Urban Legends: The As-Complete-As-One-Could-Be Guide to Modern Myths

Book Description

Urban Legends is a remarkably complete collection of the modern myths that make the rounds in offices, college dorms, and every other place where people tell the stories that spring from our deepest fears and fascinations.

Every culture has its folktales including ours. Except, instead of involving gods and goddesses or princes and princesses, ours involve "some guy my sister's best friend knows" or "someone who woke up in a motel room." They happened, supposedly, to real people, usually recently, in a particular place. And they touch the most sensitive nerves of our psyches with ironic twists, gross-out shocks, and moral lessons learned the hard way.

From the classic tale "The Mexican Pet" in which the "dog" turns out to be no Chihuahua to the more unappetizing story of condoms as fast-food burger garnish, from surgically skilled kidney thieves to sexual experiments that end in the emergency room, Urban Legends relates more 300 of the most enticing, macabre, and unforgettable tales. Expertly told, they are arranged in such chapters as "Crazy Little Thang Called Sex," "Oh, Scare Me," "Campus Capers," "Corporate Convolutions," and "So Much For Comfort Food."

Fascinating, chilling, and occasionally repulsive, Urban Legends has all your favorites and hundreds more.

Customer Reviews:

fun to read.......2007-07-31

from a critic stand point i can see how one would find fault in this, however unless you are looking for serious studies of urban legands i see little fault in this book. I read it a number of times in highschool and found it delightful and entertaining. Does she say what is legand and what is not, no not really, but somt of them should be obvious and other ....well thats what the show myth busters is for. However if one where looking for something fun with a selction of fictional facts this book would do that. Not only does it contain urban legends, but silly laws, dumb things people do in court(and else where), and more.

Great topic, horrible execution........2001-11-04

The worst sin a book about Urban Legends could commit is to confuse the reader about what is fact, and what is fiction. This book does that time after time. The author hops around between Urban Legend and the truth that may have inspired it, and the writing is so poor that you can't keep track of what's what. The book is also filled with nonsensical run-on sentences; I often had to go back and reread certain sentences 3 or 4 times before just giving up. This book looks and reads like somone published it from their basement. N.E. Genge goes on my list of "Must-NOT-Read" Authors.

People interested in a well-done book on the same topic should start with Paradox Press' excellent "Big Book of Urban Legends".

Please don't buy this book!.......2000-08-24

This is without doubt THE most horribly written book I've ever read. The author can't even write a story well - most of the legends she recounts have no logical progression at all. To give one quick example: only this author could take a promising plot involving rednecks, beer, a jeep, dynamite, a frozen lake, and a retriever named 'Gump', and leave the reader wondering why they bothered to read the thing in the first place.

Although there's a lot of info in here, many of the stories are simply NOT urban legends. Those that are, are written so badly that one would think that the urban legend genre would die off within a few months if Genge had anything to do with the telling. Ngaire E. Genge manages to turn the most compelling/tragic/bloodcurdling/funny stories into the most boring tales imaginable. This author has an uncanny gift for turning the stuff of campfire tales into pure boredom.

Don't make the same mistake I did - leave this book on the store shelf where it belongs.

Packed with info but abysmally written........2000-06-09

If ever a book cried out for a competent editor, this is the one. It's rife with misspellings, typos and incredibly obtuse prose. While it does fulfill its stated purpose of being a compendium of both classic and contemporary urban legends, it's an exhausting read because of its startling lack of polish. And if you find you're interested in learning whether or not a particular legend is true or even based in truth, I hope you're the patient type: the author often waits several pages before deciding to comment on the veracity of a story, sometimes saving up multiple stories and commenting on them collectively. That's when she chooses to weigh in on a tale's truthfulness at all, mind you. There are definitely better titles in this genre, not to mention the great Web sites covering the same territory.

Its pretty good.......2000-05-05

Yes there are a few Urban Legends books out there now many taking advantage of the movie. Brunvand has been writing books on Urban Legends way before the movie and new interest in the topic ever came up, this book is can't compare to his but its not too bad its updated has new stories and legends. The other reviewer said this info is taken off the Urban Legends Reference Pages which may be true but it doesnt necessarly make it a bad book. Not everyone has access to a computer and/or the internet and not everyone knows about the best urban legends webpage either so this book is handy to take with you and share these fun and interesting urban legends with your friends.

