Synopses & Reviews
During the course of living (mumble, mumble) years, Dave Barry has learned much of wisdom,* (*actual wisdom not guaranteed) and he is eager to pass it onto the next generation, the generation after that, and to those idiots who make driving to the grocery store in Florida a death-defying experience.
In brilliant, brand-new, never-before-published pieces, Dave passes on home truths to his new grandson and to his daughter Sophie, who will be getting her learners permit in 2015 (So youre about to start driving! How exciting! Im going to kill myself”). He explores the hometown of his youth, where the grown-ups were supposed to be uptight fifties conformists, but seemed to have a lot of unMad Menlike fununlike Daves own Baby Boomer generation, which was supposed to be wild and crazy, but somehow turned into neurotic hover-parents. He dives into everything from the inanity of cable news and the benefits of Google Glass (You will look like a douchebag”) to the loneliness of high school nerds (You will never hear a high school girl say about a boy, in a dreamy voice, Hes so sarcastic!”), from the perils of home repair to firsthand accounts of the soccer craziness of Brazil and the just plain crazy craziness of Vladimir Putins Russia (He stares at the camera with the expression of a man who relaxes by strangling small furry animals”), and a lot more besides.
By the end, if you do not feel wiser, richer in knowledge, more attuned to the universe . . . we wouldnt be at all surprised. But youll have had a lot to laugh about!
Review
“The aptly titled Lunatics delivers exactly what one would expect from two award-winning humorists: an outrageously funny, irreverent, over-the-top comic mystery. How funny is Lunatics? It’s the sort of book that inspires snorts, may make you spit out your soda and burst into hysterical laughter in public.”—The Miami Herald
Review
“A screwball comedy of errors and a rare political satire. Barry and Zweibel bring us what we need: comic relief.”—The Boston Globe
Review
“Creative, unusual and over the top. The outlandish scenarios are certainly entertaining, and as bizarre as their adventures are, there’s a strange sense of believability to the story. That helps keep the story fresh and the pages turning.”—Associated Press
Review
“A novel who those who love one-liners, outrageous characters and loopy plots. An antidote, if one is needed, to gritty urban realism.” —Kirkus Reviews
Review
“Putting Barry and Zweibel in close proximity is sort of like juggling torches while walking a wire over a vat of kerosene; sooner or later, there’s gonna be a big, big bang. A rocket-fueled romp whose pages practically turn themselves.”—BookPage
Review
"Despite years of medication, Dave Barry is still the funniest damn writer in the whole country. Let's hope he never grows up."
-Carl Hiaasen
"Dave Barry's best book so far, which is saying a lot."
-P.J. O'Rourke
Review
Praise for Dave Barry: “Dave Barry remains one of the funniest writers alive.”—Carl Hiaasen
“While reading Dave Barry’s Big Trouble, I laughed so loud I fell out of a chair. Luckily, there’s a rug, so I didn’t hurt myself.” —Stephen King
Review
Praise for INSANE CITY
“Picture The Hangover with a splash of Miami Vice, and you get Dave Barry's Insane City. . . This is a quick, fun (and laugh-out-loud funny) read, and the action never slows.”—Fort Worth Star-Telegram
"[A] very funny new novel . . . [Barry's] sly observations, well-delineated characters, and intricate plotting mesh perfectly."—Publishers Weekly
Praise for Dave Barry
“Dave Barry remains one of the funniest writers alive.”—Carl Hiaasen
“While reading Dave Barrys Big Trouble, I laughed so loud I fell out of a chair. Luckily, theres a rug, so I didnt hurt myself.” —Stephen King
Review
Praise for Lunatics by Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel
“An outrageously funny, irreverent, over-the-top comic mystery.”—Sun Sentinel
“Creative, unusual and over the top.” —The Associated Press
“A novel for those who love one-liners, outrageous characters and loopy plots.”—Kirkus Reviews
Praise for Dave Barrys Ill Mature When Im Dead
“[Barry] is truly the funniest man living in the three mile ‘safe zone off the shores of America.”—Steve Martin
“Despite years of medication, Dave Barry is still the funniest damn writer in the whole country. Lets hope he never grows up.”—Carl Hiaasen
“Fans know what to expect from Dave Barry: joke-packed prose and one-liners… and I'll Mature When I'm Dead continues that tradition.”—The Associated Press
