A press release from Milena Brown of Penguin:

Could 2012 be the year of our annihilation? The Mayan Calendar predicts the date as December 21, 2012, Pastor Harold Camping reaffirms October 21^st as “Judgment Day” and even author Dan Brown sited the year 2012 for the apocalypse in The Lost Symbol. Thankfully famed cartoonist and illustrator Steven Appleby and journalist Art Lester has created a brilliantly funny, superbly illustrated and erudite guide to prepare us in all the ways we might cease to exist – space earthquakes, gender erosion, asteroid impact, pandemics, solar storms, and robotic revolts to name a few.

The Coffee Table Book of Doom (a Plume Original, on sale October 2012) tackles all doom related questions to prepare us for whatever may seal our fate including:

* Could an alien invasion really happen?
* Is every creature on Earth becoming female, leading to the end of mankind?
* Will species become extinct with even moderate warming?
* Is the human gene pool getting weaker?
* Can earthquakes start in outer space?
* What should you pack in your GOOD (Get Out Of Dodge) bags?

The Coffee Table Book of Doom warns us that it’s not just the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse we have to worry about.  This tongue-in-cheek informational book combines fascinating and often alarming facts with each chapter committed to the different ways of how mankind as we know it will come to a grisly end.

Whether we’re baked, fried, frozen or sucked dry…the end is near.