Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States [Paperback]

Dave Barry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 1990

"Bary turns his formidable wit to the subject of American history, with a result reminiscent of the Reduced Shakespeare Company: The better you know the original, the funnier it gets."
LOS ANGELES TIMES
This time Dave Barry's subject is history, the way it's never been told before. Every single momentous event and crucial moment is covered, including...The Birthing Contractions of a Nation; Kicking Some British Butt; The Fifties: Peace, Prosperity, Brain Death, right up through the scintillating Reagan-Bush years. If you love to laugh, and you love your country, this is the book you've been waiting for since 1776. Or at least since Super Bowl III.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Dave runs American history through the wringer, and comes up with some wonderfully warped formulations. (The Vikings, for example, "were extremely rugged individuals whose idea of a fun time was to sail over and set fire to England, which in those days was fairly easy to ignite because it had a very high level of thatch, this being the kind of roof favored by the local tribespeople...") Covering pre-Columbian days through the dawn of the Bush administration, Dave Barry Slept Here is the funniest thing to hit this great nation since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930.

From Publishers Weekly

Miami Herald syndicated columnist Barry here assembles a funny U.S. history replete with malapropisms (Ferdinard and Imelda of Spain financed Columbus), parodies ("This land is your land, / This land is my land, / Looks like one of us / Has a forged deed to the land."), literal-mindedness (President Monroe Doctrine) and, above all, anachronisms (the Wrights' first flight was canceled because of equipment problems at O'Hare). Several clever gags run through the book--one about the significant contributions of women and minorities (although none is ever detailed), another ascribing the date of every major event to October 8 (for ease in remembering) and a third featuring the Hawley-Smoot tariff, which had an immediate impact on the Great Depression. There are few heroes in Barry's pantheon, and only an occasional villain--principally Richard Nixon--while other widely admired figures, like Mark Twain and Winston Churchill, are given their lumps. Author tour.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (April 24, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449904628
• ISBN-13: 978-0449904626
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.5 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #691,107 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

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars laughed so hard I almost choked, November 6, 2005

By 

E. M. Bristol "bibliophile" (boston, mass) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States (Mass Market Paperback)

Pulitzer Prize winning humor columnist Dave Barry set out to write a American history book that would be accessible to lay people. How did he accomplish this? For one thing, there are no dates to memorize, unlike the ones that menaced us in school. Or rather there is a single date (Oct. 8) for all important events, so chosen because it's his son's birthday.

Another way, this book is different is that it has left out the dull parts of history. Therefore, the reader is spared having to wade through tedious facts and figures that seem interchangeable and impossible to remember or care about. No, this book is bona fide funny. True to his promise, Barry adroitly gives us our history minus the really boring parts. He begins by explaining how America was "very different...no roads, no cities, no shopping malls, no Honda dealerships." He then progresses to Columbus's voyage with the three ships: the Ninja, the Pina Colada, and the Heidy Ho III. He is succinct when his narrative threatens to veer into dullness. For example, he sums up the "Decline of Spain," by saying "On Oct. 8, 1565, Spain declined." Presidential foibles, oddball interpretations of laws and amendments, amusing chapter headings (Deep International Doo Doo, The Seventies: A Relieved Nation Learns That It Does Not Actually Need a President, a running joke at the expense of Richard Nixon, plus creative use of quote marks make this a hilarious read.

And as a bonus, he does not forget to mention the many important contributions made by women and minorities. Well, sort of.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I laughed my butt off!, March 25, 2006

By 

Calamity Jane (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States (Mass Market Paperback)

I bought this book years ago before a plane trip to Boston. I was glad I was on a prop plane that was very noisy, because I was laughing out loud and no one could hear me. This book is an absolute riot, even if you don't know American history well (although it's definitely funnier if you do). I used to have a large collection of Dave Barry's books and stopped collecting after his "Dave Barry Does Japan" flop, but this is easily the funniest of all of his books (and one of the books I kept). HIGHLY recommend.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funniest book I've read, February 15, 2000

By 

Galen R Carnicelli - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States (Mass Market Paperback)

For sheer gut busting laughs, this is the funniest book I've read. You do need some knowledge of American history to appreciate a lot of the satire, but it's a riot on any level. "Science Made Stupid" (not by Dave Barry) comes in a close second.