Urban Myths & Legends

by Albert Jack

Overview

From the bestselling author of Red Herrings & White Elephants, Shaggy Dogs, Pop Goes the Weasel, What Caesar did for My Salad and many more.... 

Introduction

The subject of urban myths and legends is one I have been interested in for a couple of years now. It occurred to me, one day at lunch with friends on the Isle of Dogs, that many long rambling conversations (and ours are certainly long and always rambling) will include a tall tale or two. 

One person will then be reminded of a story he or she once heard which is then presented as near or actual fact. The story will be introduced like this: ‘That reminds me of a story I once heard . . .’ or ‘I remember my uncle/aunt/sister/hairdresser telling me what happened to a friend of theirs . . .’

So urban legends are easy to spot and always have a ring of truth about them. The events they describe could happen or might have happened to any of us. Each of us could have been as unfortunate or stupid as the character(s) in the story, and that is one of the reasons we all enjoy urban legends so much: that the misfortune involved didn’t happen to us but to somebody else. And that makes us laugh. The stories come in many different forms. Some involve ghostly goings on, some are about love found or lost. 

Some centre on plain stupidity and some on unfortunate coincidences, although some do have happy endings. The connecting feature is that all are told and then retold and come back around in altered forms, and all of them are passed around by word of mouth or, especially these days, via the internet, where they spread like wildfire. 

These ‘legends’ (so-called ‘urban,' although they don’t need to have an urban setting) are the modern-day version of medieval folklore and all of the anecdotes in this collection can be recited the next time you are at lunch, dinner or in the pub with friends. They can make even the most unimaginative person seem interesting, I promise. They seem to be working for me, at any rate.

This volume is part of The Myths, Legends & Lies Series.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940155391333
Publisher:	Albert Jack Publishing
Publication date:	03/06/2018
Sold by:	Draft2Digital
Format:	eBook
File size:	199 KB

About the Author

Albert Jack is a writer and historian. His first book Red Herrings and White Elephants explored the origins of well-known idioms and phrases and became an international best-seller in 2004. It was serialized in the Sunday Times and remained on their best-seller list for sixteen straight months. 

He followed this up with a series of other popular titles including Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep, Pop Goes the Weasel, What Caesar did for my Salad & They Laughed at Galileo.

Fascinated by discovering the truth behind the world's great stories, Albert has become an expert at explaining the unexplained, enriching millions of dinner table conversations and ending bar room quarrels the world over. 

He is now a veteran of hundreds of live television shows and thousands of radio programs worldwide. Albert lives somewhere between Guildford in England and Bangkok in Thailand.

OTHER BOOKS BY ALBERT JACK

Red Herrings and White Elephants
Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep
Phantom Hitchhikers
Loch Ness Monsters and Other World Mysteries
Pop Goes the Weasel
The Old Dog and Duck
What Caesar Did for my Salad
Black Sheep and Lame Ducks
It's a Wonderful Word
Money for Old Rope Part 1
Money for Old Rope Part 2
The Jam: Sounds From the Street
Want to be a Writer?
New World Order: The Bilderberg Conspiracy and the Last Man in London
Rose Versus Thistle
They Laughed at Galileo
The Greatest Generation - Diary of a 1st & 6th Airborne Paratrooper
9/11 Conspiracy
Debt Freedom Program
The Slow Death of Europe
Blue Moons and Black Markets