What do you think?
Rate this book
Everything Is Going to Kill Everybody: The Terrifyingly Real Ways the World Wants You Dead
Just when you thought you’d accepted your own mortality . . . Everything Is Going to Kill Everybody is bringing panic back. Twenty illustrated, hilariously fear-inducing
essays reveal the chilling and very real experiments, dangerous emerging technologies, and terrifying natural disasters that soon could—or very nearly already did—bring about the end of humanity. In short, everything in here will kill you and everyone you love. At any moment. And nobody’s told you about it—until Experiments in green energy like the HiPER, which uses massive lasers to create a tiny “contained” sun; it’s an idea that could save the world if it doesn’t consume us all in a fiery fusion reaction first. Global disasters like the hypercane—a hurricane so large it could cover all of North America and shoot trailer parks into space! Terrifying new developments in robotics like the EATR, which powers itself on meat—an invention in the running for “Worst Decision Made by Anybody.”From the Trade Paperback edition.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
About the author
Robert Brockway
13 books457 followersI am Robert Brockway. I wrote The Vicious Circuit trilogy from Tor Books. I wrote Rx: A Tale of Electronegativity. I wrote Everything is Going to Kill Everybody. I am but a man.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 176 reviews
May 6, 2011
Non-Fiction. Passable pop science peppered with racist ageist ableist sexist homophobic anti-kink rape culture gender essentialist bullshit.
Two stars because I learned some new things about the coming apocalypse, but, really, don't read this.
Two stars because I learned some new things about the coming apocalypse, but, really, don't read this.
February 21, 2012
Let's be clear on this : There are dick jokes, and there's no hiding the fact that the author is extremely sarcastic. Some readers expect a book to be "firm and easy to understand : humor is too muddy a writing topic", and I suppose I understand that, as some people just lack the ability to read tone in literature. That being said...
OMFG, GTFO & GO DIAF!!! Ahem. I suppose I should be more mature about my opinions, so here goes : I don't like people who lack a sense of humor. I think that the world is too populated with people who treat reading as if they were reading textbook to pass a multiple choice exam. They read for useful information only, information that they can use to sound smarter than other people at parties and try to convince the chick with the horn-rimmed classes that " wow, you're not such a douche after all, you like, totally get it/me". Reading is supposed to be entertainment, not some loathsome chore that you bitch about.
Most readers were brought to this book because of Cracked.com, and those readers obviously rated the absolute shit out of this book. Everyone else just sort of shuffles foot and gripes about the maturity level of the author, which is sad. The way it works : He gives you an event, says something funny and crude about it, and gives you the scope of it (as seen by your slightly above average man). That's why it works.
Anyway, love it or complain about it, I loved this book, even if I nearly shit myself on a daily basis reading it.
OMFG, GTFO & GO DIAF!!! Ahem. I suppose I should be more mature about my opinions, so here goes : I don't like people who lack a sense of humor. I think that the world is too populated with people who treat reading as if they were reading textbook to pass a multiple choice exam. They read for useful information only, information that they can use to sound smarter than other people at parties and try to convince the chick with the horn-rimmed classes that " wow, you're not such a douche after all, you like, totally get it/me". Reading is supposed to be entertainment, not some loathsome chore that you bitch about.
Most readers were brought to this book because of Cracked.com, and those readers obviously rated the absolute shit out of this book. Everyone else just sort of shuffles foot and gripes about the maturity level of the author, which is sad. The way it works : He gives you an event, says something funny and crude about it, and gives you the scope of it (as seen by your slightly above average man). That's why it works.
Anyway, love it or complain about it, I loved this book, even if I nearly shit myself on a daily basis reading it.
October 18, 2010
Up until now I've had a sort of rule that I imposed on myself. I didn't star-reveiw books that were written by people I know. This is an extremely easy rule to follow as the number of people I know that have published books can be counted on one hand (and if I'm counting the number of people I actually care about, the hand could have lost a finger in some sort of industrial machinery type accident and you'd still have an accurate count).
But this book changes everything, because Robert's wife is one of the nicest people I know, his dedication to her is incredibly sweet and most importantly Robert confused me as being "about the same age" as my sister. This is important because my sister is 13 years younger than me. So let's face it, do you honestly think I could read something written by him and think it was anything LESS than 5 stars? Clearly the man is brilliant! And I'm shallow, so pretty much anyone that says anything nice to/about me get's 5 stars, which I know throws off the whole scientifically based approach I've taken thus far and might bring doubt to the extreme credibility that all my reviews have thus far experienced but, so be it!
