We all have our off days. Why should Evolution be any different? Maybe Evolution got carried away with an idea that was just a little too crazymdash;like having the Regal Horned Lizard defend itself by shooting three-foot streams of blood from its eyes. Or maybe Evolution ran out of steam (Memo to Evolution: The Irrawaddy Dolphin looks like a prototype that should have been left on the drawing board). Or maybe Evolution was feeling cheekymdash;a fish with hands? Jokersquo;s on you; Red Handfish! Or maybe Evolution simply goofed up: How else to explain the overgrown teeth of the babirusas that curl backward over their face? Oops. Mara Grunbaum is a very smart; very funny science writer who celebrates the bestmdash;or; really; the worstmdash;of Evolutionrsquo;s blunders. Here are more than 100 outlandish mammals; reptiles; insects; fish; birds; and other creatures whose very existence leaves us shaking our heads and muttering WTF?! Ms. Grunbaumrsquo;s especially brilliant stroke is to personify Evolution as a well-meaning but somewhat oblivious experimenter whose conversations with a skeptical narrator are hilarious. For almost 4 billion years; Evolution has produced a nonstop parade of inflatable noses; bizarre genitalia; and seriously awkward necks. What a comedian!
#2150256 in eBooks 2014-06-13 2014-06-13File Name: B00KJDZM4M
Review
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Beautiful but VapidBy Ancient HistoryA coffee-table book in everything except size; Gothic Dreams Cthulhu is chock full of colorful; elaborate paintings and digital artwork; book covers and incidental illustrations; its eye-catching and gorgeous; a page-turner for anyone excited about what tentacled horror resides on the next leaf.Unfortunately; a bit of text gets in the way. Nominally a paint-thick biography of Lovecraft and survey of the Cthulhu Mythos; Gordon Kerr appears to mean well but makes laughable error after questionable omission after howling mistake. While it is clear Kerr is familiar with the basic literature of the Mythos; the "bio" of Lovecraft is so scattershot you wonder why he bothered; various expressions of the Mythos are given weird and uncomfortable emphasis - Kerr appears to take the Simon Necronomicon as providing an actual Sumerian origin for Cthulhu and somehow got the idea from China Mieville that all tentacles derive from William Hope Hodgson; for example; and Wilum H. Pugmire is filed in next to Luis G. Abbadie under the title "Mexicans and Transvestites." Caitlin R. Kiernan and Brian Lumley (among others) are only names on a list; but Neil Gaiman and Dr. Who gets their own paragraphs. Robert E. Howard doesnt appear to rate a mention.Kerr does somewhat better with "Cthulhu On-Screen;" mentioning the major film adaptations (as loose as they may be) of the Mythos; one can clearly see he kept a copy of "Lurker in the Lobby" close at hand; and only indulges himself a couple times in drawing comparisons to modern films like Cloverfield and Pirates of the Caribbeans Davy Jones. Cthulhu gaming (rpgs; card games; PC games) also gets a ncie section; though it probably could have benefited more from featuring some of the art from those games - then again; Im amazed at how many pieces Kerr managed to get permission to use for this book as it stands. Less forgivable is; well; not including all of the art being described in the section of the book about Mythos art. Given that this entire project is a look-pretty book for people who got tired of National Geographics Book of the Week cluttering up their coffee table; it seems a bit questionable. Likewise; there are some bizarre omissions here too - Bryan Moores busts of Lovecraft and Cthulhu are mentioned; but not Stephen Hickmans? Douglas Sirois forgettable graphic novel Apollo gets a shout-out but none of BOOMs many Mythos-related series?Maybe Im being too harsh on Kerr; this is after all just a pretty-to-look-at book; and a serious attempt to survey the Mythos would be both doomed and prohibitively thick and expensive. And it is very; very pretty - but thats all it is; really.1 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Good Introduction to the MythosBy SLMWell done.1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. .By zongakuWhile I cant vouch exactly for all the written content; I can say that this book is pretty cool for the art at least. For half the price of the other Cthulhu art book; its a pretty good score.
