Customer Reviews

Dave Barry's Greatest Hits

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In spite of the fact that it does not seem, to the best of my knowledge, to conform to the usual format of "Greatest Hits" collections, ie it does not seem to be a gathering of excerpts from other books, this does truly seem to justify its title; this is in fact one of the best collections of Dave Barry's humor columns, and I've read almost all of his books and as many of his columns as I've been able to find.

On a par with "Dave Barry Talks Back", "Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up", and "Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need".

I'm only 14. Maybe a weird 14 year-old, but still only 14. And even I can see that this guy is absolutely hilarious. Not for everyone, but for most people. He takes all the things in life that are stupid but that we sort of ignore and exposes them. He exaggerates everything about them completely, but at the same time isnt far from the truth. He covers everything from commercials to wine experts. If youve ever read a Dave Barry column and liked it you should get this for sure.

Closing comments:I would like to hear Daves old rock band.

Barry's observations are the funniest I have ever read. These selections were first published in the Miami Herald. I usually don't laugh out loud when I read, but this had me howling. All the articles are short and sweet. I was also impressed that he could write about the death of his father in a humorous, yet touching way. Truly a gifted humorist.

As an Irish person, living in a small town in rainy Ireland, it is unusual to find a book by Dave Barry..(hooray for Amazon). I don't know anyone who has any idea who he is, and why should they.. he is or was(?) a journalist for the Miami Herald, and is a well known funny man in the States, and no singular Irishman or woman has any reason to know of him.. and isn't it a shame. I love funny books. I have some great ones...but Dave is one of the funniest guys I've never met. This book is full of anecdotal ravings and mad perceptions but, you know he is really so funny, you don't care if he talks of giant carnivorous fleas somewhere in the mid-west, or helping his son with a science project waiting for the ants to bite. (ME thinks him an entomologist at heart).. but he has such a funny way of putting things, that no matter what the subject matter, you will read it and enjoy it. Let's face it, in this violent, crime filled world, isn't it still nice that you can have a smile put on your face!

A typical Barry column in this collection is like some Mel Brooks movies I've seen- he throws so much humor (or at least intended humor) at you that even if only 10% of it is funny, you are still laughing at least once or twice per essay. The ideal way to spend time when you are trapped at, say, a haircut appointment or a Greyhound bus (which is where I was when I read this fun little book!)

Dave Barry fans will love this compendium. For newcomers, it is a very good intro. I can take Barry only in small doses (one essay at a time), but those doses are so enjoyable that I find myself craving the next... and the next... and the next. Uh oh. Am I a junkie?

As always with Dave's columns, these stories are incredibly funny, so much so that I almost had to be kicked out of my Biology class because I was laughing so much reading this book after a test. As it says on the cover, "Mr. Barry is the funniest man in America and we should encourage him. Buy this book". Do it!

Dave Barry isn't always funny, and I find he's better in small doses than in ... er... large buckets, but when he's good, he's good. Dave Barry's Greatest Hits is something to take to the beach and have a look at after one or two rum cocktails. It's light, jokey entertainment; the intellectual equivalent of watching, say, David Letterman. If you like Barry's Miami Herald column and are looking to read more, where better to begin than with the Greatest Hits?

Troy Parfitt, author

I enjoyed this book partly because it is about 80 separate columns in one book. It's easy to skim the titles and choose one that sounds right for your mood. I read it before going to sleep over the course of a couple of months, one or two chapters most evenings. I didn't really read them in any set order and occasionally had to guess if I'd already read the chapter before looking at the first paragraph or two. Some of the stories are "laugh out loud" funny while others are just okay.

It's certainly reasonably priced even if some of the material is a bit dated.

I would recommend this book to any Dave Barry fan.

My cassette tape version was read by John Ritter who was one of the few people who could actually read Dave Barry correctly - he put the emphasis in the right places and pauses to make the jokes work perfectly.

On to the material -

It was a bit up and down, but mostly up (even the downs weren't down very far). His time-share condo essay is a gem that should be printed off and handed out to people before they go into a time-share condo presentation. His "Diplodocus" essay was funny and touching all at the same time. One of his best ever. The "Can New York Save Itself?" essay was a prime example of Dave taking a joke and running it into the ground. It was mildly amusing but it kept going and going and going and going and ... you get the point.

So, this one gets a B+.