Now, how was the book itself?
I'll be honest the chapter on earth quakes freaked me out a little and I probably don't need to know that Tsunami stuff floating around in my subconscious but mostly I kept thinking, "If I could just hold on to this stuff for the Science pie in Trivial Pursuit, I might actually win".
It was a quick read and I liked most of the little side comments/jokes.
But for the most part I'm still pretty sure I'm going to die an untimely death by way of train slamming in to me or a really long drawn out painful death from an obscure disease that has yet to be named. Still it's nice to know there are other possiblites.
But this book changes everything, because Robert's wife is one of the nicest people I know, his dedication to her is incredibly sweet and most importantly Robert confused me as being "about the same age" as my sister. This is important because my sister is 13 years younger than me. So let's face it, do you honestly think I could read something written by him and think it was anything LESS than 5 stars? Clearly the man is brilliant! And I'm shallow, so pretty much anyone that says anything nice to/about me get's 5 stars, which I know throws off the whole scientifically based approach I've taken thus far and might bring doubt to the extreme credibility that all my reviews have thus far experienced but, so be it!
Now, how was the book itself?
I'll be honest the chapter on earth quakes freaked me out a little and I probably don't need to know that Tsunami stuff floating around in my subconscious but mostly I kept thinking, "If I could just hold on to this stuff for the Science pie in Trivial Pursuit, I might actually win".
It was a quick read and I liked most of the little side comments/jokes.
But for the most part I'm still pretty sure I'm going to die an untimely death by way of train slamming in to me or a really long drawn out painful death from an obscure disease that has yet to be named. Still it's nice to know there are other possiblites.
August 16, 2020
A collection of essays on the dangers of living on Earth.
A perfect or the worst read for quarantine in 2020?
A perfect or the worst read for quarantine in 2020?
March 27, 2015
Did you, by chance, ever hear of a certain man (or woman, or being) called Grim Reaper? Guess you did. And also i guess now you're secretly wondering, why am I asking such a stupid and meaningless questions? Well, let me tell you why: because after finishing this book, I already feel like I'm about to meet him. No, not just meet him, but become best friends. Buddies. Pals. Chums, y'know.
This book - it is so jolly, so merry, so cute, that reports of Boko Haram or ISIS atrocities or WW2 inspired crimes against humanity simply fade away in obscurity when compared to Brockway's cute little page-turner. It's all just rainbows and unicorns and sunshines here. And tad too much dick jokes, but still, this book certainly offers a new perspective.
I mean, who cares if a couple (hundreds) of non-combatants were murdered somewhere in Africa, when, thanks to this book, you realize that you, he, she, your mother, your brother's cat - we're all basically fucked. One way, or another.
Wise people say that what is read, cannot be un-read, and now I know ze truth - besides "traditional" ways of dying, say, being turned into paste by a truck or hanging yourself or being forced to repeatedly listen to Justin Bieber, there are other, much more horrible ways of dying. Just look at this nice and calming list of what could possibly happen and kill us all to us in the near(est) future:
* agricultural bacteria exterminates all plant life - check;
* genetically modified plants basically stop growing - check;
* worldwide sterility - check;
* "safe" "green" energy, like creating a supertornado to power local nuclear power plant - check;
* supervolcano eruption - check;
* megatsunami and ripple effects - check;
* hypercane and wind speeds that can flay you - check;
* nanotechnology fucking up us and everything - check;
* biotechnology fucking up us and everything - check;
* asteroids and extinction level events - check;
* magnetic pole shifts, resulting into no protection from gamma rays, solar wind and shit - check;
* an army of crazy automated fighter drones, capable of lying, cheating and feeding off corpses - non-check. Pheww, that was close, wasn't it? Just joking. It's, ummm... It's also a "check".
OK now, folks. It was nice to know you all, but it's time to make it short and simple. Now where did I put my gun? I quit!
P.s. - and if you've read some reviews, that this book is sexist, racist, homophobic and other nasty adjectives, be sure that it is written by some sterile, ultra politically-correct jerk: Toy Story is more racist and sexist than this book.
This book - it is so jolly, so merry, so cute, that reports of Boko Haram or ISIS atrocities or WW2 inspired crimes against humanity simply fade away in obscurity when compared to Brockway's cute little page-turner. It's all just rainbows and unicorns and sunshines here. And tad too much dick jokes, but still, this book certainly offers a new perspective.
