About
All About The Awards.
The Darwin Awards are a collection of books that document, in simple terms, stupid people doing stupid things, ending up dying from their actions or living to tell the tale. These are true events that take place all around the world. Some people classify these stories as people deleting themselves from the human gene pool.
Plot
The Darwin Awards series contains many stories of people simply doing stupid things without putting much thought into their actions. These are two events I have read that keep me laughing to this day.
One of them is about two old men fighting over a grenade (a LIVE grenade, that is), deciding which one of them should keep it. One of the men, thinking he was doing both of them a favor, decided to pull the pin and throw the grenade at a distance for it to detonate away from them. One of those men must have forgotten that one of them owned a dog. So the dog dashes out and fetches the grenade (remember, this grenade is LIVE and the pin has been pulled), bringing it back to the men. The men attempt to run, but it was too late. All 3 died.
Another one of my favorites takes place during the winter (I think Alaska). A man gets pulled over by the police. As the officer is trying to do his job, the man decides to drive off. We went nowhere. There was so much snow on the ground. The man has the gas pedal to the floor of his vehicle, but only the wheels are spinning. The officer caught on to what was going on, so he decides to “run “after the man. The officer was running in place. The man was wondering how and why the officer was running so fast, keeping up with him. The man, thinking he was moving, continued to push the gas petal to the floor of his vehicle. The officer eventually opened the door, pulled the man out of his vehicle, and arrested him. Not everyone dies of their stupidity.
For those who live to tell their tale, they are what is called an Honorable Mention. Here is one from the website:
(19 April 2019, California) A Modesto man, gas tank empty, fills a random plastic jug with gas despite specific warnings against this posted on most every gas pump. Naturally he cannot pour the gas into the tank because there is a pesky valve in the way, designed for SAFETY and environmental protection. What to do? Of course! Melt the neck of the bottle so it can be shaped into a funnel. Well that went as well as one would expect. Badly burned and standing in melted shoes, Burning Man now stands for your consideration as an Honorable Mention. Although our friend missed a Darwin Award, such vaporous thinking will soon set him up FTW! Develop some sense, anonymous man in your 30's. Your injuries are a warning shot across the bow. Next time will your luck hold?
Major Characters
The "Stars" of the Series.
The major characters are the ones featured in each story. Some stories are told by the survivors, while for the ones who died, their stories are told by the police, loved ones, and/or witnesses, to name a few. Each story will take the reader along to some hilarious and sometimes scary emotions. The author does her best to confirm the validity of these stories for her series. According to her site, there are five rules that each must meet in order to be considered for the award, amongst other things.
- Rule 1: Reproduction. The candidate must remove him/herself from the (human) gene pool.
- Rule 2: Excellence. The candidate must suffer an astounding lapse of judgement.
- Rule 3: Self-Selection. The candidate must be the cause of his/her own demise.
- Rule 4: Maturity. The candidate must be capable of sound judgement.
- Rule 5: Veracity. The event must be verified.
Genre
The genre for this series is Humor. In my opinion, although the purpose of the books is not to disgustingly mock the death of those who decide to remove themselves from the gene pool, it may result in some laughs while having some sympathy for the individual(s), asking oneself who would people do such things.