The Darwin Awards 4: Intelligent Design Review
The Darwin Awards, as described by Wendy Northcutt at darwinawards.com, is a non-competition of sorts with specific rules for the "winners." This book explains the rules, the basis for "winning" and for those runner-ups who failed to complete the program rules to its fullest extent or whose tale of woe wasn't as "good" as the "winners."
Not to sugar-coat this explanation any further, the purpose (or non-purpose) of the Darwin Awards is to declare the person who killed or neutered themselved in the most absurdly ridiculous way is the "winner."
Still, in reading the book, there is a certain amount of entertainment: a moment or two or three of focusing on another goal has distracted someone from seeing a danger that a more detached viewer (us, for example) can see and avoid. It's the same kind of idea that would cause any of us, except those reading this review, of course, to climb up on a stool placed on a chair to change a lightbulb in a dark place. The danger factor comes into play when the amount of damage that one can do to oneself is added in.
Then there is the alcohol factor. There are plenty of stories in the book about the dangers of excessive drinking and then attempting to do something hazardous, and for this there is no explanation. Perhaps the "winners" were calm, contemplative people prior to imbibing too much, which gave them a false sense of indestructability, which was then exposed as a faulty myth. Most of us have drunk too much at some time or another; some probably have done something rather risky when drunk; fortunately, none of us are award "winners."
All in all, it is an entertaining book exposing the faults of thinking and acting by people at a particular time and place. After reading this book, perhaps we're all capable of doing ourselves terminal harm; perhaps the stories in here prove that most people reading the book aren't foolish enough to do something fatal. But maybe if we knew what kind of mistakes others are capable of, we can avoid the same situations.
The Darwin Awards 4: Intelligent Design Overview
A fourth installment of stories honoring those who continue to improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it in a sublimely idiotic fashion! To be released in the fall of 2006 simultaneously with The Darwin Awards motion picture, starring Winona Ryder and Joseph Fiennes! The author has appeared in USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, The (NY) Daily News, Boston Herald, Publisher Weekly, BookPage and CNN.com.
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Customer Reviews
Intelligent Design - Runa Zaman - Charlottesville, VA, USA
While I did enjoy the opening essays detailing the history of the Darwin Awards, the essays written at the beginning of each chapter just served, for the most part, to bore me. It was, however, interesting to learn how these awards are submitted and chosen, as one who is not a user of the Darwin Awards website. But there's really not that much positive that I can say about the book. I still got really annoyed with the personal accounts, because NO, just because someone you know did it, doesn't actually mean it's at all funny. The opening essays, as I mentioned, were boring and poorly written. Something that's always bothered me about the Darwins is that the awards themselves are, without a doubt, written exaggeratedly. It's still interesting when you write what happened. It's still ridiculously stupid and makes you wonder how these people managed to exist in the first place, but do they need all these *adjectives*? There's just no need for exaggeration, the stories are freaking HILARIOUS without them. I did wish to see more reader comments, those were just added snark on top of the idiocy.
Rating: 3/5
SCARY...BUT ENTERTAINING - Joseph H. Race - SAIPAN, MP United States
Some of those fools are out there everyday, driving cars, shooting guns, handling explosives, etc. The concept is that the fools will remove themselves from the gene pool and the human species will somehow improve and prosper. Unfortunately these goofy characters often take innocent souls with them to the looney bin or the morgue, and that what's scary for me when I'm on the freeway or out hiking/fishing/hunting. This book looks again at some of these off-base characters; and it is downright entertaining as long as you're not in their path of destruction. I liked this complilation as well as the others, because it is a fun, easy read, and even makes you realize that some of your relatives are not all that bad and not deserving of a Darwin Award. The editors might consider doing a whole book on the elected politicans in Washington, DC.
Funny but Sad - Origins Muse - Florida, USA
Northcutt has continued in a series that looks at human nature and asks why we take silly chances that many times result in our own demise. At least that is how this series of books started. At this point (her 4th book) it feels like she has stopped asking why and is happy to just laugh at others misfortune. If this is your first read in the series then you will most likely enjoy it very much. If you have read all of the books, like I have, then you may end up feeling a bit dysphoric as I did after finishing this one. Maybe it's just me and the fact that I am getting older.
Northcutt wasn't the originator (pun intended) of the Darwin Awards idea (as she makes clear in the book), but she has certainly "evolved" the idea to her own pecuniary advantage. Her background in Molecular Biology is apparent in the short essays that introduce each section (some are by Northcutt and some by other authors). I find it unfortunate that Northcutt takes every opportunity to bash organized religion and the beliefs of Christians who think different from herself on the issues of Human Origins. It is this type of elitist egoism that drives a wedge between scientists and Christian fundamentalists and encourages both sides to ignore what the other is saying. Too bad.
She also has a nice website that can give you a daily dose of this type of humor. The review process for a story to make the book is a rigorous one indeed.
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