The Darwin Awards 4: Intelligent Design (Hardcover)

by Wendy Northcutt (Author), Christopher M. Kelly (Author) "The role model for the Darwin Awards is Wile E. Coyote, whose relentless pursuit of Road Runner leads him to find creative solutions to nonexistent..." (more)
Key Phrases: sexual cannibalism, redback spider, nail gun, Science Writer, Aquatic Ape, Captain Magneto (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
celebration of those who have 'improved our gene pool by removing themselves from it in a sublimely idiotic fashion.' -- AudioFile Magazine

celebration of those who have 'improved our gene pool by removing themselves from it in a sublimely idiotic fashion.' --AudioFile Magazine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Description
All-new tales from the shallow end of the gene pool

Named after Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, The Darwin Awards pays homage to those who improve our gene pool . . . by removing themselves from it.

Most of us know instinctively that igniting a blasting cap in our mouth is a recipe for disaster. Darwin Award winners do not. Most of us have basic sound judgment that eliminates the need for no smoking signs at ammo dumps. Darwin Award winners do not. Whether it's head-butting motorcyclists, thallium-snorting soldiers, or hatchet-wielding men who mistake a body part for a chicken neck, there's no shortage of creative Darwin Award winners. There's a reason the instructions say, "Don't heat your lava lamp on the stove." Only a Darwin Award winner would learn the fatal reason why.

Filled with over a hundred new tales of evolution in action, science essays by guest writers, and a parody research paper supporting Intelligent Design, The Darwin Awards 4 shows that when it comes to common sense, natural selection still has a long way to go.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (October 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525949607
• ISBN-13: 978-0525949602
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #94,200 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another book in the Darwin Awards series..., October 26, 2006

By	Robert Schmidt (Honolulu, HI & Logan, UT USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The Darwin Awards strikes again!

Volume 4 features the latest folk who have removed themselves from the human gene pool (Darwin Award winner) or attempted to (Honorable Mention).

Death isn't required as an endpoint for a Darwin Award, but reproductive fitness must be reduced to zero.

As an example of an Honorable Mention, I submit the case (p. 135) of an unidentified 50 year old entering the emergency room of a hospital in Hong Kong, complaining of abdominal pain. After an x-ray, doctors spotted what appeared to be an eel in his colon! Yes, the man admitted. He had been suffering from constipation, and decided that inserting an eel would be just the ticket to solve this problem. He recovered, so he remains in the gene pool (for those who will have him, and his traits).

And who gets a Darwin Award? Consider the case of the sleep-deprived Romanian (p. 129). He couldn't sleep because of a pesky and noisy rooster. He dreamed of wringing its neck, or, even better, decapitation. One evening he had had enough. He got out of bed, grabbed the rooster, and chopped off its head. Unfortunately, the sleep-deprived man noticed soon after that he had accidentally chopped off his penis instead, and while reflecting on this, his dog came over and ate the discarded member. He did get to the hospital and recover, but he was effectively removed from the gene pool.

See? Death need not be the endpoint. However, I guarantee you that the majority of Darwin Award recipients are no longer of this Earth. And, as compiler Wendy Northcutt would argue, that is just fine for the human gene pool.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Darwin Awards 4 -- Stupid People 0, December 14, 2006

By	Stuart Herring (Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Wendy Northcutt & Co. have brought us yet another great set of anecdotes about how NOT to "maximize your reproductive fitness". As has been noted before: it's fun to watch, from a position of safety of course, the antics of the truly foolish and stupid. (Consider the long-standing popularity of clown acts, for example.) We get to laugh in a self-reassuring way, thinking "There but for the grace of...well, Darwin, go I."

We know, or at least we believe, that OUR brains won't be victims of what some wit has labeled "testosterone poisoning", which too often leads to such famous last words as "Hey, y'all, watch this!" (Alcohol poisoning seems to exacerbate the testosterone poisoning, as in the case of the two drunken young men who made a bet to see who could dangle the longer from a freeway overpass one night. They both lost the bet, dying when they fell into traffic after they could no longer hold on.)

So get ready to shake your head in amazement, and have many a chuckle along the way, as you read the latest round-up of human idiocy. You'll learn some other fascinating things too, in the science essays that introduce the chapters. Enjoy!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning can be Fun, December 1, 2006

By	Brad Lauderman "Music Geek" (Lancaster County, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Informative, full of life's little lessons for all of us, like why you shouldn't munch on glass. Entertaining, humorous, even hilarious at times. Not that death is funny. Just that realizing that sometimes common sense takes a flying leap out the penthouse window... with the Darwin Award winner himself close behind.

But I also appreciated the format of the book. It can be taken in little doses, like when waiting in the emergency room for your non-life-threatening treatment, or swallowed all at once.

A great gift for the person lacking common sense, or those who love the bizarre. I guess both describe me!