I mean, who cares if a couple (hundreds) of non-combatants were murdered somewhere in Africa, when, thanks to this book, you realize that you, he, she, your mother, your brother's cat - we're all basically fucked. One way, or another.
Wise people say that what is read, cannot be un-read, and now I know ze truth - besides "traditional" ways of dying, say, being turned into paste by a truck or hanging yourself or being forced to repeatedly listen to Justin Bieber, there are other, much more horrible ways of dying. Just look at this nice and calming list of what could possibly happen and kill us all to us in the near(est) future:
* agricultural bacteria exterminates all plant life - check;
* genetically modified plants basically stop growing - check;
* worldwide sterility - check;
* "safe" "green" energy, like creating a supertornado to power local nuclear power plant - check;
* supervolcano eruption - check;
* megatsunami and ripple effects - check;
* hypercane and wind speeds that can flay you - check;
* nanotechnology fucking up us and everything - check;
* biotechnology fucking up us and everything - check;
* asteroids and extinction level events - check;
* magnetic pole shifts, resulting into no protection from gamma rays, solar wind and shit - check;
* an army of crazy automated fighter drones, capable of lying, cheating and feeding off corpses - non-check. Pheww, that was close, wasn't it? Just joking. It's, ummm... It's also a "check".
OK now, folks. It was nice to know you all, but it's time to make it short and simple. Now where did I put my gun? I quit!
P.s. - and if you've read some reviews, that this book is sexist, racist, homophobic and other nasty adjectives, be sure that it is written by some sterile, ultra politically-correct jerk: Toy Story is more racist and sexist than this book.
March 14, 2011
Robert Brockway, a columnist and blogger for Cracked.com and webmaster of iFightRobots.com. has produced one of the most fascinating and downright terrifying books it has ever been my (mis)fortune to run across. Everything Is Going to Kill Everybody: The Terrifyingly Real Ways the World Wants You Dead, a collection of his well-researched essays on Cracked.com, presents the thousand-and-one ways in which the modern world not only can render us and, perhaps, every other form of complex life on the planet extinct, but has come this close to actually doing so a number of times in the very recent past. While we can't actually change the past (however much most of us would love to do so), we can take timely lessons from it and apply them to the present and future -- and desperately need to do so
RIGHT NOW
, as Brockway proves in essay after essay in this collection, the subjects of which include everything from frankencrops to green goo, supervolcanoes, biotech threats, Verneshots, robot threats, nuclear war, asteroids and extinction-level events, increasing sterility and serious birth and developmental defects among humans and a great many other creatures, and more. These are serious-to-screaming-horrible-lethal-and-immediate threats, folks, and very, very real. Some of them, such as the Cold War, have already come very, very close to putting paid to us and the Cenozoic Era in general, while others, such as the frankenfood, frankencrops, and biotech threats are actually working away at it right now.
I do disagree with Brockway on a few points. For example, he describes the process by which thermonuclear fusion reactions are artificially induced by means of lasers as a possibly deadly threat, apparently not realizing that if we ever begin producing power by such means on a commercial basis, there is no danger of the process somehow getting loose in the world or from the lasers that initially induce it. First, the lasers that initiate the process, though incredibly powerful, do so within a containment more than adequate to prevent accidents that could allow them to do damage beyond the area in which the process takes place. Second, once the process is successfully initiated, it is maintained by the energy generated by the process itself, which provides more power than is necessary to keep itself going. So that portion of the energy so produced that is necessary to keep the process going is fed back into it to keep it going, while the rest is diverted to produce electricity that can be used to power residences and industries, and if so desired, charging up electrically-powered vehicles. If the process is interrupted, not only does it fail, but the power to keep it going fails, too -- at which point, it simply turns off, and there is no threat from it. This is a safe energy-source, folks, and if we ever get it under control and begin producing it in large quantities, not only can we give up carbon-based fuels forever, but we can do so with no additional cost in safety issues.
And some of those threats are rather more remote, such as large asteroid impacts. It's true that those could happen at any time -- and that, as we saw on July 16-20, 1994, when 23 chunks of comet debris from Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacted Jupiter, when (not "if," when; it's just a matter of time) it does, our world and its life will be in for it, big-time. The question, as noted, is in fact "when," and that could be a long time in the future from now. Or it could be tomorrow. You never know until it's right on top of you -- though we could know in time to divert the damned thing if we get enough advanced notice, and our space technology is advanced enough to do so, which is Brockway's point in this as in his other essays.
