> Recommended:
>
> "The Choking Doberman...and Other 'New' Urban Legends"
> by Jan Harold Brunvand, University of Utah
> 1984, W.W Norton and Company (New York)
>
> Brunvand's second popular book on common American folklore. He traces the
> origin of
> a number of urban legends, demonstrating how these tales mutated and
> changed with
> telling and retelling. Many of his sources include local newspapers and
> other "hardcopy"
> which both allows him to show you concrete examples of each generation of
> the memes
> and reduces your confidence in news media substantially.
>
> If you though that one was cool I also recommend his previous book:
>
> "The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings"
> 1981, W.W Norton (New York).
>
> Between the two books Brunvand covers many of the legends discussed here.
Read those, among others, as research for my party. Got as a present at
said party, another in his series: _Curses, Broiled Again!_ All good
stuff. Brunvand seems to want to stamp them out, for the most party,
which I at least find a bit odd.
Eva