Dave Barry Is from Mars and Venus [Paperback]

Dave Barry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 14, 1998

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, bestselling author, and Wheel of Fortune contestant Dave Barry exposes the shattering truth. Whether he's splashing with the U.S. sychronized swim team ("Picture a bunch of elegant swans swimming with a flailing sea cow") or reliving the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving ("We've decided to obliterate your culture, but first may we try the stuffing?"), Dave Barry proves that one man can make a difference--by having the guts to answer the questions few people bother to ask:

¸  What makes people want to eat animals they would never consider petting?
¸  Where do the World's Three Most Boring People meet?
¸  Why is Colorado freezing so many human gonads?
¸  And just how does Oprah have the power to turn a 1957 Hotpoint toaster manual into a #1 bestseller?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Booger." In case you're wondering, that's the title of a winning entry from a parody contest that Dave Barry's flagship paper, the Miami Herald, ran in 1989. There's more to Dave Barry than "boogers," of course--he's the McDonald's of American humor. One, nearly everybody likes him. Two, he's everywhere. Three--and this is the key--when you open one of his books, you know exactly what you're going to get: "Eugene is located in southwest Oregon, approximately 278 billion miles from anything." "If you're looking for a hearty entree that (1) is related to spiders; (2) is descended from a worm; and (3) has mutant baby-poopers walking around on its lips; then you definitely want a lobster." This collection of columns--sure to serve billions and billions--is called Dave Barry Is from Mars and Venus. (Strangely, it isn't a parody of John Gray's series, even though there's nobody better equipped to do one.) Inside you'll find the same genial, absurd fantasies, riffs on clippings that Barry insists he is not making up, and bizarre personal adventures that are his trademark. Do you like hamburgers? Of course--and you'll like this book, too. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

For readers of previous collections of Barry's syndicated columns, there are no surprises here. Enthusiasts will expect?and will find?that the author writes with ease and whimsicality on almost every subject that chances to catch his fancy. And there seems to be nothing too insignificant or casual to attract his attention. If readers dip into the book at random, they may find first his ideas?tongue-in-cheek of course?for eliminating the drug problem in the country. Next they may turn to Barry's reflections on the importance of having visible stomach muscles. Then they may find themselves reading about his views on the National Pretend Speed Limit. Barry is never uproariously funny, but he does set underway delicious trains of chuckles. At a time when so many people are in a chronic state of irritation, suspicion, and mental jaundice, the effect of the book is soothing. It cleans the palate, if not like champagne, then at least like a cool sorbet. Recommended.
-?A.J. Anderson, GSLIS, Simmons Coll., Boston
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (September 14, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345425782
• ISBN-13: 978-0345425782
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.6 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #752,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The New York Times has pronounced Dave Barry "the funniest man in America." But of course that could have been on a slow news day when there wasn't much else fit to print. True, his bestselling collections of columns are legendary, but it is his wholly original books that reveal him as an American icon. Dave Barry Slept Here was his version of American history. Dave Barry Does Japan was a contribution to international peace and understanding from which Japan has not yet fully recovered. Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys is among the best-read volumes in rehab centers and prisons. Raised in a suburb of New York, educated in a suburb of Philadelphia, he lives now in a suburb of Miami. He is not, as he often puts it so poetically, making this up.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ...and he is also the best one from the Earth!, November 18, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Dave Barry is from Mars and Venus (Hardcover)

For starters, this could easily be the best Dave Barry's collection of columns ever.
His account on the Very First Thanksgiving, his solution to the Drug Problem (thru the use of modern packaging) and his depiction of the fears that bees inflict upon him, are just some of the bits that really make this one of his best books.

Dave Barry is the master of humor synthesis. And in "...from Venus and Mars" he demonstrates it again and again. He also goes back to the typical use of hyperboles (the closing of an article re-taking a priorly referred subject) and also is great again on his "mind" and "I.Q." level comparisons.

His keen (real keen) sense of observation it's poured easily and with grace on these pages. You cannot avoid laughter. But it's a laughter with a sense of "familiarity": I'm laughing at this, yes. But, oh, my gosh, this is also SO TRUE!.

If you don't know the works of Dave Barry you are just missing the works of (as the New York Times once put it) "the funniest man alive". Read this book. It's a great start for a great addiction. And, in the end, you'll be experiencing the same consequence than me: mainly, the need to have, read. and re-read ALL of his books.

By the way, a piece of advice on the picture that appears on page 143. The person shown on the left IS Stephen King, and it's not a fake picture. The caption in this picture is funny, as the rest of the captions in the other black and white Dave's pictures that appear randomly thru the book. It's great to see a younger Dave Barry (and to see even a photograph of his Catholic Confirmation certificate) to feel closer to the life and circumstances of one of the finest humor brains ever: the brain of the author of "...from venus AND Mars", Mr. Dave Barry.

Believe me. It's impossible (absolutely IMPOSSIBLE) not to laugh reading him! Get this book and ...enjoy!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dave Barry drops off, May 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dave Barry Is from Mars and Venus (Paperback)

Although I love Dave Barry, and his writing always cracks me up, this is by far the least funny of his books. A far better book to start with is Dave Barry's Greatest Hits, or Dave Barry's only travel guide you'll ever need.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vintage Dave Barry, February 14, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Tempe, Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dave Barry Is from Mars and Venus (Paperback)

Dave Barry Is From Mars And Venus is probably his best work yet (even displacing the hilarious Dave Barry Does Japan). All the essays touch some hidden button that makes the audience gasp while holding its sides with laughter, "Yes! I know exactly what he's talking about!" Also notable are the small handful of essays where he sheds the slapstick facade for a few seconds for a rare look at the bitterness and anger he feels towards certain institutions of America. Definitely a must-buy for any Dave Barry fan.