The Darwin Awards Next Evolution: Chlorinating the Gene Pool

Darwin Awards #5

by Wendy Northcutt

The hilarious  New York Times  bestselling phenomenon and the perfect funny gift!  

New York Times bestselling author Wendy Northcutt is back, asking, Have we evolved at all? The Not all of us.

What crazy cocktail of DNA leads Homo sapiens to do pull-ups off the edge of a seventh-floor balcony or wrap their lips around a paintball gun and pull the trigger? How about offering a beer to a bear or self-testing a Taser? Why not go joyriding in a shopping cart strapped to an SUV or jump a drawbridge on a bicycle?

Fully illustrated with over a hundred new jaw-dropping and side-splitting feats of stupidity—and including science essays by guest writers and answers to FAQs about evolution in action— The Darwin Awards Next Evolution continues the tradition of honoring the victims of appallingly poor survival instinct who selflessly improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it.

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, Science, Adult, Psychology, Reference, Death

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Wendy Northcutt graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in molecular biology. She began collecting the stories that make up the Darwin Awards in 1993 and founded www.DarwinAwards.com shortly after.

Northcutt is the author of the international bestsellers The Darwin Awards: Evolution in Action, The Darwin Awards 2: Unnatural Selection, The Darwin Awards 3: Survival of the Fittest, and The Darwin Awards 4: Intelligent Design. Her newest addition to the series is The Darwin Awards: Next Evolution."

Reviews

[May · Rating 2 out of 5]

After about 30 minutes of listening to this audiobook, I had enough. I was expecting huge laughs but what I found myself doing was the occasional smirk and a lot of head shaking. There is only so much of laughing at someone else' stupidity before you realize it's actually not that funny anymore especially when their own stupidity kills them. If anything, this book is a good reminder about how we need to think before we act and then walk away, think again and then back to the task at end. It's also a good reminder never to mix drugs or alcohol while operating a vehicle, heavy machinery or eating poisonous fungi.

[Trudy Nye · Rating 1 out of 5]

We've all read newspaper articles or seen television reports about incredibly bad (aka stupid) decisions that cost the individuals involved their lives. Northcutt collects all this bad news, writes up the reports as humorous vignettes and posts them on her popular website www.darwinawards.com. Web readers can weigh in, vote, even comment, and then Northcutt collects a "best of" bunch and voila...another book!

Schadenfreude is apparently alive and well, unlike the award "winners" who Northcutt congratulates for "taking themselves out of the gene pool." Her take on these tragedies can, in fact, be very funny, but the reader will be brought up short if he/she stops to consider that these ill-fated folks actually died as a result of their foolishness. A possible "saving grace" is that many of the stories are "unconfirmed," and hopefully are simply exaggerated accounts, tall tales, or urban legends. Northcutt also includes a number of near-misses to whom she awards the title of "At Risk Survivor"... presumably it's only a matter of time before those become actual Darwin award winners.

Northcutt also intersperses these vignettes with short science articles that are actually very interesting, but have little or nothing to do with the award write-ups. I would give three stars to these articles on their own. Some of the topics were fascinating.

When I picked up this book at a thrift store, I had no idea what I was getting in to...I thought it to be a fictionalized book about human stupidity (which can be quite humorous). The personal accounts were just too specific and made me very uncomfortable. However, from the popularity of the website (and apparently these books...note, this is #5) many people do not concur.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

