unexpectedly quite good.

Boring As for other Books

I was looking for a book about Urban Legends. Instead a bit a catalog of the author's other writings. It's OK if your just looking for a shallow collect of urban legends. But if your looking for more skip it.