The Darwin Awards II: Unnatural Selection gathers a fresh round of stories about people who remove themselves from the gene pool in spectacularly foolish ways. Drawn from real-life mishaps, urban legends, and strange-but-true reports, this collection celebrates the triumph of bad decisions over common sense.
From a safety instructor who fails to survive his own forklift demonstration to a couple who decide to sleep on a sloping roof, each episode offers a mix of dark comedy and cautionary lesson. Even a shepherd manages to be outwitted by his own flock when he leaves a loaded rifle unattended.
Featuring more than one hundred Darwin Award winners and honourable mentions, along with debunked legends and brief scientific asides, the book explores how risky behaviour, misplaced confidence, and poor planning can collide with natural selection.
Highlights include:
- Over 100 tales of fatal or near-fatal folly
- Darkly humorous anecdotes and bizarre accidents
- Notes on science, risk, and everyday safety
- A satirical look at how uncommon common sense can be
