The Darwin Awards II: Unnatural Selection

From Library Journal
Darwin humor? It seemed to work in the first volume, which spent five months on the New York Times best sellers list.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
A second volume continues the author's delightfully sadistic celebration of those who have "improved our gene pool by removing themselves from it in a sublimely idiotic fashion." We hear true stories and "urban legends" about people who have perished unintentionally through their own profoundly stupid actions. The writing is light and witty; the narrator's delivery chirpy and reminiscent of a tabloid TV voice-over. Y.R. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine– Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine –This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Salon.com
"A warning to all dimwits." –This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

The Baltimore Sun
"The Darwin Awards, taken together, constitute a delicious sermon in support of common sense." –This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Book Description
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 sense can be.

About the Author
Wendy Northcutt is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley with a degree in molecular biology.Her award-winning website has been featured in USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, The Wall Street Journal, CNN.com, Salon.com, and on NPR's All Things Considered, among others, and was selected as a Cool Site of the Year 2000.