Absinthe & Flamethrowers: Projects and Ruminations on the Art of Living Dangerously,   ISBN:9781556528224

Customer Rating: 

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.

Customer Rating: 

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.

Customer Rating: 

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.

Customer Rating: 

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...

Customer Rating: 

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.