The Mexican Pet: More "New" Urban Legends and Some Old Favorites

If you're interested in a good compilation of the texts of various urban legends, I'd highly recommend this book. Brunvand includes some of the ULs published in his earlier writing, but he adds a numerous new legends in this volume. The focus is largely on presenting a lot of stories, but there is enough background information to spark the readers' curiousity. His bibliography, foot-notes, and other publications can provide more information on the stories for readers who want more analysis. All-in-all, this book is a good introduction to the subject of urban legends, and he presents the stories very well. One of the more interesting elements of this book is that Brunvand finds the kernel of truth in some of the stories. He also shows how some can be debunked. Brunvand does miss the boat on a couple of the legends by claiming that they're not true, when they actually can be verified. A good example of this oversight is his attempt to debunk stories about big catfish. They really can grow to over 100 pounds in the USA, and some Asian varieties can exceed 600 pounds.

Urban legends are fun to hear about, and the more bizarre are clearly false. However, what makes them interesting is that so many of them are at least plausible and events that have actually happened are probably even odder. As an academic my favorite section was "Legends of Academe." The blue book section lists what are some of the more interesting ways in which students have supposedly cheated on examinations. While I have not witnessed any of those in this book, I have seen so many students try to cheat on exams that none of those in the list seem implausible. As video recording devices become more ubiquitous, news shows are demonstrating that actual events digitally captured often prove even more bizarre than the most bizarre sounding urban legends. A short time ago, I watched a news clip of two young men trying to steal beer from a convenience store by having one man walk in naked and distract the clerk by dancing while the other snatched the beer. A separate clip showed a young man putting an item of fireworks in his mouth and lighting it. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that as more unusual events are recorded and displayed for all to see, these venerable urban myths will be supplanted by even more bizarre actions. Furthermore, given the incredible desire of some people to become famous it is only a matter of time before some urban legends become true because somebody read about it and decided to make it happen.

Who knew that the sheer number of urban legends could spawn yet another book? Brunvand is the legend specialist and his research is excellent as he relates the legends and then reveals their origins. It is amazing to read his books and realize how many people actually swear these stories are completely true zand happened to a friend of a friend's hairdresser. This outing revisits some old favorites and also brings to light a few new ones. It is a fitting addition to the Brunvand collection (which are some of the best gift books to give and receive).

This is another fine example of logic and reason applied to the popular "friend of a friend" stories of our time. Brunvand puts a great deal of effort into finding variations of urban legends spread out across the United States and the world, reaching back many years to a usually unfindable source. If you believe in critical thinking, then this is a good book for you.