By most accounts, Coney Island’s annual Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, perhaps the world’s most regularly celebrated display of gluttony, traces its origins to a rivalry among immigrants a century ago, which just happened to be the year that Nathan Handwerker opened his frankfurter stand on Stillwell Avenue.

Two books published by members of the family’s third generation to coincide with the stand’s centennial largely debunk that stubborn, if serviceable, legend (although, as interested parties, Nathan’s two grandsons by feuding fathers — Murray and Sol — may perpetuate several other fables).

“Famous Nathan: A Family Saga of Coney Island, the American Dream and the Search for the Perfect Hot Dog” (Flatiron Books), by Lloyd Handwerker and Gil Reavill, is the better read and the more well-rounded tale. “Nathan’s Famous: The First 100 years, an Unauthorized View of America’s Favorite Frankfurter Company” (Morgan James Publishing), by William Handwerker with Jayne A. Pearl, qualifies as a better business-school study of the consequences of family dysfunction. Too bad the cousins didn’t collaborate.

The founder, whose first job at 6 was peddling knishes in what is now Poland, immigrated to New York when he was barely 20. He had no formal education, spoke no English and began his restaurant career as a dishwasher.