But by and large the man has done his homework as thoroughly as possible. If you value your life and well-being -- if you value those of your children's, and their children's -- then it's time to sit down, listen up to the man, and get educated about these threats to us all and to our future and posterity. And it's a great read. Cracked.com's signature humor is present in every one of the essays included in this book, and while it is often more on the order of whistling past the graveyard, a.k.a. "Intern's Humor" and "Coroner's Yuks," it gives just enough comic relief to enable one to keep reading and learning, rather than throwing the book down and racing out of the room and into the street, screaming, "Everything is falling! Everything is falling!" before they lead you away, sobbing wildly and beating your breast, to the nice place where they give you extended vacations in places with plenty of padding on the walls and a pretty jacket with long sleeves that tie in the back. You want to know the reallyscary part? It checks out, folks. He really has done his homework, and done it well.
Not recommended for readers under the age of 16.
I do disagree with Brockway on a few points. For example, he describes the process by which thermonuclear fusion reactions are artificially induced by means of lasers as a possibly deadly threat, apparently not realizing that if we ever begin producing power by such means on a commercial basis, there is no danger of the process somehow getting loose in the world or from the lasers that initially induce it. First, the lasers that initiate the process, though incredibly powerful, do so within a containment more than adequate to prevent accidents that could allow them to do damage beyond the area in which the process takes place. Second, once the process is successfully initiated, it is maintained by the energy generated by the process itself, which provides more power than is necessary to keep itself going. So that portion of the energy so produced that is necessary to keep the process going is fed back into it to keep it going, while the rest is diverted to produce electricity that can be used to power residences and industries, and if so desired, charging up electrically-powered vehicles. If the process is interrupted, not only does it fail, but the power to keep it going fails, too -- at which point, it simply turns off, and there is no threat from it. This is a safe energy-source, folks, and if we ever get it under control and begin producing it in large quantities, not only can we give up carbon-based fuels forever, but we can do so with no additional cost in safety issues.
And some of those threats are rather more remote, such as large asteroid impacts. It's true that those could happen at any time -- and that, as we saw on July 16-20, 1994, when 23 chunks of comet debris from Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacted Jupiter, when (not "if," when; it's just a matter of time) it does, our world and its life will be in for it, big-time. The question, as noted, is in fact "when," and that could be a long time in the future from now. Or it could be tomorrow. You never know until it's right on top of you -- though we could know in time to divert the damned thing if we get enough advanced notice, and our space technology is advanced enough to do so, which is Brockway's point in this as in his other essays.
But by and large the man has done his homework as thoroughly as possible. If you value your life and well-being -- if you value those of your children's, and their children's -- then it's time to sit down, listen up to the man, and get educated about these threats to us all and to our future and posterity. And it's a great read. Cracked.com's signature humor is present in every one of the essays included in this book, and while it is often more on the order of whistling past the graveyard, a.k.a. "Intern's Humor" and "Coroner's Yuks," it gives just enough comic relief to enable one to keep reading and learning, rather than throwing the book down and racing out of the room and into the street, screaming, "Everything is falling! Everything is falling!" before they lead you away, sobbing wildly and beating your breast, to the nice place where they give you extended vacations in places with plenty of padding on the walls and a pretty jacket with long sleeves that tie in the back. You want to know the reallyscary part? It checks out, folks. He really has done his homework, and done it well.
Not recommended for readers under the age of 16.
July 6, 2016
This is a fun little satire of all the fear-mongering paranoiac stuff we get bludgeoned with, but, on this last reading, I noticed a few more problems. It could very well be that these are there for satirical purposes, as they are part and parcel of of many conspiracy theories, but they still affected my enjoyment.
The first is the logic leaps: If we're designing one robot that does this thing, and another that does this other thing, the disastrous combination of the two is inevitable and we're all going to die! I get the joke (Hi Glenn Beck et al!), but after the third time in five pages, I get a little bored of it.
Another issue is the histrionic tone. Again, I know this is a deliberate exaggeration, but it can be grating over an extended period. This kind of thing does work better in doses, which makes sense, as many bits were first introduced on Cracked.com. Ironically, the readability of Brockway's prose does the book a disservice, as it does pull you along despite the annoyances, allowing, in my case, for them to build.
