Encyclopedia of Urban Legends
By Jan Harold Brunvand

Reviewed by Lawrence D. P. Miller

As the name implies, The Encyclopedia of Urban Legends provides a quite broad, but not very deep, selection of urban legends and traditional folktales. The author examines essentially all the stories and themes that have ever popped up in Urban Myth, performing a sort of modern exegesis to break them into their component parts. It features summaries and explanations of major and minor urban myths and themes. Like Britannica and all other encyclopedias, this one is organized alphabetically, making it easy to find what you're looking for.

Readers looking for an anthology of popular Urban Legends should looks elsewhere; the Encyclopedia reads much more like a scholarly work, including an impressive bibliography and even references to the appropriate numbered motifs. Some of the major stories are included, but the value of this heavy tome is in the variations and origins it provides. You may not get a lengthy, gruesome version of your favorite legend, but you'll learn where it was first reported, earlier traditional tales that might be related, and other details you've probably missed before.

At the same time, these arcane details might spoil the stories for readers who enjoy feeling that maybe their barber's first cousin's roomate really did wake up missing a kidney. The derivations, histories, and origins demystify as much as they inform.

The scholarly feel of the work also explains its rather steep $75 price tag, which will put it out of reach for most casual readers. Nevertheless, I recommend the book to those who always try to figure out where the beautiful assistant is putting her feet while the magician is sawing her in half. For those who prefer to enjoy the magic, this book might be a mistake.

Encyclopedia of Urban Legends by Jan Harold Brunvand ABC-CLIO ISBN: 1-576070-76-X Library Binding, 324 pages List Price: $75.00 Paperback edition forthcoming