"I realize that I'm generalizing here, but as is often the case when I generalize, I don't care."
Author and humor columnist Dave Barry has written essays, novels, short stories, children's books, a syndicated newspaper column (for which he won a Pulitzer) -- and even a blues song about Tupperware. (More on that later.) I've been a massive Barry fan ever since starting to read his column back in the mid-90s, and his books -- many of which I've reread multiples times -- remain high on my list of all-time favorites.
So in honor of his birthday today, I'd like to recommend my top five picks of Barry titles. Read on for the recommendations!
So in honor of his birthday today, I'd like to recommend my top five picks of Barry titles. Read on for the recommendations!
"What we need in this country, instead of Daylight Savings Time, which nobody really understands anyway, is a new concept called Weekday Morning Time, whereby at 7 a.m. every weekday we go into a space- launch-style 'hold' for two to three hours, during which it just remains 7 a.m. This way we could all wake up via a civilized gradual process of stretching and belching and scratching, and it would still be only 7 a.m. when we were ready to actually emerge from bed."
"Camping is nature's way of promoting the motel business."
"Have you noticed that whatever sport you're trying to learn, some earnest person is always telling you to keep your knees bent?"
"If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be 'meetings.'"
My Top Five Dave Barry Reads:
On its surface, this book is the result of the publisher Random House paying to send Barry (along with his wife and son) on a two-week trip to Japan, specifically for the purpose of writing a book about the experience. I always enjoy travel books, and I love fish-out-of-water stories, and this account is certainly both. But this isn't a book of fluff. Acknowledging major cultural differences and his own inexperience, Barry does his best to explore Japanese culture, society, and day-to-day life in the short time he spends overseas. The result is a book that takes a serious look at his experiences -- with plenty of laughs along the way.
Unlike Dave Barry Turns 40, which was very much a book about the perils, pitfalls -- and pluses -- of aging, Turns 50 is another thing entirely. Here, Barry takes a year-by-year look at the history of his generation: the Baby Boomers. Drawing from research books, as well as his own memories, Barry dives into the history of the political upheaval and counterculture of the 60s and 70s. His accounts of his childhood, teen years, and early adulthood are interwoven with commentary on the Cold War, JFK's assassination, the Civil Rights movement, Vietnam, and the presidency of Nixon. Often hysterical, and surprisingly poignant, it's a must-read for anyone as interested in the 60s and 70s as I am.
Barry's latest book of humor essays (it was released in 2010) includes such topics as the relationships between men and women, parenthood, the joys of pet ownership, the perils of Hollywood screenwriting, why everyone over 50 should get a colonoscopy -- and even a Twilight parody. (I'm pretty sure he wrote that last one just for me.) Barry stopped writing a regular newspaper column in 2004, so for Barry fans, a collection of fresh humor essays was a much-appreciated surprise.
Barry's written two novels solo -- and a third, Lunatics, with Alan Zweibel. His debut novel, Big Trouble, seems to be the fan favorite (it was even made into a movie). I like Tricky Business better. Nominally, it's about a drug-dealing cruise ship headed out to sea -- and into an oncoming hurricane -- but the cast of characters that make up the story are far larger than a single premise. From single mom and cocktail waitress Fay, to ship's band Johnny and the Contusions, to Arnold and Phil (two escapees from a Miami senior care center), these are characters who could be mere caricatures -- but Barry makes them come alive. The book's funny, alright, but it's also a wacky South-Florida thriller that kept me turning the pages.
I'll always have a soft spot for this, my very first Dave Barry book. Possibly the only book about computers to be fifteen years old, and yet still relevant, Barry talks about the ups and downs in the bizarre world of computers. The humor of choosing a new computer, wrestling with difficult software installations, and trying to make sense of the internet rings as true today as it did when the book was first published -- and for those aspects of computers that have changed since the 90s, this read is a great way to remember how much technology has changed in so short a time. Best of all, the book ends with a short story that seems to have been Barry's first venture into the realm of fiction -- with results that are hilarious and surprisingly touching.
-- Post by Ms. B
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