And it is compulsively readable. This book is like a pint of ice cream: You know that if you don't stop consuming it, you'll hate both it and yourself, but... Not that I'd know anything about that, of course.
Anyway, this is a good book, fun and funny, but I would suggest parceling it out, as the whole can be repetitive. The research is solid, the eye for consequence sometimes disquieting, and the asides properly absurd. Have fun.
The first is the logic leaps: If we're designing one robot that does this thing, and another that does this other thing, the disastrous combination of the two is inevitable and we're all going to die! I get the joke (Hi Glenn Beck et al!), but after the third time in five pages, I get a little bored of it.
Another issue is the histrionic tone. Again, I know this is a deliberate exaggeration, but it can be grating over an extended period. This kind of thing does work better in doses, which makes sense, as many bits were first introduced on Cracked.com. Ironically, the readability of Brockway's prose does the book a disservice, as it does pull you along despite the annoyances, allowing, in my case, for them to build.
And it is compulsively readable. This book is like a pint of ice cream: You know that if you don't stop consuming it, you'll hate both it and yourself, but... Not that I'd know anything about that, of course.
Anyway, this is a good book, fun and funny, but I would suggest parceling it out, as the whole can be repetitive. The research is solid, the eye for consequence sometimes disquieting, and the asides properly absurd. Have fun.
July 5, 2010
At first I was engaged by the funny, snarky, pithy style of writing but very quickly it got annoying. As other readers I wasn't expecting anything scientific but I was hoping it would be a bit more substantive than it was. The whole thing devolved quickly into something akin to a bar conversation with a drunk, depressed, hypochondriac. I'd skip it if I were you.
June 1, 2010
Four and a half stars.
Oh my god, we're all going to die!*
*Eventually. Somehow.
This book covers a range of topics from things which almost wiped out humanity/life on earth to things that might do so in the future. It's written with a lot of humor and in the tone of your local newscast (2 flakes of snow = WINTER BLAST 2010).
Some of the things that almost killed us were pretty unnerving. There was the Russian, who, at the height of the Cold War had to decide within seconds that despite what the computer told him the US was not actually launching nukes and had to talk his superiors down from retaliating with their own nukes, thus preventing thermonuclear war (and then being demoted for it).
Then there was that attempt to turn leftover plant matter into alcohol via genetically modified organisms. Something that very nearly got released because the EPA guidelines require testing these things on sterile dirt and that was fine. Of course, when you tested in on non-sterile dirt all the plants died almost instantly from alcohol poisoning.
Most of the things that could wipe us out (or at least, wipe out a large segment of humanity) are things we've all heard about, asteroids, megatsunamis, problems with genetically modified food, etc. It still makes for a very interesting (and quite funny) read.
Oh my god, we're all going to die!*
*Eventually. Somehow.
This book covers a range of topics from things which almost wiped out humanity/life on earth to things that might do so in the future. It's written with a lot of humor and in the tone of your local newscast (2 flakes of snow = WINTER BLAST 2010).
Some of the things that almost killed us were pretty unnerving. There was the Russian, who, at the height of the Cold War had to decide within seconds that despite what the computer told him the US was not actually launching nukes and had to talk his superiors down from retaliating with their own nukes, thus preventing thermonuclear war (and then being demoted for it).
Then there was that attempt to turn leftover plant matter into alcohol via genetically modified organisms. Something that very nearly got released because the EPA guidelines require testing these things on sterile dirt and that was fine. Of course, when you tested in on non-sterile dirt all the plants died almost instantly from alcohol poisoning.
Most of the things that could wipe us out (or at least, wipe out a large segment of humanity) are things we've all heard about, asteroids, megatsunamis, problems with genetically modified food, etc. It still makes for a very interesting (and quite funny) read.
January 1, 2014
I've been a fan of Robert Brockway since before he published his first piece at Cracked.com. And I'd just finished reading David Wong's excellent books before moving on to this. I had high hopes, and was let down. I know Brockway can write well. I feel like something went wrong in the editing process. Either his editor on this book just didn't get his style and hamstrung the project. Or the editing workshop at Cracked is an order of magnitude better than with the publisher here. Or perhaps Brockway himself tried to write in a more "professional" way and lost a bit of his own magic. The parts that are supposed to be funny aren't particularly hard hitting and the parts that are supposed to be scientific aren't particularly well researched. I feel like a better use of your time would be watching a couple of disaster porn type documentaries on Netflix and reading any of Brockway's Cracked.com content you may have missed.
