Debunked!

June 1, 2008
Newspaper columnist and TV movie reviewer Roeper takes on a variety of widely believed myths about pop culture, politics, sports, business, and even religion.He approaches his targets--whetherconspiracy theories surrounding the death of Princess Diana or thosemysterious faces appearing on food products--from a commonsensical point of view, asking simply, Wheres the evidence? For instance, youve heard that it wasnt the airplanes crashing into the World Trade Center on 9/11 that caused the towers to fall, but rather that the collapseresulted fromthe towers being rigged with explosives in advance. Perfectly logical, except that the biggest piece of evidence in support of the theory (that jet fuel doesnt burn at a temperature high enough to melt steel) is irrelevant (because the steel of the towers wouldnt need to melt, just weaken and buckle). Along with pointing out why much-loved legends are asinine, Roeper isnt above going for laughs (and getting most of them). Recommend this one to fans of Al Frankens Lies (and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them) or the works of noted skeptics James Randi, Robert Baker, and Michael Shermer.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)