Customer Reviews:

The best VB book I ever read.......2002-03-18

In a very easy and straightforward manner, this book introduces the concepts of Object Oriented Programming and shows how it works in VB5. Deborah Kurata uses the GUIDS methodology, which is simple and very efective in any serious software project. OOP is a BIG time-saver, as it lets you create resusable buildind blocks, that can be compiled and called from any other applications you develop, keeping your code concise and easy to trace.

A few Unnecessary Chapters.......2000-03-15

By chapter 10, i was actually introduced to some real code,and in fact, learned it.

I didn't buy a book on "HOW to program", or "What makes a good program" or "Here's how to name variables", or "Here's how to comment your code" I wanted to learn oop using VB. I would still recomend it, but start at chapter 10 (a few trees could have been saved)

A classic introduction to OO for Visual Basic programming.......1998-12-16

This is one of the best written computer books I have read. It is an excellent introduction to object-oriented programming in Visual Basic.

Better than I could do, but..........1998-12-13

I read this book after getting what I felt was a pretty good grasp of object oriented programming. By the time I'd gotten it 3/4 read I was completely confused. Since putting it down for a few weeks I've gotten back on track and have become proficient. I respect anyone with the gumption to write a book, but Deb has a way of confusing the simplest issue and her writing style is far from clear. On the positive side, I did glean clarification of some concepts but it was too painful. She should read Mark Warhol's book on The Art of Programming with Visual Basic - there's a writing style that works.

Change your altitude in VB Programming........1998-12-10

An outstanding, unique, must-have, must-keep book and no other book can replace it (maybe the coming new book Doing Objects in VB 6 can).

You will learn the most powerful fundamental building block from this book and you definitely will benefit a lot from it. It's worth every penny (including shipping/handling).

Not for VB novice at all. But if you have basic skills in VB or you are already a VB developer, this book will change you forever in VB programming. You will never know you and VB can be so good until you read this book simply because no other books tell you how to do objects in VB.

It's not Teach Yourself VB in 2100 days, not VB by examples, not VB step by step. It's one of the best VB book I've ever read.

The Doing of the Thing: The Brief, Brilliant Whitewater Career of Buzz Holmstrom
Average customer rating:

Great River runner's companion book

White water fun

heroes of the soul

Answers to an old story....

INSPIRING

The Doing of the Thing: The Brief, Brilliant Whitewater Career of Buzz Holmstrom
Vince Welch , Cort Conley , and Brad Dimock
Manufacturer: Fretwater Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
West | Regional U.S. | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | United States | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Biographies | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Every Rapid Speaks Plainly: The Salmon, Green, and Colorado River Journals of Buzz Holmstrom (Colorado River Chronicles, 2)

Sunk Without a Sound : The Tragic Colorado River Honeymoon of Glen and Bessie Hyde

The Very Hard Way: Bert Loper and the Colorado River

Woman of the River: Georgie White Clark, White Water Pioneer

Canyon Canyon

ASIN: 1892327074

Book Description

Biography of America's great river runner, Buzz Holmstrom: the first to run the Green and Colorado Rivers alone in 1937. Born in the coastal logging communities of coastal Oregon, Holmstrom built his own wooden boats and soloed several of the country's great whitewater rivers. He died mysteriously on the Grande Ronde River at age 37.

Customer Reviews:

Great River runner's companion book.......2007-10-01

The legendary Buzz Holmstrom was a more complex figure than I knew. His journal entries express the feeling of all who really love rivers and the famous entry that includes "the doing of the thing" should be read on every river trip.
This is the second Brad Dimock book I've read (the other on Bert Loper) and I am impressed with not only his skill as a writer, but his careful research. His handling of the tragic end to Buzz Holmstrom's life was that of a journalist with a sense of humanity.
I've already loaned this book to friends.

White water fun.......2007-01-09

If you like white water rafting, this is a wonderful book about the birth of white water fun.

heroes of the soul.......2005-08-19

Even today, with rescue not so far away, few of us would have the nerve to go down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon alone, so imagine the nerve it took when Buzz was totally alone, with no chance of help if he made a mistake. But the most amazing thing about Buzz was that in the midst of an adventure that would leave most people totally preoccupied with survival, Buzz had the soul power to look for and see the poetry in the river and the canyon. Merely knowing how to survive can be much easier than knowing how to live.

