The Darwin Awards II: Unnatural Selection

By Wendy Northcutt

Book Overview

{Welcome to the next evolution in humor.}In the spirit of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, The Darwin Awards II: Unnatural Selection brings together a fresh collection of magnificent misadventures, honoring those who continue to improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it in a sublimely idiotic fashion.Salute the owner of an equipment training school who demonstrates the dangers of driving a forklift by failing to survive the filming of his own safety video. Heed the story of the honest bricklayer who loses a battle of wits with 300 pounds of tools. Witness the man who becomes a victim of his own "strange and unusual passion for jumping into rivers." And watch Darwin Award winners selflessly join the ongoing fight against the seven deadly sins as lust, vanity, gluttony, greed, sloth, envy and wrath all exact their evolutionary toll on the overindulgent.Featuring science and safety discussions designed to aid those vigilant enough to avoid the scythe of natural selection, and including the most inspiring dozen Darwin Awards from the last century, this new compendium of serious humor and cautionary tales -verified by the author and endorsed by website readers -shows us anew how uncommon common sense can be.Visit the official Darwin Awards website! www.DarwinAwards.com A Main Selection of the Quality Paperback Book Club. An Alternate Selection of The Literary Guildreg;, the Military Guild, and Doubleday Select.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525946233
• ISBN13: 9780525946236
• Release Date: December 2001
• Publisher: Dutton Adult
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.6" x 1.0" x 5.6"

Customer Reviews

SOOOO FUNNY

This book was funnier than the first one. It just made me laugh and laugh. I could never put it down. I took it with me everywhere I went just so that I could read another story of what someone did that was stupid. It is so funny to me of how dumb some people can be. They dont even think about what they are doing before they do it. Like one lady who was mad at her ex-lover so she pulled out a knife and stabbed him. The worst part was that he was piloting the plane they were in. She did not think that one through. That is not even the funniest of stories that they have in the book. This will be the best book that you ever buy.

Unintelligent Designs

In a media atmosphere that values balance - that is the unfiltered broadcast of diametrically opposing views - there is a need for a voice that seprates the truth from the chaff. Wendy Northcutt and her Darwin Awards team is one of those voices. Northcutt presents confirmed incidents, known urban legends and personal accounts (all carefully dated, labeled and annotated) to form a highly readable and very entertaining gumbo of the lunacy of human beings. The Darwin Awards, of course, are given to those who have improved the human gene pool by removing themselves from it. The stupider, more unlikely and bizarre the manner, the better. From the guy who played Russian Roulette (with deadly results) to impress girls, to the guy who literally lost his head looked down a malfunctioning fireworks tube, to the Egyptian shepherd shot by one of his own flock, the examples of human carelessness, arrogance and stupidity just keep coming. Northcutt is doing a real public service; not only helping the rest of us separate fact from fancy, but (hopefully) teaching her readers that being careful is not just prudent but can help them keep their heads.

Dumb People Do Dumb Things and Get Their Just Due

The Darwin Awards II is a great book that shows just what can happen when people fail to use common sense. It's filled with well-written, cautionary tales of people who did astoundingly stupid things and paid the ultimate price: death, or in some less drastic cases, sterility.If this were the only thing this book had, it would still be a good book. But this book offers far more than that. In addition to these tales (some certified and some not and both are clearly marked), there are Honorable Mentions (people who did stupid things but didn't pay the ultimate price, but who still might in the future) and Personal Accounts. The book is also sprinkled with the author's wisdom, applicable quotes and each chapter opens with a discussion of a topic related to the subject of the chapter. The book also integrates well with the website, where you can voice your opinion on the book or stories in it, submit new stories, or read more about a particular story in the book, or a topic related to it.As the book says, the grimness of some of these tales makes it such that it may be that it's best read in small doses. But whether you learn something, or just laugh, you'll love The Darwin Arwards II.

FABULOUS!

This book is just great reading. It is well organized and wonderful for a good laugh.

Ya' gotta love this stuff!

Seldom have such valuable lessons been so enjoyable to learn. The stories contained within this book and its predecessor ("Darwin Awards") are not only amusing, but valuable. As a school teacher I find that a brief story selected from within these books shared with the class periodically is not only enjoyable for all concerned, but can help instruct the students to use some minimal amount of reason in their daily endeavors. I find the quote contained in Northcut's first book to be the among the wisest things ever spoken; "Only two things are infinite -- the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not so sure about the universe." Albert Einstein. Those words say it all, and Northcut has collected sundry examples to verify the accuracy of them in a delightful manner.Buy two copies -- one for yourself and one for a friend.