More hilarious and head shaking examples of the immense stupidity and poor judgement that can be shown by the many members of humanity, including those that really should know better. This volume also includes a few science interludes to keep the IQ levels higher than normal and answers a few FAQs in the last chapter, clearing up a few of the readers' queries, concerns and conundrums. The stupidity of humanoids never ceases to amaze me.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darwin Awards are awarded posthumously to those who remove themselves from the gene pool in a way that makes you go “a lot of beer must have gone into that one.” The Darwin Awards Next Evolution describes the final acts of several people as well as things done by at risk survivors. The vignettes are humorous and clearly marked whether they are confirmed or unconfirmed. Interspersed between the chapters are essays on scientific topics ranging from mosquito spit to duck phalli to real life Hobbits. There’s an extensive FAQ at the end (too extensive, honestly). It’s a fun read and occasionally educational, too. It can all be found on the Darwin Awards website, but it’s often more convenient to read in book form.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Darwin Awards Next Evolution: Chlorinating the Gene Pool is yet another entry in Wendy Northcutt's series of humorous books. A Darwin Award is an honor the author bestows on those of the human race who end their lives in spectacularly stupid ways, usually by some sort of fatal misjudgment or lack of common sense. Their demises (or circumstances in which they lose the ability to reproduce) are chronicled in this book. There are a truly massive amount of stories, which certainly showcases the infinite amount of human stupidity in this world. In between the categories of Darwin Award winning stories there are scientific interludes that explain various aspects of evolution. They are written by different authors, so the style varies between each entry. Still, the book sticks to its whole evolution premise--that each dumb person who perishes prevents themselves from passing on their genes to their children.

The real accomplishment with this book is that the author manages to take the generally grim subject of death and serious disfigurement and manages to make it one of the funniest books I have ever read. If you're in need of a good laugh, definitely check this book out. You won't be disappointed.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read the Darwin Awards since I started getting emails about them way back in college. Over the years, I've gotten some of the best laughs of my life from the Darwin Awards. Now they have a website that's updated pretty regularly, but I've never seen a book about them. It caught my eye in the library and I snatched it up and practically ran to the checkout counter!

The concept of the Darwin Awards can seem pretty gruesome at first glance - they are almost always awarded posthumously. To win one, someone must first remove themselves from the gene pool by a spectacular act of stupidity. Accidents or sporting incidents don't count. Many DO involve the use of alcohol. In fact this book contains an entire essay about WHY so many involve alcohol - how it affects the brain in a manner that makes one more likely to do something stupid enought to be eligible for a Darwin Award.

After I finished this book, and enjoyed it immensely, I handed it over to my 10-year-old son, who enjoyed it twice as much! This is frankly thrilling to me. I'm hoping he'll gain at least a clue about how fast a bad idea mixed with some poor judgement can go sour. I don't know how many other Darwin books are out there, but I'm going to check, then hunt some more down!

[Krishna Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am writing this note just after doing a review for “The Last Lecture“. The two books are diametrically opposite, Randy Pausch writing about childhood dreams while knowing he is about to die, and this book about deaths caused by stupid acts by people. As anyone familiar with the Darwin Awards knows, the book treats such deaths as a good thing because it takes idiotic people out of the reproductive process, thus contributing to a more intelligent human gene pool.

How can anyone with a conscience enjoy such a book? I think the fascination with the Darwin Awards comes from the fact that it treats its work very seriously. It does not accept any form of death that can be construed as tragic or accidental. It appeals to our sense of justice by considering people who attempt to do extraordinarily dangerous tasks in unusually stupid ways that defy common sense. It is a tragedy if someone gets killed in a car accident, but probably not if they were driving 100 miles an hour while drunk on a mountain road.

As Roger Ebert would say if he were reviewing books, this book is proof that there is life in any genre, however revolting the concept seems to be at first glance. And “The Last Lecture” shows how a good concept can be uninspiring if not done right.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd been wanting any or all of this series for quite a while, so when I found this one in a thrift store I had to pick it up.

A word of advice. Do not read this book in cars, do not read this book to idiots in general lest they try some of the activities mentioned.

That being said, this is one of the best humor books that I have ever read. Told in themed short vignettes and broken up by science interludes, the Darwin Awards is perfect for anyone looking to read their daily dose of stupidity.

Be warned though: once you start reading this, you'll never want to stop!

[Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another edition of the Darwin Awards, where people help out evolution by removing themselves from the chain (either by death or becoming unable to reproduce). It has a good blend of stories, and some science essays in between the chapters. I usually just go for the stories. The humor level does vary, but they all show what happens when someone does something really stupid, thus keeping his genes (it's usually men, but there are some women) out of the gene pool.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fifth in the series.
Not really funny any more. I think we've become used to hearing about people dying (or at least getting neutered) in stupid ways.
Picked it up at a recent Rotary Club fund-raising book sale. Suspect it'll be recycled back there next year.
I did enjoy the "scientific interludes" though - 2-3 page essays on various aspects of reproductive science.
If you've never read any of them before it'd seem more funny I guess.