Answers to an old story...........2002-09-18

I remember years ago when I was a kid a story my father told me about an amazing river rafter and boat builder. My Dad grew up in Coquille and went to school with Buzz's younger brother. His story always ended with how Buzz had been on a rafting trip in eastern Oregon and went off and committed suicide. I could never understand how someone who had done the amazing things he did could end his life on that note. I thought about that story many times over the years and always wished I knew more. This book is incredibly well researched and documented. Even though many questions were answered, many more were raised. Such was the enigma that was Buzz Holmstrom.

INSPIRING.......2001-01-02

Well-written and researched. But the thing that shines through is Buzz and his strong spirit - the writers were careful to be sure this was HIS book, not theirs, which is how it should be. A true boatman's boatman, Buzz was maybe born too soon - it seems the world wasn't quite ready for his singular love of the rivers and nature. This book won't disappoint you - what will disappoint you after reading it is that Buzz is gone.

Average customer rating:

China's Electronics Industry
Michael Pecht
Manufacturer: William Andrew Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Industrial Relations | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0815515367

Book Description

Electronics has been a Chinese pillar of success and is now the largest industry in China with growth of nearly twenty percent annually. China is the world's number one producer of TVs, recorders, DVD players, telephones, calculators, refrigerators, and air conditioners. China also has the number one cellular phone market, is number two in IC consumption, and is the third largest PC producer. Entry into the WTO is leading to economic liberalization, simplification of the licensing and foreign investment policies, and targeted government funding in electronics R&D. Massive incentives are being provided for electronics development projects and customs duties have been reduced on all electronics equipment.

Book Description

This collection of original essays documents technology's centrality to the history of early America. Unlike much previous scholarship, this volume emphasizes the quotidian rather than the exceptional: the farm household seeking to preserve food or acquire tools, the surveyor balancing economic and technical considerations while laying out a turnpike, the woman of child-bearing age employing herbal contraceptives, and the neighbors of a polluted urban stream debating issues of property, odor, and health.

These cases and others drawn from brewing, mining, farming, and woodworking enable the authors to address recent historiographic concerns, including the environmental aspects of technological change and the gendered nature of technical knowledge. Brooke Hindle's classic 1966 essay on early American technology is also reprinted, and his view of the field is reassessed. A bibliographical essay and summary of Hindle's bibliographic findings conclude the volume.

The contributors are Judith A. McGaw, Robert C. Post, Susan E. Klepp, Michal McMahon, Patrick W. O'Bannon, Sarah F. McMahon, Donald C. Jackson, Robert B. Gordon, Carolyn C. Cooper, and Nina E. Lerman.

Customer Reviews:

Wide variety of subjects. Perfect for classroom teaching!.......1998-10-22

Each chapter talks about a different subject in a clear, logical manner. I had this book for a class on History of American Technology, among others, and it trully was a favorite, one that I'll keep for my own personal use in the classroom.

Technology in Action (Learning in Doing: Social, Cognitive and Computational Perspectives)

Average customer rating:

Technology in Action (Learning in Doing: Social, Cognitive and Computational Perspectives)
Christian Heath , and Paul Luff
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Workplace | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Social Psychology & Interactions | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General & Reference | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books

Technology & Society | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books

Workplace Studies: Recovering Work Practice and Informing System Design
Talking About Machines: An Ethnography of a Modern Job (Collection on Technology and Work)
Seeing Sociologically: The Routine Grounds of Social Action (Great Barrington Books)
The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

ASIN: 0521560330

Book Description

Despite extraordinary advances in digital and communication technology over recent years, we know very little about the way these complex systems affect everyday work and interaction. This book seeks to explore these issues through a series of video-based field studies that look at the introduction of basic information systems in general medical practice, news production, the control rooms of the London Underground and computer aided design in architectural practice. It focuses in particular on social interaction and the way video-based field studies can inform the design, development and implementation of new technology.

