We're a culture obsessed with the end of the world. Whether it's Y2K or an asteroid barrelling towards us, the fact that 37 percent of species are set to become extinct in the next fifty years due to global warming, or weapons of mass destruction popping up in turkey farms, Armageddon might not be far off. We're also obsessed with movies, and studios have been releasing films about the end of the world as long as Hollywood has been Hollywood. Now, in FIELD GUIDE TO THE APOCALYPSE, Meghann Marco combines two of our favourite obsessions. Using information gleaned from dozens of movies wherein the unthinkable occurs, FIELD GUIDE offers practical advice on a variety of situations that may well occur as the apocalypse draws near. You'll learn how to deal with damn dirty apes (PLANET OF THE APES), how to convert a '70s muscle car to run on bathtub gin (MAD MAX), how to deal with last-woman-on-earth survival guilt, how to identify yourself as a replicant (BLADE RUNNER), and how to synthesise a species-saving vaccine from your own mucus. The FIELD GUIDE couldn't be more timely: According to Blade Runner all living animals will be genetic copies by 2019. Buy FIELD GUIDE now before you have to get copies for all your clones!
Field Guide to the Apocalypse
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more. |
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Author of 'Field Guide to the Apocalypse: Movie Survival Skills for the End of the World', Meghann grew up outside of Chicago, IL. She currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It's always inspiring when someone you know gets her very own ISBN, especially if it's for a book that's funny, even moreso if it's intentionally funny. After watching scads of end-of-the-world flicks, Meghann Marco (of MeghannMarco.com, wtf) has written the book that is bound to continue to inspire even after our planet's doomsday -- I predict it will inspire fights to the death among the coming apocalypse's more intelligent would-be survivors (i.e., those outside of Tim LaHaye's readership).
Though it's inspired by films, Meghann's book is packed surprisingly full with Actual Information, some of which doesn't even have to wait for the Apocalypse in order to be true. For example, though she's talking about survival in Arctic conditions, "a lot of work means a lot of death" is undeniable by anyone who's ever done much of it. At least one tip has clearly been studied by the U.S. military:
"If you don't understand what the informant is saying, keep kneeing him in the stomach until he says, `Okay, okay, okay' and speaks English. Everybody speaks English if you knee them in the stomach enough."
Though it's inspired by films, Meghann's book is packed surprisingly full with Actual Information, some of which doesn't even have to wait for the Apocalypse in order to be true. For example, though she's talking about survival in Arctic conditions, "a lot of work means a lot of death" is undeniable by anyone who's ever done much of it. At least one tip has clearly been studied by the U.S. military:
"If you don't understand what the informant is saying, keep kneeing him in the stomach until he says, `Okay, okay, okay' and speaks English. Everybody speaks English if you knee them in the stomach enough."
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By Kira's Mama
Format:Paperback
- Do houseguests constantly complain that you've got nothing interesting to read in the bathroom?
- Do friends complain that waiting impatiently for you (as you try on your 33rd successive outfit while getting ready to go to the club) is boring because your coffee table contains only archaic episodes of the Onion and a few unpaid cable bills* to read?
- Are you constantly searching for 'light' or 'light-hearted' reading material that won't suck you in to a plot-line and refuse to let you get to sleep until 5 minutes before your alarm goes off?
Then go get yourself a copy of Field Guide to the Apocalypse : Movie Survival Skills for the End of the World by Meghann Marco
Most of the people I choose to spend my Saturday nights gaming, watching movies or even just socializing with, probably could have written this book. I probably could have written this book. You probably could've written this book** -- if we weren't so busy whiling our time away reading and writing things like Amazon.com Reviews instead, that is.
But thank heavens that Meghann Marco did - because it needed to be written!! And she definitely did it justice. Don't believe me without thumbing through it yourself? <A href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/068987877X/ref=sib_rdr_ex/104-1816661-9405525?%5Fencoding=UTF8&p=S00I&j=0#reader-page">Go read a few excerpts.</a>
It's a delightful little book - and if you keep it on the coffeetable, or in the W.C., it will amuse the crap out of you*** - presuming you have at least a passing knowledge of post-apocalyptic movies. It's good to be familiar with just about any Charlton Heston after-the-end-of-civilization movie (Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green, Omega Man...) It's good to know any Kubrick 'futurism' movies (2001, Dr. Strangelove...) It's good to know some of the more popular Philip K. Dick stories-adapted-to-movies (Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report...) It doesn't hurt to have a healthy knowledge of the Classic-Sci-Fi-novel-turned-movies (1984, Farenheit 451, Brave New World...) in order to get a lot of the 'Cognoscenti' references. But even if your only familiarity is a brush with Logan's Run or the Matrix movies, you'll still enjoy the humor.
Honestly, this isn't deep, meaningful literature. It's not groundbreaking - there are a slew of similar books on the same subjects, including those limited to just one genre of PA society (zombies, comets, asteroids, wastelands...)
But it IS damn funny... and it's definitely worth the cover price.
Even if nobody else ever stays in your post-apocalypticesque bathroom long enough to find out why <u>you</u> kept laughing so hard while you were in there!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Which at least explains why they aren't watching pay-per-view adult movies on your TV instead
** An assumption, given that you're literate enough to have gotten this far and clearly have at least a passing interest in the subject matter - or you wouldn't have kept reading
*** The pun was unintentional when I wrote it, but then it amused me, so I left it in due to vanity (did you catch that one?) and because I can (can! hah... another bad restroom pun! I crack me up - not as much as the book does, but you get what you pay for)
- Do friends complain that waiting impatiently for you (as you try on your 33rd successive outfit while getting ready to go to the club) is boring because your coffee table contains only archaic episodes of the Onion and a few unpaid cable bills* to read?
