Rating: 
Summary: Amusing trifle
Review: Amusing in parts, if you've read the others in the series this is pretty much more of the same, only it has the taste of cold leftovers. Lots of padding in the form of quotes and "background" info stretch it out a bit.
Rating: 
Summary: D'oh!
Review: As stupid as they are, Homer Simpson, Wile E. Coyote, and The Three Stooges never died from their idiocy. Of course, they're fictional characters, and don't have to obey the laws of nature. Their real-life counterparts aren't so lucky. In a sense, this collection is arguably the best of the best, as these people did something so stupid, they removed themselves from the gene pool. You could say they fell out of the Stupid Tree and hit every branch on the way down. Though there aren't as many stories here as in other collections (Leland Gregory's HEY IDIOT!, for example), these are (mostly) confirmed true and most likely to attain Classic status.Also contains rules for inclusion, philosophical commentary, and index.
Rating:
Summary: Darwin Awards Rises to the Top of the Gene Pool
Review: Darwin awards, reporting hilariously fatal stupidity, gives awards posthumously to those it deems to have sunk to the bottom of the gene pool, and to have successfully removed themselves from it. It is a hilarious read. I do stupid things, too, but after reading this I realized I am a blazing genius.
Rating:
Summary: Review
Review: Great book. I am interested and find it humours these things continue to happen!!!! Thanks Wendy love this stuff keep it coming!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: More greatness
Review: Hilarious--if you want more of the same, go to the website at darwinawards.com. Pure gold!
Rating: 
Summary: lover of darwin awards discussion of the Magoo principal
Review: I design electronic devices that are implanted in the human body. Items such as pacemakers, cochlear implants, insulin pumps, neural stimulators etc. I discovered the Magoo principal. Many a time a device is designed with two accidental flaws in it. each flaw potentially deadly, but the two together cancel each other out. I don't know how this fits into your review. Sort of two stupid or erronious things cancel each other out. Sometimes one is fixed revealing the other. Have you discovered anything like this in your studies. I believe this occurs more than one would expect.
Sincerely,
Joe Schulman
Joe@schulman.org
Sincerely,
Joe Schulman
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, Informative, Inspiring and Depressing
Review: I first encountered the Darwin Awards through e-mail. If by chance you haven't heard of them, these awards are bestowed on individuals who remove themselves, or their ability to reproduce, from the gene pool via the performance of an independently verified act that, in the words of Wendy Northcutt, "transcends stupidity." There are "honorable mentions" as well, usually bestowed on those who stop just short of unintentionally killing themselves. Northcutt, who invented the Darwin Awards and has a website dedicated to them, has been compiling the award-winning accounts in annual collections. Northcutt does not lack for stories. I believe that everyone will be able to relate to at least a couple of these. I actually have two. A gentleman came into my office several years ago wishing to bring a product liability suit against General Motors. He had purchased a van with a new (at the time) feature called "cruise control." The new owner took possession of the vehicle, drove it to I-71 South, and after getting the speed up to 60 or so set the cruise control and, in his words, "laid down to take me a nap," which was soon interrupted when his new purchase met a state-owned guardrail. This unhappy GM customer would not win a Darwin Award because he did not remove himself or his ability to reproduce from the gene pool, but he would almost certainly be considered for an honorable mention. Another gent a few years ago, in an effort to impress upon me the degree and extent of his depression, advised that he had wished to commit suicide. His problem was that he had several .357 caliber bullets, but no corresponding firearm. He accordingly swallowed the bullets and proceeded to hit himself in the stomach with a hammer. It didn't work. These stories are not in THE DARWIN AWARDS III, though they could have been. If you found those stories interesting, or even hilarious, you will absolutely love pouring through this book. The stories are divided into six classifications: "Law Enforcement: Crime Does Pay," "Men: Omega Male," "Explosions: Short Sharp Shock," "Women: Female Finale," "Technology: Deus Ex Machina," and "Disqualified: Glory Days Gone." The latter chapter consists of stories that were ultimately disqualified from consideration for a Darwin Award but are nonetheless amusing in their own right. As with any story, a great deal of the entertainment is in the telling, and Northcutt has the perfect literary voice for relating these tales of people who get run over by trains while listening for them or the jet ski bandits who are non-recidivists forevermore. The book is also lovingly and irreverently illustrated, in part by Malcolm McGookin. McGookin drew the devastatingly brilliant cartoon Danger Mouse, among others, and has had his cartoons featured in everything from children's publications to Penthouse. If memory serves, he drew my favorite Penthouse cartoon of all time, which was captioned "She types like a secretary." I'll let you figure it out. THE DARWIN AWARDS III can be read from cover to cover or picked up and opened at random. Either way, prepare to spend an hour or so with the book each time you open it. It is entertaining, informative and at once inspiring and depressing. Who could ask for more? --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Rating:
Summary: Tiresome imitation of first two classics
Review: I found this version to be far behind the previous two books. The authors filled these pages with "undocumented" personal accounts and stories that barely resemble the entries found in the first two books. This book qualifies only as a tiresome collection of made up stories, few of which actually qualify for a true Darwin Award. Do yourself a favor.... re-read both of the first two classics and leave this fairy tale collection at the bookstore.
Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointed
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Overall opinion
Review: I have not yet read Darwin 3, so my comments are general to all of Wendy's books. Having been a regular contributor to the Darwin forum since I first became internet aware, I find that some of the stories are only alternative versions of previous items that have been aired in Wendy's forum for our criticism. Although I love tales of human stupidity, when I repeatedly come across the same story in a different format, I lose interest. This is why I have not purchased the third book. Maybe she should read Stephen Pyle's 'Book of Heroic Failures' and reconsider her overall content and layout.
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