Customer Reviews

Dave Barry Talks Back

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I could not stop laughing through this whole book. Nearly every single sentence made me burst into tears laughing out loud. Just don't read it in public, otherwise everybody will overhear your incessant chuckling and think you're a complete psycho. The way Dave describes everything is so ludicrous and cynical that it all rings true - the deficit, buying a car, even exploding animals - all will make you laugh so hard you'll tend to miss out on a lot of the jokes. I'm sure I didn't catch them all. There's quite a few of those parts where you have to stop reading just to catch some oxygen. Even then it probably won't work because you'll be thinking of another insanely funny piece of commentary from the page before. I read his Travel Guide a long time ago and remembered it being funny, but not this funny. Maybe I like him more than a few others will because he reminds me exactly like my English teacher, but I find it hard to believe anybody reading through this who won't laugh at least 10 times. If you don't, then you're obviously, as Dave puts it, "humour impaired". The most consistently funny piece of art, book or otherwise, that I've ever enjoyed.

My cousin bought me the audio version of this 7 years ago. I wasn't sure why, but I had heard that Dave Barry was funny. I listened to it on the way back to Sonoma County from San Diego. It was a fantastic 3 hours that took me from Mojave to just north of Fresno.

Mr. Barry has an unusual sense of humor, mixing a sarcastic wit with observation and whacky schemes to get rich and/or better the world. He takes us on a voyage from the usefulness of the word "weasel" to Disneyworld, to buying a boat, to the Nintendo world, and later topping it off with his own airline with Sean Penn as the official spokesperson.

I have to say this, though, I have had others listen to this masterpiece, and while a few liked it as well, others didn't get it and therefore did not like it. You either like Dave Barry or you hate him. As for me, I went about buying many other audiobooks of Dave Barry, as well as actual books. No 4- or 3-star review would pull that much money from me!

This book is great for teaching students in high school that essays do not have to be boring and without personality.

"Question: Dear Mr. Language Person--What is George Bush's native tongue? Answer: He doesn't have one."

From "Ask Mr. Language Person" to the "Exploding Animal Institute" to Dave's classic announcement of his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States--his platform consists of a dramatic reorganization of the bureaucracy so that domestic affairs will all be handled by the Department of Louise, and foreign affairs by the Department of a Couple of Guys Named Victor ("Y'know, Victors, I wouldn't mind hearing that Fidel Castro had had an unfortunate accident...")--this collection of Dave Barry's weekly humor columns from the early 1990s still has the power to induce chortles, guffaws, and even the occasional cackle.

The audiobook version is well-delivered by Johnny Heller. Just don't listen to it in public unless you don't mind people seeing you grinning idiotically or hearing you laughing like a ninny.

In one word: FUNNY! I've got all Dave Barry's books and love them all.
They make me laugh out loud. They all get five stars from me.

This is a collecton of his regular columns. They are funny, but not side-splitting. If you want to see what Dave can *really* do, try "Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide you will Ever Need".

Dave Barry really fulfills the position of funniest man in America with this book; he makes every line something to laugh about. When I read this book I had to keep myself from laughing out loud, and scaring those. The book gets funnier and funnier as it goes along, but its not all just booger jokes, its a lot of jokes that make you think and have a meaning behind them. Don't get me wrong there still are plenty of booger jokes that everyone has come to know and love from Mr. Barry. The book covers many interesting topics like; Exploding animals and other assorted things, dogs, and buying cars. I gave Dave 5 stars for his epic novel Dave Barry Talks back, so go buy, rent it, what ever you have to do to get it, just do it.

I almost gave this book five stars. It was laugh out loud funny -- I first read it about 15 (?) years ago it in the car with my parents and they kept asking my what I was laughing about. I've since read it again, and it is just as hilarious. That's my true litmus test for a humor book. My only complaint was there were too many exploding animals for me. Those jokes got old very quickly. The rest of the book was hilarious and insightful. The neat thing about Dave Barry is that he makes me laugh, but he also always has something to say, so I find myself thinking as well.

Hilarious! Some references are a little dated now, but still tons of laugh-out-loud moments - I loved it! If you're a Dave Barry fan, don't miss this one.