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Absinthe & Flamethrowers: Projects and Ruminations on the Art of Living Dangerously
A Selection of the Scientific American Book Club Want to add more excitement to your life? This daring combination of science, history, and DIY projects will show you how. Written for smart risk takers, it explores why danger is good for you and details the art of living dangerously. Risk takers are more successful, more interesting individuals who lead more fulfilling liv...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
June 1st 2009
by Chicago Review Press
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There is a small but growing sub-genre of books into which this one fits quite neatly. It is, to the best of my knowledge, purely an American male phenomenon, but if you've found something else, please let me know.
It's the genre I describe as "Mid-Life Crisis Obsession Non-Fiction." A man, always middle class, white, and well-educated, but bored and dulled by his safe corporate life, decides to embrace something wild and daring and dangerous. Then he writes about how he did i...more
It's the genre I describe as "Mid-Life Crisis Obsession Non-Fiction." A man, always middle class, white, and well-educated, but bored and dulled by his safe corporate life, decides to embrace something wild and daring and dangerous. Then he writes about how he did i...more
There were several things I liked about this book, but so many more that I didn't.
At the 50 page mark we still hadn't gotten into the descriptions of how to do dangerous things.
The author spends those 50 pages talking about the philosophy of why people do dangerous things, which wouldn't have been too bad if he hadn't come off as slightly patronizing.
I skimmed the rest of the book, which includes info on how to build a flamethrower, how to eat pufferfish, how ...more
At the 50 page mark we still hadn't gotten into the descriptions of how to do dangerous things.
The author spends those 50 pages talking about the philosophy of why people do dangerous things, which wouldn't have been too bad if he hadn't come off as slightly patronizing.
I skimmed the rest of the book, which includes info on how to build a flamethrower, how to eat pufferfish, how ...more
This is not great literature, nor a true how-to-build stuff. Instead, it is a geek manifesto to let one's curiosity wander, and try things that seem interesting. The particular examples -- drinking absinthe, compounding one's own black powder in the garage -- do not particularly appeal to me, yet I found it a strangely fun read. The exhortation to find ways to move outside of one's own box seems worth listening to.
This book has a lot to offer, but I confess to being a little disappointed. Most of the value that I found was in the psychology or risk-taking rather than the projects that were the intended focal point of the book. Views on risk-taking throughout history are entertaining, but feel like filler in some cases, things just put in to add a few pages. It was okay, but I expected more for my money.
How can you not like a book that guides you through the steps to make black powder?
This is the second in a series by this author of semi-dangerous projects for the backyard (basement) enthusiast. "Semi-" only if you use common sense and safety precautions. Completely dangerous if you ignore them.
I'm waiting anxiously for my son-in-law's visit to try some of these out. (I like him! He's going to help me! I'm not trying these experiments out 'on' him!) The grand...more
This is the second in a series by this author of semi-dangerous projects for the backyard (basement) enthusiast. "Semi-" only if you use common sense and safety precautions. Completely dangerous if you ignore them.
I'm waiting anxiously for my son-in-law's visit to try some of these out. (I like him! He's going to help me! I'm not trying these experiments out 'on' him!) The grand...more
Paged through this one. Admittedly, I don't live dangerously. I don't even turn the volume up on my headphones past halfway. And my favorite mantra is, just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Maybe that's why I picked the book up? The quotes are enjoyable. And taking the thrill and experience seeking evaluation was informative.
A few quotes from the book that I like...........
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing
-Helen Keller
I don’t want to come to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it.
I want to have lived the width of it as well.
-Diane Ackerman
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing
-Helen Keller
I don’t want to come to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it.
I want to have lived the width of it as well.
-Diane Ackerman
I'll admit that I skipped most of this and spent a lot of time on the flamethrower instructions, and I have to say they are unclear, inconsistent, and imprecise. the materials sheet lacks a handful of pieces he references later and the design he outlines differs from the example he's made.
In general, if you don't have the mechanical inclination to0 fill in the gaps or improvise a bit you probably won't be able to make a working flamethrower from his recipe, but on the other hand, if ...more
In general, if you don't have the mechanical inclination to0 fill in the gaps or improvise a bit you probably won't be able to make a working flamethrower from his recipe, but on the other hand, if ...more
Dan
marked it as to-read
This is an interesting one. My girlfriend gave it to me for Christmas, and a quick glance shows lots of instructions on how to make your own weapons. Flamethrowers, rockets, gunpowder, it's all there. If society crumbles it could be handy.
This is the kind of book that makes me long to own a farm, so that I have an out building or two and some space to tinker with interesting projects. Alas, most of these projects aren't suited to apartment living.
This book is intended to help risk-adverse people (little-t) into reasonable risk takers (big-T). As it turns out, I am either a dyed-in-the-wool little-t, or to lazy and apathetic to go to the trouble of becoming a big-T. I might try Absinthe now, though.
Gurstelle talks about the purpose of risk taking before offering a number of fairly safe ways to indulge in things that get one's adrenaline pumping, like model rocketry and homemade flamethrowers as well as thrill eating (pufferfish) and drinking absinthe.
I was surprised that the safety tips, which he preluded with instructions o "skim around in the book, but this is really important! don't skip it!" didn't appear until page 36 or so. That, along with a section on how to s...more
I was surprised that the safety tips, which he preluded with instructions o "skim around in the book, but this is really important! don't skip it!" didn't appear until page 36 or so. That, along with a section on how to s...more
Not nearly as exciting as I hoped. Unless you're really into making your own fireworks, there's not a lot of specifically-useful information.
Logan
marked it as to-read
Two great things, together at long last...
Unanimously voted by the guys as "not nearly as fun as Backyard Ballistics or The Art of the Catapult"
I just started it yesterday, but so far, it is enlightening
Now I can make my own charcoal.
Fun read. Lots of crazy experiments in this one.
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