This is the new book by nationally syndicated Chicago Sun Times columnist Richard Roeper. It is a comprehensive, enlightening, and entertaining look at hundreds of such stories that have no basis in fact—no matter how many people will swear otherwise. Half the people who read Urban Legends will be delighted that a legitimate journalist has finally debunked some of the most maddeningly enduring modern myths of our times. The other half will be shocked that some of their favorite stories have been exposed.

    Over the course of the twentieth century this piece of music, perhaps more than any other, worked its way into the collective consciousness to seemingly define a mythical concept of the English countryside: babbling brooks, skylarks, hayricks. But the birth and legacy of the composition are much more complex than this simplified pastoral vision suggests. The landscape we celebrate as unsullied and ripe with mystique is a living, working, and occasionally rancorous environment - not an unaffected idyll - that forged a nation's musical personality, and its dissenting traditions.On a chronological journey that takes him from postwar poets and artists to the late twentieth century and the free party scene which emerged from acid house and travelling communities, Richard King explores how Britain's history and identity has been shaped by the mysterious relationship between music and nature. From the far west of Wales to the Thames Estuary and the Suffolk shoreline, taking in Brian Eno, Kate Bush, Boards of Canada, Dylan Thomas, Gavin Bryars, Greenham Common and The Kinder Scout Mass Trespass, The Lark Ascending listens to the land and the music that emerged from it, to chart a new and surprising course through a familiar landscape.

    In one of the most original books of poetry to appear in the last decade, Jackself spins a kind of 'fictionalized autobiography' through nursery rhymes, riddles and cautionary tales, and through the many 'Jacks' of our folktale, legend, phrase and fable - everyman Jacks and no one Jacks, Jackdaw, Jack-O-Lantern, Jack Sprat, Cheapjack and Jack Frost. At once playful and terrifying, lyric and narratively compelling, Jackself is an unforgettable exploration of an innocence and childhood lost in the darker corners of Reiver country and of English folklore, and once more shows Polley as one of the most remarkable imaginations at work in poetry today.

    Now 25 years later, the Order has been diminish to a mere handful of Knights and stands on the break of extinction but not all hope is lost when a young boy is selected to join the ranks of the legendary Dragon Knights. Thrown into a world of politics, fighting and constant threats to his life, Alexander Kerm must learn the ways of the Dragon Knights in order to survive the challenges that wait him at the Central Academy and his future life as a Knight. But when an old enemy stirs in the east his life will become the focus of powers beyond his control.

    It includes hundreds of whimiscal superstitions as well as folk cures, charms, and chants practiced by the early settlers of Appalachia.

    . . these are great things. Every field should have a hare.’The hare, a night creature and country-dweller, is a rare sight for most people. We know them only from legends and stories. They are shape-shifters, witches’ familiars and symbols of fertility. They are arrogant, as in Aesop’s The Hare and the Tortoise, and absurd, as in Lewis Carroll’s Mad March Hare. In the absence of observed facts, speculation and fantasy have flourished. But real hares? What are they like?In The Private Life of the Hare, John Lewis-Stempel explores myths, history and the reality of the hare. And in vivid, elegant prose he celebrates how, in an age when television cameras have revealed so much in our landscape, the hare remains as elusive and magical as ever.

    In this truly fanciful work, author Lesley O’Mara has crafts a kaleidoscope of information which is sure to delight every cat lover. What happened when Charles Dickens discovered that his cat William was really a Williamina? How do you tell if your cat is truly fat? How long did it take one Florida housecat to track down his owners after they had moved to California? Filled with heartwarming tales, historical anecdotes, unique quotes, and so much more, Cats Miscellany is sure to satisfy human curiosity the whole year round. Delightfully illustrated and beautifully designed, this quirky and entertaining book is the perfect gift for pet lovers and “ailurophiles” of any age.

    I did not touch Him or sit on his knee, Yet Jesus is real to me. In the pages of this touching book, art and inspiring words combine to tell the simple but true message that our Savior loves us. With moving text from the timeless song, I Know That My Savior Loves Me, and illustrations from master painter Simon Dewey, this album of art and prose will help children and adults realize just how near our Savior is to us. This lovely book, which also includes the printed music, makes a wonderful gift for all ages.

    Designed to give essential background on the current study of folklore and some of the basic concepts and questions used when analyzing folklore, this short, coherent, and approachable handbook is divided into five chapters: What Is Folklore?; What Do Folklorists Do?; Types of Folklore; Types of Folk Groups; and, finally, What Do I Do Now?Through these chapters students are guided toward a working understanding of the field, learn basic terms and techniques, and learn to perceive the knowledge base and discourse frame for materials used in folklore courses. Folklore Rules will appeal to instructors and students for a variety of courses, including introductory folklore and comparative studies as well as literature, anthropology, and composition classes that include a folklore component.

    The prince is holding a magnificent ball for every young lady in the kingdom, except Cinderella - her mean stepsisters refuse to let her go! But help arrives at the last minute with FLASH and a POP! Can the Fairy Godmother help Cinderella live happily ever after?

    Featuring beautiful illustrations from award-winning artist Kathleen Edwards, a variety of ways to celebrate the Wheel of the Year, and powerful wisdom from practicing witches, this indispensable, on-the-go tool will make your days more magical.

    Nancy Butcher has gathered together some of the most unusual natural cures that have been proven effective today, and even throws in some unbelievable and-thankfully-abandoned therapies from times past.Filled with case histories of unique illnesses, historic documentation of strange medical practices, and the author's own insightful commentary, this book explains not only how to cure headaches, sleep better, and improve your sex life, but also that people with Cotard's syndrome actually believe they are dead.

    These parlances might not fit the modern hoity toity rhetoric you're used to seeing in print or hearing on TV, and that's exactly why they're more refreshing than an ice cube in July. In Butter My Butt and Call Me a Biscuit, Author Allan Zullo offers up more than 200 vernacular verses presented in themes, such as:* Admitting You're Wrong--The easiest way to eat crow is while it's still warm, 'cause the colder it gets the harder it is to swallow.* Congress--Gettin' a politician to do somethin' good for our country is like tryin' to poke a cat out from under the porch with a rope.* Ego--Some people are so full of themselves, you'd like to buy 'em for what they're worth and sell 'em for what they think they're worth.* Teenage Boys--You kinda wish they used their heads for somethin' besides hat racks.* Revenge--Two wrongs don't make a right, but they sure do make it even.* Surprises--Sometimes you get so surprised by life there ain't nothin' else to say but, 'Butter my butt and call me a biscuit.'"

    . . . Many readers . . . will be gratified to know that Brunvand intends to continue this series of relaxed, unofficial excursions into popular legends. Admirers of curiosa and the psychology of crowds cannot afford to miss them." —Kirkus Reviews

    When one town elder breaks this pact, Grendel’s only hope is that its prodigal daughter will return home to face down the creature of her nightmares—and bring her all-female biker gang with her.