Absinthe & Flamethrowers: Projects and Ruminations on the Art of Living Dangerously |  | Author: William Gurstelle
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $9.26
as of 11/20/2009 23:32 CST details
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New (34) Used (9) from $9.26
Seller: a1books
Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 3584
Media: Paperback
Pages: 224
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.5
ISBN: 1556528221
Dewey Decimal Number: 155.232
EAN: 9781556528224
ASIN: 1556528221
Publication Date: June 1, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
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 lives. Unlike watching an action movie or playing a video game, real-life experience changes a person, and Gurstelle will help you discover the true thrill of making black powder along with dozens of other edgy activities. All of the projects—from throwing knives, drinking absinthe, and eating fugu to cracking a bull whip, learning bartitsu, and building a flamethrower—have short learning curves, are hands-on and affordable, and demonstrate true but reasonable risk. With a strong emphasis on safety, each potentially life-altering project includes step-by-step directions, photographs, and illustrations along with troubleshooting tips from experts in the field.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 18
 Dissapointing, October 9, 2009
Daniel Smith
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
There is entirely too much rumination, and not enough projects.
The author repeats himself constantly, fills the already slim volume with "saftey notes".
Nothing in here I couldn't have easily (TERRIBLY EASILY) just hit the internet for.
How to make black powder, rockets, smoke bomb - and the rest is just a collection of rambles and pop culture references. The flamethrower isn't even portable, just a standard pyrotechnic propane tank. Pales in comparison to my fathers Diesel fueled modified spray pack. So there.
Couldn't be more disappointed.
 Too much Absinthe, not enough Flamethrower September 14, 2009
Dylan Martin (Seattle)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
You might think this is a book about cool dangerous projects. It isn't. It's the author's mediocre philosophy of risk with a few project tidbits thrown in. It's galling to read all his pretentious outpourings about how we need to take more risk and not coddle ourselves followed instantly by coddling safely instructions. Really, if you're going to write a book denouncing the safely culture, don't repeat the same safety instructions over .. and over .. and over... it damages your credibility.
Anyway, possibly the worst part of this book is his instructions for the dangerous project of ... smoking a cigarette! Even if you accept that there is a place in this world for a chapter on how/when/why to light up, there is absolutely no excuse for calling it 'non-verbal communication'. He means 'trying to look cool and get laid'. Just in case I didn't make that totally clear, he has a chapter about using a cigarette to help you get laid and he doesn't even have the guts to come out and say that's what the chapter is about.
And, spoiler here: There is no flamethrower. There's a thingy to blow big fireballs into the air,(which is pretty cool) but it ain't no flamethrower. He even admits as much.
Having said that, this book isn't all bad. The introduction has some interesting stuff about the science of measuring one's attraction to risk. The bibliography is pretty cool. It lead me to Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics : The History of the Explosive That Changed the World and it was awesome. The projects are pretty good. If you cut out the philosophical drivel and rendered the safety instructions down to the necessary minimum, this book would be pretty good. In fact, it would be a collection of this author's Make magazine articles.
This author has written several books of projects (Backyard Ballistics: Build Potato Cannons, Paper Match Rockets, Cincinnati Fire Kites, Tennis Ball Mortars, and More Dynamite Devices etc..) and I got the feeling he was trying to branch out from projects into philosophy. Oops.
In short, if you're a 15 year old accounting-club nerd, this book might just blow your doors off. Otherwise, you probably don't need his advice. Buy Make magazine or one of this authors other books.
 Seductively titled and conceived, but ultimately disappointing September 14, 2009
Josey Baker (San Francisco, CA USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was very excited when I saw this book suggested by Amazon. I read the first few pages online, and was very intrigued. Gurstelle has done his research, for sure. The opening pages discuss psychological theory about thrill seeking individuals, and is very well-written. His explanation about the manufacturing of gun powder seems as informative and cautionary as it should be. But when I got to the chapter about smoking cigarettes, I immediately thought, "Aw man - this is a hoax. I don't need advice about how and when to smoke. This is all about image. It's superficial." And truth be told, it turned me off so much, I haven't bothered to pick it up since I made it a few pages into this chapter. I skimmed the rest of the book, but found nothing that really grabbed me. Learning how and when to appear cool and rebellious is not what attracted me to this book, but if this is what you're looking for, this one might have some good leads.
So so... September 14, 2009
Daniel A. Niles (Iowa)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you want to learn how to make Absinthe and fun things that go boom in the back yard this is not your book. It is more of a toilet time book. Somewhat entertaining and totally written by a man for men. The price is good, the reading OK. I recommend the book but don't expect to much out of it...
 good book August 25, 2009
Nathan L. Warshawsky (NM)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have read the book and was good. I havent tryed to do the projects yet as im out on bail and the wife wont let me.afraid ill blow stuff up. but very informative with good references. the other stuff other than black powder such as knifes and fighting are very vauge.fun to read though.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 18
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