Review of When You're Up To Your Ass in Alligators: More Urban Folklore from the Paperwork Empire. By Alan Dundes and Carl R. Pagter. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1987. 271 pages. Paper, $9.95; cloth, $25.00. "Copier Folklore," the term Alan Dundes applies to the kind of material treated in this book, is a relatively unstudied area of folklore. The field, or sub-genre, consists of virtually any kind of traditional material passed primarily in written or printed form, including parodic song lyrics, business cards and cartoons, though mainly by photocopy in the work place. Thus his subtitle: "More Urban Folklore from the Paperwork Empire." As the phrase "paperwork empire" suggests, the genre is relatively new, most of the materials dating no earlier than the 1930's, though he does include Ben Franklin's "Old Mistresses' Apologue" because it exists in several different written versions. The type is also usually derisive of big business and government bureaucracy, though, again, he includes material such as the spooneristic parodies of "Cinderella," which are primarily oral lore and not anti-bureaucratic. Thus, the genre remains rather unclearly defined. Generally, too, Dundes provides only one or two examples and virtually no analysis of each of the 150 or so sub-types, though he does identify archival sources of other examples. Neither does he satisfactorily identify the sources of much of his material. Most disappointing, though, is the lack of analysis. Despite its shortcomings, the book is a useful scholarly tool. Dundes points out several times that it is a new field in need of study and provides a theoretical framework, if briefly, within which future scholars can work. For those pieces which have been studied, such as "The Cabbage Hoax" and "The Ode to the Outhouse," he provides full bibliographic references. Too, he dates the origin of each type, as well as the specific version he cites, and identifies other versions by archival location. In short, he does what he can with the material and does not pretend to have done more. Overall, the book is an entertaining read and a tantalizing introduction to a relatively new area of folkloristic studies. It will surely be a popular success, as well as a basic source for scholars. Jim V