Jan Harold Brunvand-''Mr. Urban Legend"" [Smithsonian]-tracks the most fabulous tales making today's cocktail-party circuit and shows why those stories that sound too good to be true probably are too good to be true.

The eponymous episode-""The Baby Train""-sheds light on certain predawn activities that have linked unusually high birth rates to the whim of train schedule makers. Other stories offer a revealing peek behind the story of ""The Exploding Bra,"" expose the embarrassing source of ""The Hairdresser's Error,"" resurrect a ""Failed Suicide"" Buster Keaton would have died for, and show why adults are better off not bringing their comic book fantasies out of the closet. From ""Superhero Hijinx"" to ""The Shocking Videotape"" to ""The Accidental Cannibal,"" The Baby Train uncovers the mysteries behind some of the bawdiest, goriest, funniest, most pyrotechnic urban legends yet. America's premier folk detective is back on the case, sniffing out those zany but dubious stories that ""really happened"" to a friend of your sister's boyfriend's accountant's mechanic.