Dave Barry's Gift Guide To End All Gift Guides [Hardcover]

Dave Barry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 4, 1994

The popular humorist presents a selection of more than fifty one-of-a-kind gifts for the discriminating individual, furnishing vendor names, prices, and addresses for such treasures as elephant-print Republican pants and a capsule of rodent bones regurgitated by an owl. 150,000 first printing.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Crown; 1st edition (October 4, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517799529
• ISBN-13: 978-0517799529
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,514,762 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

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect Gift, August 5, 2000

By 

Chad Spivak (North Miami Beach, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dave Barry's Gift Guide To End All Gift Guides (Hardcover)

Ever want an "Auto Security Spider," the cheap alternative to "The Club?" How about a game of "Roadkill Bingo" for the kids? Perhaps a "High-Tech Loudspeaker Hat" for your loved one who has it all? These are just a few of the items listed and described in detail in this wacky book.

Dave Barry is one of the funniest writes of all time, but he is usually at his best when it comes to him poking fun at the truth. This book, slightly dated written in 1994, is a virtual catalogue of items that you can actually purchase. Trust me. These gifts are better given than received.

It's a really fast read, and Dave Barry is truly at his best. It 's just non-stop laughter, and there are some decent gift ideas in the book. If fact, Dave Barry's Gift Guide to End All Gift Guides would make a pretty nice gift itself.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Barry can do much better..., June 5, 2006

By 

Chad Oberholtzer (Boalsburg, PA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dave Barry's Gift Guide To End All Gift Guides (Hardcover)

Like several of the other reviewers, I try to read anything that I can find written by Dave Barry. Unlike most of the other reviewers, however, I would not list this book among his best. There were certainly a few moments when I had that standard "laugh out loud" response to Barry's wit. However, this book really read to me like an excuse to publish and sell a book without too much work. Most of his other books that I have read and thoroughly enjoyed included a lot more text and fewer pictures. The genius of Barry's writing is his ability to use everybody language in hysterical ways, and this "Gift Guide" doesn't allow him a platform for his usual linguistic shenanigans.

In short, it's a quick and easy read with a lot of pictures. It does offer a few good laughs. But given the body of his work, I would recommend his other books well ahead of this one.

3.0 out of 5 stars Amusing, but too short for him to stretch out his brand of wit, October 25, 2011

By 

Some Guy (Redwood City, California United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dave Barry's Gift Guide To End All Gift Guides (Hardcover)

I'm a big Dave Barry fan, but somehow I missed this one. So here's a quick October, 2011 review.

How about this for a perfect opportunity? Dave Barry unleashes his wit on goofy stuff you can actually buy. Great concept, but...

Each item gets about one page of text, if that, and although his sense of humor is very much there, he doesn't really give himself the room to run with it. Also, a shortage of actual items makes for a very small book. I bought it from an Amazon reseller for less than $2, and with shipping it was still a small $6 book.

Although, like Barry himself, I'm too lazy to do research, I'm certain there are a LOT more products out there on which he could have unleashed his infectios brand of humor. As it stands, this book is fun but just way too short.