December 30, 2016
I'm giving this 5 stars specifically to contradict all the pompous, whiny killjoys who gave it low ratings for "all the dick jokes". You think you're too good for dick jokes, you supercilious fuck? Shakespeare wasn't. You're not too good for Shakespeare.
Now, I'm not saying this book is Shakespeare, but I doubt Brockway was, either. What I am saying is the above goes double for everyone who found the book, "too scientifically lacking".
Look at that title, Poindexter. This set off your peer-review sensors?
It was a funny book about unrealistic but entertaining apocalyptic scenarios, communicated in a snarky but endearing fashion that perhaps utilized "retarded" a little more than anyone has since Beavis and Butthead went off the air. The conversational style made it a really easy, digestible read. And the little lists, while gimmicky, stayed funny throughout.
Cut the dude some slack. He wrote a book to make you laugh, and you almost definitely did.
Now, I'm not saying this book is Shakespeare, but I doubt Brockway was, either. What I am saying is the above goes double for everyone who found the book, "too scientifically lacking".
Look at that title, Poindexter. This set off your peer-review sensors?
It was a funny book about unrealistic but entertaining apocalyptic scenarios, communicated in a snarky but endearing fashion that perhaps utilized "retarded" a little more than anyone has since Beavis and Butthead went off the air. The conversational style made it a really easy, digestible read. And the little lists, while gimmicky, stayed funny throughout.
Cut the dude some slack. He wrote a book to make you laugh, and you almost definitely did.
December 18, 2018
For those who like their hyperbolae big, giant, monstrous, colossal, LARGER THAN YOUR MOM.
If any jokes offend you, don't read it.
If any jokes offend you, don't read it.
February 8, 2019
I read a quite a ways into this book because it could actually be pretty funny and interesting at times. But I eventually stopped because it was so vulgar and also at least somewhat potentially fear/panic-inducing.
November 6, 2017
Funny, full of lowbrow humor. take a break from the doom and gloom of today's news and just say screw it.
July 26, 2018
This started out as a fun read, but quite quickly drifted away from "awesome" to "could have been good, if only...". Don't get me wrong - I had fun reading the book. The subject and the presentation of if is well-done, hilarious and entertaining, not to mention interesting and informative (although you should take it with a grain of salt). However, it could have been so much better, if only...
...if only the book did not use macho language as well as a few other (IMO) inappropriate jokes. It goes down the road of "everything is better with tits and sex jokes", and that is just a shame. I get that it is about "cool (and somewhat real(istic)) overkill scenarios", and as such will probably appeal more to the clichéd male idea of entertainment (Explosions! Collisions! Blood! Death! Yeah!). But does it have to be dragged down to immature sexual humour? And could it not just as easily been done without the casual use of "Ausschwitz" and other inappropriate references?
It was entertaining, yes, but if you want to read a really good book in this vein, I'd rather recommend And Then You're Dead: A Scientific Exploration of the World's Most Interesting Ways to Die by Cody Cassidy and Paul Doherty. That one is absurd, over the top, ridiculous and just plain fun. You should read this one only if you can overlook said macho humour, or even enjoy it...
...if only the book did not use macho language as well as a few other (IMO) inappropriate jokes. It goes down the road of "everything is better with tits and sex jokes", and that is just a shame. I get that it is about "cool (and somewhat real(istic)) overkill scenarios", and as such will probably appeal more to the clichéd male idea of entertainment (Explosions! Collisions! Blood! Death! Yeah!). But does it have to be dragged down to immature sexual humour? And could it not just as easily been done without the casual use of "Ausschwitz" and other inappropriate references?
It was entertaining, yes, but if you want to read a really good book in this vein, I'd rather recommend And Then You're Dead: A Scientific Exploration of the World's Most Interesting Ways to Die by Cody Cassidy and Paul Doherty. That one is absurd, over the top, ridiculous and just plain fun. You should read this one only if you can overlook said macho humour, or even enjoy it...
October 8, 2012
WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!!
Ok you knew that... but according to this book its going to be a rather interesting and painful affair!
"everything in here will kill you and everyone love in various way horrible ways, and there's not much you can do about it but laugh. Or void your bowels and call your mom."
Nice!
I have a feeling that the author suffers from some form of ADHD but then again to write something like this it would almost be a requirement!