Download Description

Despite the extraordinary advances in digital and communication technology over recent years, we know very little about the way these complex systems affect everyday work and interaction. This book seeks to explore these issues through a series of video-based field studies. It begins by discussing the introduction of basic information systems in general medical practice and ends with an exploration of interpersonal communication in advanced media spaces; in the process also looking at news production, the control room of London Underground and computer aided design in architectural practice. Social interaction forms a particular focus of these studies as they explore the way individuals use various tools and technologies and coordinate their actions and activities with each other. The authors also show how video-based field studies of work and interaction can inform the design, development and deployment of new technology, in this valuable new resource for academics, researchers and practitioners.

Doing Hard Time: Developing Real-Time Systems with UML, Objects, Frameworks and Patterns

Average customer rating:

A "Must Have" for any Real Time developer's bookshelf
Spend your money elsewhere
Too wide and too optimistic?
Hard Times "Doing Hard Times"
Essential Reading For ALL Software Developers

Doing Hard Time: Developing Real-Time Systems with UML, Objects, Frameworks and Patterns
Bruce Powel Douglass
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Object-Oriented Software Design | Computer Science & Information Systems | New & Used Textbooks | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Real-Time Design Patterns: Robust Scalable Architecture for Real-Time Systems
Real Time UML: Advances in the UML for Real-Time Systems (3rd Edition) (The Addison-Wesley Object Technology Series)
Real Time UML Workshop for Embedded Systems (Embedded Technology)
Designing Concurrent, Distributed, and Real-Time Applications with UML
Executable UML: A Foundation for Model Driven Architecture

ASIN: 0201498375

Amazon.com

Doing Hard Time: Developing Real-Time Systems with UML, Objects, Frameworks, and Patterns provides an excellent guide to using today's cutting-edge software-engineering techniques to develop software for embedded systems.

Author Bruce Powel Douglass begins by championing the advantages of objects for embedded development and then shows off basic UML document types. Next he addresses the difficulties of writing embedded systems (which are used in hospitals, aircraft, nuclear power plants, and other life-or-death environments). He looks at the restricted resources of embedded hardware and design issues regarding memory management and event handling.

The book expertly discusses the difference between the reliability and safety of software. (It describes the use of a number of patterns that can be used to provide safe operation in the event of single-point failure of a system.)

Rapid Object-Oriented Process for Embedded Systems (ROPES) finds its way to the heart of the text, a development process tailored to real-time software. Besides an introduction to iterative software development, the author walks the reader through the steps required for analysis, design, and eventual implementation of real-time software. The samples (which include several medical devices and a small air traffic control system) are exceptionally rich in detail and often use advanced aspects of UML notation.

Later sections concentrate on the latest in pattern design for embedded software used to manage threads and schedulability. The book closes with a tour of dynamic modeling, real-time frameworks--specifically, the I-Logix Rhapsody Object Execution Framework (OXF)--and details of the Rhapsody modeling tool. In all, Doing Hard Time delivers real technical expertise for any potential embedded software developer in a thorough and digestible format. --Richard Dragan

Customer Reviews:

A "Must Have" for any Real Time developer's bookshelf.......2002-04-19

A fantastic description of how to apply UML and OO process to Embedded and Real-Time systems. Bruce does a great job of keeping the material informative and interesting with concrete "real world" examples. I especially enjoyed the discussion of process and which UML artifacts are used in what phase of development and why. This book has quickly become required reading in my organization. If you want a UML book that provides "how to" knowledge without the doctoral dissertation, then this is for you.

Spend your money elsewhere.......2002-02-15

I'd have to go along with the last 2 readers reviews. This book provides a brief summary of a lot of issues but provides no real substance. A lot of the examples just demonstrate the author's past experience with no explanation as to how you would apply them to your own. There are better books out there for designing systems with UML.

Too wide and too optimistic?.......2001-02-26

I read this book as a first introduction to OO real time computing. I liked the introduction that covers the three topics of OO, RT systems and fault tolerance (though it does not connect the three topics in any sense). I gave up reading the book after the chapter on method, though I skipped through the remaining chapters. The rest of the book was mainly old stuff on waterfall models and OOA/OOD. The whole book was also very commercial and connected to a specific product from the company that the author works for. There was no comparison to other (in my opinion superior) methods and tools.