[Katy-Del · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are so scary.

I really like how what used to be "Honorable Mentions" are now labeled as "Survivors at Risk."

Human stupidity is entertaining, but I don't think I've laughed as hard at any of the books more than the story of the kid who put a fire cracker in his trombone to blow the mute into the air. I think that one was in the first Darwin Award book that was published.

[Sparrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another volume with great science essays and bitter but amusing Darwin Awards. One thing I loved about this volume was the rearranged chapters - all of the tedious explanation of the Darwin Awards and its rules are now at the END, which I think is a great organizational move. Makes it much easier to get into the book.

[Oldfirefox_win7 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is just the same old, same old. There’s no real laughs, and the stories aren’t that interesting. They don’t have that clever uniqueness anymore. I used to think most of them were funny in the first book, now they’re so similar I don’t want to read them. If you’re a huge, hardcore fan of the series, then this may take that feeling from you.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two thoughts kept running through my head while reading this.
1) These are almost exclusively about men
2) How on earth am I going to be able to warn my sons about all the idiotic things they might consider doing, but shouldn't.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading about 10 of these vignettes would have enough. And it really felt like a cop-out that some of these stories aren't even validated - so it's just recycling bunch of likely-not-true myths. Read a few of the real, validated ones on her website and skip the book.

[Shannon Hedges · Rating 1 out of 5]

With so many unconfirmed reports, it's hard to appreciate this book. The sporadic scientific essays are interesting, but the book is pretty weak overall. At times I felt guilty reading it, as if I were taunting dead people. Don't waste your time with this book.

[Magda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories were funnier (although just as sad as/) than I thought they'd be. I wasn't expecting the "science interludes," but those were my favorite part of the book, covering all kinds of topics, including the history of making insulin from E. coli and mantle plumes

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love to read these stories because they are hilarious and dastardly crazy. No obviously fellow humans dying is not a funny thing, but it is funny for how they died and their general stupidity. That is why we have these prestigious awards and books.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as previous books, mainly because of the new additions. They should stick to the formula that works, people dying in dumb ways. There is way to much other stuff in this book and it cuts down on the space for good stories. Still it is good for a laugh.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The format change, with all of the scientific info in between the chapters, was disappointing. I like the books for the comedic relief they provide. I don't want to learn anything from these books, other than the really stupid way people meet their own ends...

[Dayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spent a couple of hours reading this at the library. Some of the stories I had heard before and all of them had me shaking my head at the sheer stupidity. It seems like the majority of stupid acts involve the phrase "Alcohol was involved."

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave Darwin another chance and like this one better than that previous one. The science interludes were a nice touch. There were certainly some less than entertaining tales, but on the whole this one produced ample chuckles or eye rolls to make it a worthwhile listen.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't read the ENTIRE book, just about the folks who made this volume possible with their incredible stupidity.

Nothing makes you feel smarter than reading a Darwin Awards book.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was so horrible and awful....and I couldn't put it down and just kept reading. It was great to see the rules for being included. (i.e. no children, no mentally impaired people).

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy, funny read. But kind of depressing how dumb people can be. Looking on the bright-side, at least the dumb people have removed themselves from the gene pool!

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a bit depressing to read a bunch of these stories all at one time. Really, are any of us certain we aren't going to end up like this?

[Mary BookHounds · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the perfect book to read in short spurts. I loved all of the stories.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this up from the New Book shelf at the library and it wasn't as entertaining as I expected. I've read more interesting and detailed accounts of the awards on the Internet.

[Sally Kinane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting how so many people can be so stupid. The book is named so correctly. Those people really do need to be removed from the gene pool.

[Rosalía · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than the previous Darwin Awards books because of the organization and extra tidbits.