The Darwin Awards III: Survival of the Fittest [Hardcover]

Wendy Northcutt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 9, 2003

One of America's most popular humor series returns with a brand-new collection of hilariously macabre mishaps and misadventures. Honoring those who improve our gene pool by inadvertently removing themselves from it, The Darwin Awards III: Survival of the Fittest shows once more how uncommon common sense still is.

Featuring science and safety discussions, and filled with illustrations depicting inspiring examples of evolution in action, The Darwin Awards III includes over one hundred all-new stories. Readers will celebrate Darwin Award winners who made the "ultimate sacrifice," wonder at the misguided pluck of Honorable Mentions who survived their own bad judgment, and look on in awestruck amusement at Personal Accounts shared with the world by the perpetrators themselves.

From the sheriff who inadvertently shot himself twice, to the highway robbers who blocked traffic with their car and were hit by a truck; from the artist who strung a "shell" necklace of live ammunition, to the man crushed by the branch he'd just severed, The Darwin Awards III proves again that when it comes to stupidity, no species does it like we do.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A warning to all dimwits." (Salon.com) "Delightfully funny . . . a delicious sermon in support of common sense." (The Baltimore Sun

About the Author

A graduate of UC Berkeley with a degree in molecular biology, Wendy Northcutt began collecting the stories that make up the Darwin Awards in 1993 and founded www.DarwinAwards.com soon thereafter. Her award-winning website is one of the most popular humor pages on the web, and has been profiled in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and Entertainment Weekly, and on NPR's All Things Considered. She is the author of the international bestsellers The Darwin Awards: Evolution in Action and The Darwin Awards II: Unnatural Selection.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (October 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525947736
• ISBN-13: 978-0525947738
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,426,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Well is Drying Up, December 18, 2003

By 

JMack (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Darwin Awards III: Survival of the Fittest (Hardcover)

I loved the first edition of the Darwin Awards, but was a little disappointed by the second edition. The third edition continues the trend. I realize it may be tough to find enough stupid dead people that can be funny, but some of the stories should have never made the cut.

There are a set of rules for being awarded a Darwin Award. I have difficulty understanding how one particular entry made the book as a winner based on the standard. Did somebody forget to proofread?

While I liked the "not a Darwin Award" Chapter in the second edition, none of the stories were as entertaining this time.

It is my hope that this is the last edition of the Darwin will be the last or a long time passes between the third and fourth books. This way some really funny material can be collected.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointed, October 29, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Darwin Awards III: Survival of the Fittest (Hardcover)

I had heard so much about the Darwin Awards that I rushed out to buy this book as soon as I could. I hate to say that I was disappointed at what I read. There were too many personal, undocumented stories, and some stories I knew I had read before. I read the reviews listed here and noticed so many people had recommended Leland Gregory's book, "Hey, Idiot!" so I bought that, too. It is a much better book and I can see why it's so highly recommended. I already had some of Mr. Gregory's other books and I pulled them down - that's when I discovered where I had read some of the stories reprinted in The Darwin Awards. The story about the failed suicide attempt by using nitroglycerin pills and slamming himself against the wall was in "What's the Number for 911?" that came out in 2000!! I ran across other examples of the Darwin Awards using stories previously published by Mr. Gregory but I won't fill up the page with them. Like the other people who made recommendations I too would recommend Mr. Gregory's books like "The Stupid Crook Book," "Hey, Idiot!" and all the rest instead of the Darwin Awards.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Running low on new (and humorous) material, November 8, 2003

By 

Daniel L Edelen (Mt. Orab, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Darwin Awards III: Survival of the Fittest (Hardcover)

The latest book incarnation of the famed "Darwin Awards" by Wendy Northcutt covers the usual assortment of nitwits who offed themselves while doing things worthy of nitwits. An Internet phenomenon now on its third book, The Darwin Awards make for amusing reads for those who possess a little something dark in their humor.

The problem with this third edition is that it simply does not deliver the goods when compared with previous editions. Has the joke worn off or are these examples not all that great? Is Northcutt running low on new material? Perhaps. Maybe a few more years between editions might make for better stories. The filler material in the book is also weak and further illustrates that there is not much here.

Truth is, The Darwin Awards website is better than this book. And since the site costs nothing, skip the book.