Instead of buying this book I would recommend you to buy an established book on real time systems and an established book on OO. You will end up spending less money and get a better overview of the two fields by reading fewer pages.

Hard Times "Doing Hard Times".......2000-07-19

The book appears to be a testament to "why I am good" rather than a description of the topic at hand. Editorially, figures don't match text, grammar is expansive and lacks understandability, it is difficult to determine whether words used are used in their English or technical sense, and the use of words requiring dictionary lookup is laudable in grade schools somewhat suspect in a book of this caliber (try 'reify'). Technically little scholarship is shown. The section titles are good, the author often strays from them. For analysis of embedded systems, trivial results are stated and no attention is given to their derivation nor to analysis or references to analysis. Little attention is paid topics beyond their brief statement. Much time is wasted on examples which show the authors work engagements but which do not illustrate the point at hand. Critical topics (for embedded systems) need greater attention and technical analysis rather than restating obvious results and hand-waving (tasking, inter-task message passing, event disposition, etc). The employment of statecharts in situations that it is unsuited to is difficult to understand. The placement and analysis of statecharts within the context of UML, and the technical and organizational difficulties and advantages of statecharts within the context of UML need some discussion.

The obvious needs discussion and scholarly treatment, analytical results, including mathematical formulas, and not restatement and explanation by (generally poor) example.

A terrible, terrible book which needs scholarship for it's improvement. Full of pointless examples and lack of technical discussion.

Essential Reading For ALL Software Developers.......2000-05-21

Even though this book focuses on object-oriented software development for real-time systems, I am certain that it can serve as a valuable source of insight for all developers - including those working on systems outside the targeted area or using alternative approaches. It is very comprehensive and provides clearly written discussions on many subjects which are generally not properly treated in other software development texts. Examples of such topics are: frameworks, patterns, statecharts, threads, architectural design and safety requirements. The author's conversational style combined with effective use of humour ensure that reading the more than 700 pages of this book will not be regarded as "doing hard time" but rather as an enjoyable experience.

20 percent productivity gain built in: it pays to take a second look at processes. A Swiss company knew it was doing well, but sought to do better.(CNC)(Cover ... An article from: Modern Applications News

Average customer rating:

20 percent productivity gain built in: it pays to take a second look at processes. A Swiss company knew it was doing well, but sought to do better.(CNC)(Cover ... An article from: Modern Applications News
Gale Reference Team
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Modern Applications News, published by Thomson Gale on June 1, 2007. The length of the article is 873 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: 20 percent productivity gain built in: it pays to take a second look at processes. A Swiss company knew it was doing well, but sought to do better.(CNC)(Cover story)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication: Modern Applications News (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 41 Issue: 6 Page: 16(2)

Article Type: Cover story

Distributed by Thomson Gale

2004 Cost of Doing Business survey. : An article from: Remodeling

Average customer rating:

2004 Cost of Doing Business survey. : An article from: Remodeling
Nina Patel
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Are Feds Doing Enough for Bioterror Defense? (News and Trends).(Brief Article): An article from: Security Management

Average customer rating:

Are Feds Doing Enough for Bioterror Defense? (News and Trends).(Brief Article): An article from: Security Management

Manufacturer: American Society for Industrial Security
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Security Management, published by American Society for Industrial Security on December 1, 2001. The length of the article is 575 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Are Feds Doing Enough for Bioterror Defense? (News and Trends).(Brief Article)
Publication: Security Management (Refereed)
Date: December 1, 2001
Publisher: American Society for Industrial Security
Volume: 45 Issue: 12 Page: 16(1)

Article Type: Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Big doings in Russellville; a $15 million shopping center project reshapes the local commercial scene.: An article from: Arkansas Business

Average customer rating:

Big doings in Russellville; a $15 million shopping center project reshapes the local commercial scene.: An article from: Arkansas Business
George Waldon
Manufacturer: Journal Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Arkansas Business, published by Journal Publishing, Inc. on April 8, 1991. The length of the article is 1614 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Big doings in Russellville; a $15 million shopping center project reshapes the local commercial scene.
Author: George Waldon
Publication: Arkansas Business (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 8, 1991
Publisher: Journal Publishing, Inc.
Volume: v8 Issue: n14 Page: p14(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books