Dave Barry Talks Back (Paperback)

by Dave Barry (Author) "I am always getting letters from people who want my job..." (more)
Key Phrases: national insect, main dog, classic hits, New York, Air Dave, Bill Doberman (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Yet another collection of Barry wit and wisdom by the Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist and the author of Dave Barry Turns 40. Reprint. NYT. 100,000 first printing. $75,000 ad/promo.

About the Author
Dave Barry has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. His columns for the Miami Herald were syndicated worldwide, and he is the author of a number of bestselling books, including the recently published Peter and the Starcatchers with Ridley Pearson. He lives in Miami, where he drives very nervously. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1ST edition (May 12, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517588684
• ISBN-13: 978-0517588680
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #300,690 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The "funniest man in America" claim is true!!, September 4, 2000

By	mr_bunghole (Toronto) - See all my reviews

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.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very funny weasel book, May 13, 2004

By	SteelersFan (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

"Weasel is a funny word. You can improve the humor value of almost any situation by injecting a weasel into it."

This book by Dave Weasel... er... Barry is an extremely funny read. It's a collection of his newspaper columns that will have you laughing over and over again, and annoying your family members with your constant quotations.

He covers almost every topic here, from exploding animals to traffic cops to reader suggestions to doctors to drug dealers to television. It's all here.

This may not be his best book, but it's really funny and a must-have for any Dave Barry weasel. Er... fan.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As my introduction to the author, it is the best!, January 24, 2002

By	B. T. Moore "TV maniac" (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!