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Jane Beckman, Steven Bellovin, Conrad Black, Mark Brader, Bo
Bradham, Jean-Louis Brodu, Justin Bukowski, Danny Burstein, Jack Campin,
Raymond Chen, Joe Chew, Bob Church, Tom "Splinter" Cikowski, Patrick S Clark,
Guy Coates, Cathi A. Cook, Camilla A. Cracchiolo, Cindy Davies, Glenn Davis,
Jeff Davis, Ray Depew, Scott Deerwester, Larry Doering, all the Terry's:
Carroll, Chan, Monks, Wood, et al., David Esan, Clive Feather, Sharon Fenick,
Greg Franklin, Alan Frisbie, Joel Furr, Kim Greer, Tom Greer, Dave Gross,
Phil Gustafson, Barbara Hamel^WMikkelson, David A. Honigs, David B. Horvath,
Wendy Foran Howard, Mark Israel, Richard Joltes, Jim Jones, Diane Kelly, Emily
Kelly, Phil Kernick, Ron Knight, David Lesher, Andrew Lewis, Helge Moulding,
Dean "dino" Moore, Susan Mudgett, Ian Munro, Bill Nelson, Tom Neff, Bob
O'Brien, Madeleine Page, Jonathan Papai, Christophe Pettus, Lee Rudolph, saki,
G. Paul Savage, Brian Scearce, Sean Smith, Randal Schwartz, Ken Shirriff, Doug
Spindler, Haakon Styri, Derek Tearne, Michele Tepper, Harry Teasley, Bruce
Tindall, Dwight Tovey, Peter van der Linden, Will Wheeler, Greg Widdicombe,
Dan Wright and Ian A. York.
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Others?
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Have you ever wondered how those people have gotten the name at
the end of the FAQ list? They are people who are widely
recognized as thoughtful posters of reliable information. They
have consistently added value to various debates by sharing their
point of view, and often researching difficult questions which
arise on the net, and posting authoritative facts citing
sources.
The official way for joining the list of distinguished AFU-ers is
to research a number of the unanswered questions that come now
and then and reach a definitive conclusion (or demonstrate that
one cannot be found). Post your findings. If your reports are
sound, and have provide a reasonable contribution to the
signal-to-noise ratio of the newsgroup, and the
original question was non-trivial, you will be added to the
acknowledgements section of the FAQ list! Be prepared to submit
references. We are mostly adults here (except around the
beginning of the academic year). Be prepared to discuss and
debate your research and conclusions here. The unofficial way to
get on the list is to give me a big payoff (and it better be more
than two-fifty).
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Incredible New Reference
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Peter van der Linden
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Expert C Programming, 1994, Prentice-Hall.
ISBN 0-13-177429-8, paperback, 384 pages, US$32.
A provocative and lively excursion into the depths of mental
anguish and instability that give rise to urban legends such as
C. Recommended for people of all ages and religious
persuasions. If this isn't the most spine-tingling book you read
this year, you haven't lived! So controversial that the Book of
the Month Club won't even acknowledge it!
Also by the same author:
The Official Handbook of Practical
Jokes, 1989, Signet, ISBN 0-451-15873-3,
The Second
Official Handbook of Practical Jokes, 1991, Signet, ISBN
0-451-16924-7.
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Some Primary Folklore-Specific
References
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Simon J. Bronner
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Piled Higher and Deeper, 1990, ISBN
0-87483-154-7,
August House. Very readable and interesting collection of campus
and academic folklore.
Jan Harold Brunvand
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The Vanishing Hitchhiker, 1981, ISBN
0-393-95169-3;
The Choking Doberman, 1984, ISBN
0-393-30321-7;
The Mexican Pet, 1986, ISBN 0-393-30542-2;
Curses! Broiled Again, 1989, ISBN
0-393-30711-5;
The Baby Train, 1993, ISBN 0-393-03438-0;
The Study of American Folklore,
3rd Ed., 1986, all published by W.W. Norton;
Folklore: A Study and Research Guide, 1976, St. Martin's
(out of print). JHB is one of the leading folklorists in this
field today and has done much to popularize the study of ULs.
Also has a great back hand and skis a mean `figure 11'.
Alan Dundes
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Cracking Jokes: Studies of Sick Humor Cycles and
Stereotypes, 1987, Ten Speed Press. Curious about what makes
sick humor popular? Check this baby out so you'll be ready the
next time an Olympian gets whacked with a crowbar.
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Alan Dundes and Carl Pagter
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Urban folklore from the Paperwork
Empire, 1975, American Folklore Society. You want it when?
Find out about it and other Xerox lore in the modern (or not
so modern) office in this series of collections by Dundes and
Pagter.
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Arthur Goldstuck
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The Ink in the Porridge: Urban Legends of
South African Elections, Penguin, 1994. Interesting short
study on ULs in a seminal event in our time. You can also
email him at arthurg@is.co.za.
Beng af Klintberg
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Råttan i Pizzan (The rat in the pizza), Pan, 1990
ISBN 91-1-893831-0. Haakon Styri, maintainer of the Norway AFU
ftp site says Bengt af Klintberg writes in a Brunvandish style.
He lists 100 legends, unfortunately not classified by topic.
Though many of the legends are well known in other parts of the
world there are a few that may be European.