Being a veterinary nurse I HAD to look up the bully whippet.Seriously messed up!
It looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger....if he was a dog!
Yes it's a bit immature and littered with (sometimes unnecessary) four lettered words but if we can't all be a little immature every now and then by giggling at something like this then we may as well lie down and die...
Oh wait.....
Ok you knew that... but according to this book its going to be a rather interesting and painful affair!
"everything in here will kill you and everyone love in various way horrible ways, and there's not much you can do about it but laugh. Or void your bowels and call your mom."
Nice!
I have a feeling that the author suffers from some form of ADHD but then again to write something like this it would almost be a requirement!
Being a veterinary nurse I HAD to look up the bully whippet.Seriously messed up!
It looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger....if he was a dog!
Yes it's a bit immature and littered with (sometimes unnecessary) four lettered words but if we can't all be a little immature every now and then by giggling at something like this then we may as well lie down and die...
Oh wait.....
February 10, 2018
Most of the references weren't from professional journals, but sources such as Live Science and Science Daily...sites which reference original source material, but dumb it down and add their own misinterpretations and dramatic improvisations for maximum reader appeal.
BUT, this is not meant to be completely factual reference material. It's meant to be funny. And it is...it's freaking hilarious! It's 'try not to pee your pants laughing while your 11 year old looks at you with wide eyes, pondering your sanity' funny.
Naturally, the perpetually offended by everything brigade miss the whole point and dismiss it entirely based upon their outrage over dick jokes, which are funny if you still maintain a healthy sense of humor and are not consumed by your own overwhelming self-righteousness, which seems to be spreading like a plague upon the earth...which could possibly explode tomorrow in a magnificent fireball of biblical proportions.
So why not just sit back and have a laugh...
BUT, this is not meant to be completely factual reference material. It's meant to be funny. And it is...it's freaking hilarious! It's 'try not to pee your pants laughing while your 11 year old looks at you with wide eyes, pondering your sanity' funny.
Naturally, the perpetually offended by everything brigade miss the whole point and dismiss it entirely based upon their outrage over dick jokes, which are funny if you still maintain a healthy sense of humor and are not consumed by your own overwhelming self-righteousness, which seems to be spreading like a plague upon the earth...which could possibly explode tomorrow in a magnificent fireball of biblical proportions.
So why not just sit back and have a laugh...
August 20, 2015
A humorous approach to utter destruction. I think the book can be summed up quite nicely by the excerpt:
"If there's one single thing that I would love for you to take away from all of this insanity, it is this: Fearmongering works only if you take it seriously. Hopefully, by allowing you to laugh a little bit while you learn of the many theoretically improbably ways you could die, this book will help defuse the surge of panic that the unknown can bring. Scientific advancement is awesome, nature is beautiful, and the world is a lovely place if you can just stop being afraid of it long enough to see it. Perhaps the first vital step to abandoning fear is learning how to laugh at it, and hopefully the end result of this book is just a little bit of cautious optimism; the worst of all possible scenarios have been detailed within these pages for you, and it was all totally ridiculous."
"If there's one single thing that I would love for you to take away from all of this insanity, it is this: Fearmongering works only if you take it seriously. Hopefully, by allowing you to laugh a little bit while you learn of the many theoretically improbably ways you could die, this book will help defuse the surge of panic that the unknown can bring. Scientific advancement is awesome, nature is beautiful, and the world is a lovely place if you can just stop being afraid of it long enough to see it. Perhaps the first vital step to abandoning fear is learning how to laugh at it, and hopefully the end result of this book is just a little bit of cautious optimism; the worst of all possible scenarios have been detailed within these pages for you, and it was all totally ridiculous."
January 22, 2019
Couldn't get past 40 or 50 pages of this book, and stopped reading although I was quite interested in the subject matter. What started as fun-to-read at first, quickly turned into shallow frat-boy humor that had become hard to bear aftet it was being repetitive. Not that I don't enjoy that type of humor, and The Oatmeal is an example of its good execution; but this book is far from there in my opinion.
July 7, 2010
Overall an entertaining read. It was written in a very casual and humorous way, but presented plenty of things to think about. Definitely worth reading if you're looking for a reason to drink
February 3, 2016
Cracked articles in book form. Decent Cracked articles on a decent subject, but I was hoping for a step up in scientific rigor.
March 15, 2017
I enjoyed Brockway on Cracked, but I have zero patience left for the 'try-hard white dude throws down homophobic misogynist racist bullshit and thinks it's instant comedy' genre.
