Popular Myths

Most of us are familiar with the greatest hits and legendary heroes of US history. In George Washington Is Cash Money, Cory O'Brien, author of Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes, does away with the pomp and circumstance and calls America's history what it is: one long violent soap opera.

The editors of Scientific American’s best-selling Fact or Fiction: Science Tackles 58 Popular Myths return with Fact or Fiction 2: 50 (More) Popular Myths Explained. We cast an analytical eye on another collection of urban lore and cultural myths that persist so long in our collective consciousness they acquire a ring of truth. Who hasn’t heard the “five-second rule”, which insists that food dropped on the floor is safe to eat if it’s picked up within five seconds? How many of us have been told to “feed a cold, starve a fever"?

The Secret has taken the book world by storm, giving people the power to live happier, more prosperous lives through the law of attraction. In the same vein as Breaking the Da Vinci Code, The Secret of "The Secret" takes an independent look at the people and the ideas behind the bestseller and...

Myths are usually seen as stories from the depths of time—fun and fantastical, but no longer believed by anyone. Yet, as Philip Ball shows, we are still writing them—and still living them—today. From Robinson Crusoe and Frankenstein to Batman, many stories written in the past few centuries are commonly, perhaps glibly, called "modern myths." But Ball argues that we should take that idea seriously. Our stories of Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Sherlock Holmes are doing the kind of cultural work that the ancient myths once did.

Myths of PR uses popular myths about the theory and practice of public relations as a vehicle for helping start-up owners, brand marketers, communications practitioners and students to distinguish between fads and tried-and-tested PR practice. Its purpose is to shatter widespread misconceptions about PR and grant listeners insight into why these myths have endured in spite of clearly demonstrable evidence to the contrary.

A brand is just a logo - everyone knows that, don't they? After all, it's not as though a good brand can save a bad business, and besides, the digital revolution is making branding irrelevant... Myths of Branding, written by renowned branding experts Andy Milligan and Simon Bailey, explores the huge number of misguided, mistaken and blatantly false myths that abound in the branding arena.

Ludicrous Legends is a hilarious new junior fiction series that reimagines myths in a fun way for early readers, 7 to 10 years old. Hector and his best friend, a centaur named Hylo, are about to be tested on Greek mythology by their teacher Mr Socrates. Join them as they come to grips with the...

Everything you thought you knew about your favorite travel destinations? There’s so much more. Curated by the relentlessly curious travel journalist and National Geographic regular contributor, Ronan O’Connell, Hidden in Plain Sight invites you on a tour of the world’s most popular...

This is the first study to explore fully the myth of America as reflected in the nation's popular music. Beginning with the songs of the Pilgrims and continuing through more than two centuries of history and music, Born in the U.S.A. shows the emerging American myth and gives a close reading of the compositions of songwriters as diverse as William Billings, Henry Clay Work, Irving Berlin, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen.

Ever wonder why much of American Christianity is pro-spanking, pro-tough-on-crime, anti-gun control, pro-war, and hell-affirming, even though Jesus taught mercy, non-violence and enemy love? When Michael Camp started deconstructing his evangelical faith, he noticed a pattern. The doctrines he questioned—original depravity, substitutionary atonement, God-ordained genocide in the Old Testament, the doctrine of hell, etc.—were all tied to retribution and violence.

Superman rose from popular culture - comic books, newspaper strips, radio, television, novels, and movies - but people have so embraced the character that he has now become part of folklore. This transition from popular to folk culture signals the importance of Superman to fans and to a larger American populace. Superman's story has become a myth dramatizing identity, morality, and politics. Many studies have examined the ways in which folklore has provided inspiration for other forms of culture, especially literature and cinema.

Since the 2008 recession began, sales of Atlas Shrugged have surged and the novel (and author Ayn Rand) have landed at the center of American politics. Whether you decide to embrace Ayn Rand's ideas, reject them, or simply want to be able to participate in an informed way in conversations about Rand's ideas, this slim volume will help you understand her revolutionary philosophy and identify the myths circulating about her ideas. Four authors identify some prominent myths, show why they are false, and state the plain facts that the myths conceal.

Fifty years after the sexual revolution, we are told that we live in a time of unprecedented sexual freedom: that if anything, we are too free now. But beneath the veneer of glossy hedonism, millennial journalist Rachel Hills argues, we are controlled by a new brand of sexual convention: one that influences all of us - woman or man, straight or gay, liberal or conservative.

FEAT DESCDescubre con tus hijos los 25 cuentos más mágicos de Perú. Una selección de las historias más entrañables para prosperar mirando al pasado y al futuro. Lo mejor de las tradiciones y las costumbres peruanas para los más pequeños con música de banda sonora, voces de cine y efectos de sonido. Son perfectos tanto para escuchar en casa antes de dormir como en el coche.

Leo Braudy, a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, has won accolades for revealing the complex and constantly shifting history behind seemingly unchanging ideas of fame, war, and masculinity. Continuing his interest in the history of emotion, this book explores how fear has been shaped into images of monsters and monstrosity.

¿Le gustan las historias sobre dioses y espíritus, gigantes y monstruos, damiselas en apuros y héroes inteligentes? Puede disfrutar todo esto dentro del folclore africano, en un vasto y variado entramado de historias de cientos de culturas, cada una con sus propias tradiciones y valores.

Два долгих дня, пешком, идет красноармеец Никита Фирсов в родную деревню. В родительском доме встречает его только отец, мать умерла, так и не дождавшись любимого сына с войны. На следующий день происходит встреча Никиты с подругой детства - Любой.

От самых ранних сборников "Книги тысячи и одной ночи" сохранились лишь одиночные сказки, не входящие в "египетскую" редакцию и представленные в немногих рукописях отдельных томов "ночей" или существующие в виде самостоятельных рассказов, имеющих, однако, - разделение на ночи.

О процессе пополнения сборника сказок "Тысячи и одной ночи" мы можем судить по сообщению библиографа X века ан-Надима, который рассказывает, что старший его современник, некий Абд-Аллах аль-Джахшияри - личность, кстати сказать, вполне реальная - задумал составить книгу из тысячи сказок "арабов.

Последним компилятором сборника "Тысячи и одной ночи" был неизвестный по имени ученый шейх, который составил в XVIII веке в Египте наиболее позднее по времени собрание сказок "Тысячи и одной ночи".