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    Urban Myths & Legends
    Urban Myths & Legends
    Urban Myths & Legends
    Ebook59 pages54 minutes

    Urban Myths & Legends

    By Albert Jack

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    About this ebook

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAlbert Jack Publishing
    Release dateMar 6, 2018
    ISBN9781386899617
    Urban Myths & Legends

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      Book preview

      Urban Myths & Legends - Albert Jack

      Albert Jack

      Albert Jack Publishing

      Copyright Page

      Urban Myths & Legends

      Tales of Revenge and The Rich & Famous

      (2018 eBook Edition)

      Copyright ©August 2015 Albert Jack

      Cover Art: Albert Jack Publishing

      Cover Design: Albert Jack Publishing

      All rights are reserved to the author. no part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

      This is largely a work of fiction although the author could not resist the temptation to be creative with historical detail wherever possible. Any reference to any real life character or name used is purely coincidental, for the most part. However, some of these tales are true.

      Albert Jack Publishing

      PO Box 661

      Seapoint

      Cape Town

      South Africa

      ––––––––

      albertjack.com

      albertjackchat (facebook & Twitter)

      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 bestseller in 2004.

      It was serialised by the Sunday Times and remained in their bestseller list for sixteen straight months. He followed this up with a series of bestsellers including Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep, Pop Goes the Weasel and What Caesar did for My Salad.

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

      He is now a veteran of hundreds of live television shows and thousands of radio programmes worldwide. Albert lives somewhere between Guildford in England and Cape Town in South Africa.

      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

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