December 8, 2017
I don't know if I'll be able to finish it.
I was hoping to indulge my doom and gloom thinking. But this reads like a bad (as if I needed that qualifier) Discovery Channel program aimed at suburban males with hypermasculine goatees or super square beards and ball caps riding ATVs or huge trucks who are at least as alarmed at being "feminized" by chemicals in their water as by nuclear war. Picture bad heavy metal as the soundtrack and super bass-ified narration, delivered in that horrible hybrid tone of simultaneous condescension and attempt to overstimulate you that they use for the the local news or a commercial radio station or advertisement thereon, but with too much "fuck" language in a fake attempt to sound real. Really, it tries really hard to be funny according to the humor criteria of people I will NEVER FUCKING RELATE TO.
I hope it IS the end of the fucking world
I was hoping to indulge my doom and gloom thinking. But this reads like a bad (as if I needed that qualifier) Discovery Channel program aimed at suburban males with hypermasculine goatees or super square beards and ball caps riding ATVs or huge trucks who are at least as alarmed at being "feminized" by chemicals in their water as by nuclear war. Picture bad heavy metal as the soundtrack and super bass-ified narration, delivered in that horrible hybrid tone of simultaneous condescension and attempt to overstimulate you that they use for the the local news or a commercial radio station or advertisement thereon, but with too much "fuck" language in a fake attempt to sound real. Really, it tries really hard to be funny according to the humor criteria of people I will NEVER FUCKING RELATE TO.
I hope it IS the end of the fucking world
December 16, 2022
One zinger after the next. It's like he's terrified a jokes gonna fall flat so he just throws as many piles of shit in your face as he can in hopes that you'll finally like the smell. It's even more irritating when a one-liner IS actually funny but it's immeditaly followed by some epic sigma male humor - turning that slight chuckle brewin in your throat into a groan of absolute agony. It’s the narrative equilvalent of "Hey guys look how cool and uncaring I can be. Don't I seem so cool and uncaring right now? Guys? Please Respond."
I'm all for turning hard, throbbing, complicated science comedic (look I can make dick jokes too!) but Jesus man take a breather.
I will admit this was my partially fault for reading a 10yr old ‘sarcasm’ book.
I'm all for turning hard, throbbing, complicated science comedic (look I can make dick jokes too!) but Jesus man take a breather.
I will admit this was my partially fault for reading a 10yr old ‘sarcasm’ book.
May 30, 2019
Late in this book, while describing the possibility of robots killing us all, the author describes this as "a book about intense fearmongering and creative swearing." Brockway discusses the multiple ways the apocalypse could happen from bio- or nanotechnology to natural disasters, along with a couple of overlooked historical moments when it could have already happened. The book is well-researched and written with a comic tone, but some of its references are a bit dated now and sometimes the humor is a little off target. Still a bit of fun.
October 26, 2020
A fun diversion into the many ways we have almost been, could possibly, or may eventually be killed. While there's a lot to worry about, Brockway does the responsible thing in highlighting how many thing would have to coalesce perfectly in order for - as an example - carnivorous, mobile, immoral, robot murder-turrets to pose a real threat to everyday life.
3.75/5 (about it's current rating) works.
3.75/5 (about it's current rating) works.
March 15, 2020
This book can simultaenously scare and tickle the shit out of you. Every chapter is filled with terrifying things that can literally kill us all, from man-made virus to disasters from nature, or even extraterrestrial stuff, that is, if you don't die of dick jokes in this book yet. A comedy yet informative book, plus there are sources for those who want to read more. Worth the hours spent reading!
May 19, 2022
My already tin-foil hat-y mind did not need to read this book LOL It is humorous and terrifying at the same time; really made me look into GMO foods more. Interesting and funny, love the gratuitous swearing. Little tough to really 'get into' though, so it took me a month to read, one chapter at a time.
December 8, 2017
While occasionally humorous and generally interesting the frat boy level "jokes" were grating. Not sure why a book published in 2010 contains this many uses of the "r" word. I learned some new stuff, but was mostly disappointed with the type of humor employed.
September 22, 2017
One of the funniest things I've ever read in my entire life, and I've read some great ones. Had me sceaming with laughter throughout, esp the bits about supervolcanoes and wrangled tornados (ref. the table about Canadians).
Displaying 1 - 30 of 176 reviews