Iona and Peter Opie
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The Lore and Language of School-Children,
Oxford, Clarendon P., 1972. Noted poster Jack Campin says:
``This [book] has some mind-boggling figures on the speed and
effectiveness of folklore transmission by kids.''
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Paul Smith
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The Complete Book of Office Mis-practice, 1984, London;
Boston: Routledge & K. Paul, 1984. Covers some of the same subject
matter as Dundes and Pagter. Other comments by Jack Campin:
He's also done a series of popular books with titles
incorporating the phrase ``Nasty Legends'' (rather like
Brunvand's stuff) and some heavyweight folklore theory
in a series he edits called ``Perspectives on Contemporary
Legend''
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Smith has also co-authored two books with Gillian Bennett
entitled, Monsters with Iron Teeth, 1988, and Perspectives
on Contemporary Legend, 1987, both published by Sheffield
Sheffield Academic Press.
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Patricia Turner
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I Heard It Through the Grapevine: Rumor in
African-American Culture, 1993, University of California
Press. Provides interesting insights into the propagation of
urban legends in African-American Culture.
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ISCLR
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The International Society for Contemporary Legend Research (ISCLR)
has two publications of interest.
FOAFtale News is the newsletter of the society and contains
information from around the world along with extensive
bibliographies and reports and notes from other related publications.
It is published quarterly.
Contemporary Legend is a refereed journal of scholarly articles
on legends. It is edited by Paul Smith.
Membership in ISCLR entitles one to both publications. For US and
Canadian subscription information, write to: Paul Smith, Department
of Folklore, Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland, CANADA
A1C 5S7. Subscription rates as of July 1994 are US$18 or 10 pounds
(UK).
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Some Good Primary References
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Cecil Adams
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The Straight Dope, 1984, ISBN 0-345-33315-2, More of the
Straight Dope, 1988, ISBN 0-345-35145-2, Return of the
Straight Dope, 1994, ISBN 0-345-38111-4, all published by
Ballantine Books. Author of ``The Straight Dope'' Q&A column of
The Chicago Reader and is syndicated in many alternative
newspapers. Worth reading if only for for his writing style. You
can e-mail his editor, Ed Zotti, at
ezotti@merle.acns.nwu.edu.
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Alfie Kohn
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You Know What They Say...The Truth About Popular Beliefs,
1990, ISBN 0-06-092115-3, Harper. Pretty good
book with, get this, references to stuff in the back.
This is a good habit which some of you folks may want to try
sometime. . . .
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Paul Krassner (ed.)
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Best of the Realist, 1984, ISBN 0-89471-287-X, Running
Press. The worst thing about BotR is that the reprints
aren't dated. Otherwise the book is a must, especially for the
generation X crowd : articles by Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor,
Robert Anton Wilson, Terry Southern, Mae Brussel, and Margo St.
James; art by Rodrigues, S. Clay Wilson, and the pre-carp Richard
Guindon. Not to mention ``The Parts Left Out of the Kennedy
Book'', ``The Case of the Cock-Sure Groupies'' (the Plaster
Casters), and an illegal Groucho Marx quote: ``I think the only
hope this country has is Nixon's assassination.'' [Unfortunately,
this appears to be out of print.]
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G. & C. Merriam Co.
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Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1977, ISBN
0-87779-348-4. Great bedside reading. Check it out sometime.
There's also the OED, but Bruce Tindall has first dibs on it.
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William Poundstone
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Big Secrets, 1983, Quill, ISBN 0-688-04830-7,
Bigger Secrets, 1986, Houghton-Mifflin, ISBN
0-395-53008-3,
and Biggest Secrets, Quill (Wm. Morrow), ISBN
0-688-13792-X.
Sorry, it's a secret. Peter Trei says the stuff on Masons is total
BS, but then, he WOULD say that. Perhaps the weakest of the lot
though still on target and somewhat interesting for the most part.
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Jesse Sheidlower (ed.)
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The F-Word,, Random House, 1995, ISBN
0-679-76427-5. But only if you give a fuck.
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Bruce Tindall and Mark Watson
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Did Mohawks Wear Mohawks? And Other Wonders, Plunders, and
Blunders, Quill - William and Morrow, 1991. ISBN
0-688-09859-2. Damn good book (even if his father
did write America: A Narrative History) with only one
wrong entry so far. Just don't believe what they say about
dalmatians, humans, and urea. You can even e-mail Bruce on the
net at tindall@mercury.interpath.net to blast
'im.
And wouldn't you know it, the next installment which is appalling
named How Does Olive Oil Lose Its Virginity? is out. For
even more GS check out ISBN #0-688-12681-2 by
William and Morrow, 1994.
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The AFU Frequently Asked Questions List has been maintained by
Terry Chan since July 1991, and by Sean Willard since June 1998. Its inception and spirit was due to
the efforts of Peter van der Linden in February 1991.
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Copyright Stuff
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Copyright (c) 2001 Terry Chan, Peter van der Linden, and Sean Willard. All Rights
Reserved. Permission for personal, educational or non- profit use is
granted provided this this copyright and notice are included in its
entirety and remains unaltered. All other uses must receive prior
permission in writing from both Terry Chan (at tchan@dante.lbl.gov or mercymercymercy@bluenote.com) and Peter van der Linden
(at linden@eng.sun.com).
Licensing terms on request.
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