- Are you constantly searching for 'light' or 'light-hearted' reading material that won't suck you in to a plot-line and refuse to let you get to sleep until 5 minutes before your alarm goes off?
Then go get yourself a copy of Field Guide to the Apocalypse : Movie Survival Skills for the End of the World by Meghann Marco
Most of the people I choose to spend my Saturday nights gaming, watching movies or even just socializing with, probably could have written this book. I probably could have written this book. You probably could've written this book** -- if we weren't so busy whiling our time away reading and writing things like Amazon.com Reviews instead, that is.
But thank heavens that Meghann Marco did - because it needed to be written!! And she definitely did it justice. Don't believe me without thumbing through it yourself? <A href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/068987877X/ref=sib_rdr_ex/104-1816661-9405525?%5Fencoding=UTF8&p=S00I&j=0#reader-page">Go read a few excerpts.</a>
It's a delightful little book - and if you keep it on the coffeetable, or in the W.C., it will amuse the crap out of you*** - presuming you have at least a passing knowledge of post-apocalyptic movies. It's good to be familiar with just about any Charlton Heston after-the-end-of-civilization movie (Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green, Omega Man...) It's good to know any Kubrick 'futurism' movies (2001, Dr. Strangelove...) It's good to know some of the more popular Philip K. Dick stories-adapted-to-movies (Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report...) It doesn't hurt to have a healthy knowledge of the Classic-Sci-Fi-novel-turned-movies (1984, Farenheit 451, Brave New World...) in order to get a lot of the 'Cognoscenti' references. But even if your only familiarity is a brush with Logan's Run or the Matrix movies, you'll still enjoy the humor.
Honestly, this isn't deep, meaningful literature. It's not groundbreaking - there are a slew of similar books on the same subjects, including those limited to just one genre of PA society (zombies, comets, asteroids, wastelands...)
But it IS damn funny... and it's definitely worth the cover price.
Even if nobody else ever stays in your post-apocalypticesque bathroom long enough to find out why <u>you</u> kept laughing so hard while you were in there!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Which at least explains why they aren't watching pay-per-view adult movies on your TV instead
** An assumption, given that you're literate enough to have gotten this far and clearly have at least a passing interest in the subject matter - or you wouldn't have kept reading
*** The pun was unintentional when I wrote it, but then it amused me, so I left it in due to vanity (did you catch that one?) and because I can (can! hah... another bad restroom pun! I crack me up - not as much as the book does, but you get what you pay for)
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Actually, the hysteria was just me reacting to some unbelievably true little factoids I learned about our impending doom. I couldn't stop laughing-though at one point it turned to a nervous laugh due to the fact that the apocalypse is pretty much on its way and if we don't wake up, gear up, and put on our alien-seeing 80s sunglasses, then we're all screwed. The apocalypse is a scary subject, but it's a nice to know that if we should happen to come under an invasion from weird, green, anti-water alien people, we can always send Boy George to try to work things out. We'll probably be zapped to hell but at least we can go out with a smile. Good call Ms. Marco. Keep the good stuff coming.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Now I'm ready
Its fun, funny, and actually informative. I loved everything from the advice on making new leathers look worn, down to the how to make your own bio-diesel.
Published 4 months ago by vickery36
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book!
Easily my favorite out of all the Survival this and how-to that books out now, wish she'd write something else damnit :)
Published on May 12, 2009 by Johnny Graves
5.0 out of 5 stars
She "gets it"
This is one of those books.
Unfortunately shorter than War and Peace or Brothers Kam... , something Cyrillic. We need more from this author. Read more
Unfortunately shorter than War and Peace or Brothers Kam... , something Cyrillic. We need more from this author. Read more
Published on September 2, 2007 by stephen marshall
5.0 out of 5 stars
WWMMD (What Would Mad Max Do)?
Ahhh, Meghann Marco, it must be crazy being around you. So the end of the world is coming (and it will come) so what are you going to do? Read more
Published on May 9, 2007 by R. Howell
3.0 out of 5 stars
The book lacks what the title says
This book has more of a comical approach to the apocalpse.It was an alright read but don't be looking for good info on survival.This is a fun read not a serious one.
Published on November 10, 2006 by m60fly
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who ever thought Mad Max could be so funny
Funny as hell, no funnier than that; funny as underwater basket weaving.
Published on February 16, 2006 by J.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not as awesome as a ninja, but then again, what is?
Freaking awesome book. Just finished reading it, and there's alot of good stuff in there. Good overeveiw on pretty any bad end of the world scenerio. Read more
Published on October 26, 2005 by Awesome Ninja
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best book in a very, very long time
This may have been the funniest book I ever have read. It was informative, humorous, and entertaining. Read more
Published on October 22, 2005 by Megan N. Woodrum
5.0 out of 5 stars
funniest self-help ever
If, by some chance, I should ever survive an apocalypse, I definately want this book on hand. It is useful, insightful, and, oh yeah, hilarious. Read more
Published on October 5, 2005 by Susan C. Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars
All you need is a GREAT book...
I just finished reading "Field Guide to the Apocalypse" and it was as enjoyable a read as I have had in a while. Read more
Published on September 28, 2005 by Eric Hartman
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 11
books:
See all 11 books this book cites
- The Last Resort (New York Times Best Illustrated Books (Awards)) (New York Times Best Illustrated Books (Awards)) by J. Patrick Lewis on page 170
- The Reproductive System: Injury, Illness and Health (Body Focus; Injury, Illness and Health) by Steve Parker on page 198
- The City of Dreadful Night (Dodo Press) by James Thomson on page 128
- The Cobra Event by Richard Preston on page 87
- The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin on page 26
See all 11 books this book cites
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
So You'd Like to...
|
|