Review
Praise for YOU CAN DATE BOYS WHEN YOURE FORTY
“Happily, everything bad is good, when Barry applies [his] humor.”--Contra Costa Times
“[A] hilarious collection . . . Barry is particularly sidesplitting when describing his role as the 65-year-old dad of a 13-year-old daughter. His description of taking his teen to a Justin Bieber concert is brilliantly funny . . . Parents and non-parents alike will find plenty of laughs.”--Publishers Weekly
“Humorous take on life . . . Barry offers a baby-boomer perspective on a faster-paced life of electronic gadgetry and the Internet and ponders the aging process, including getting mail marketing Medicare and watching Viagra commercials in the company of your children.”--Booklist
“[A] wide-ranging collection of funny essays . . . even those who don't have children and have never lived in Miami or searched for a Wi-Fi connection in the Israeli desert will appreciate Barry's lighthearted absurdity.”--Kirkus Reviews
Praise for INSANE CITY
“Picture The Hangover with a splash of Miami Vice, and you get Dave Barry's Insane City. . . This is a quick, fun (and laugh-out-loud funny) read, and the action never slows.”—Fort Worth Star-Telegram
"[A] very funny new novel . . . [Barry's] sly observations, well-delineated characters, and intricate plotting mesh perfectly."—Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
One of them is a bestselling Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist. The other is a winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Together, they form the League of Comic Justice, battling evildoers in the name of . . . Okay, we made that line up. What they do form is a writing team of pure comic genius, and they will have you laughing like idiots.
Philip Horkman is a happy man-the owner of a pet store called The Wine Shop, and on Sundays a referee for kids' soccer. Jeffrey Peckerman is the sole sane person in a world filled with goddamned jerks and morons, and he's having a really bad day. The two of them are about to collide in a swiftly escalating series of events that will send them running for their lives, pursued by the police, soldiers, terrorists, subversives, bears, and a man dressed as Chuck E. Cheese.
Where that all takes them you can't begin to guess, but the literary journey there is a masterpiece of inspiration and mayhem. But what else would you expect from the League of Comic Justice?
Synopsis
A brilliantly funny exploration of the treacherous state of adulthood by the Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist. Some people may wonder what this subject has to do with Dave Barry, since Dave's struggled hard against growing up his entire life-but the result is one of the funniest, warmest, most pitch-perfect books ever on that mystifying territory we call "adulthood".
In hilarious, brand-new pieces, Dave tackles everything from fatherhood, new fatherhood ("Over the next five years, you will spend roughly 45 minutes, total, listening to songs you like, and roughly 127,000 hours to songs exploring topics such as how the horn on the bus goes* [*It goes: 'Beep! Beep! Beep!']"), self-image, the battle of the sexes, celebrityhood, technology, parenting styles, certain unmentionable medical procedures ("There is absolutely no reason to be afraid of a vasectomy, except that: THEY CUT A HOLE IN YOUR SCROTUM."), and much more. It is a book of pure delight from the man one newspaper claimed "could become the most important American humorist since Mark Twain" (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)...though, frankly, we think they were indulging in some adult beverages at the time. Watch a Video
Synopsis
The New York Times bestse;;er from "the funniest man in America" (New York Times). Not everyone has to be dragged kicking and screaming through adulthood. Let Pulitzer Prizewinning humorist and nationally unrecognized voice of maturity Dave Barry make the journey a little easier-and a lot funnier-with his hilarious takes on parenting, changing self-image, the battle of the sexes, technology, health care, celebrityhood-and even vampires!
Synopsis
The Extravaganza of the Seas is a five-thousand-ton cash cow, a top-heavy tub whose sole function is to carry gamblers three miles from the Florida coast, take their money, then bring them back so they can find more money. In the middle of a tropical storm one night, these characters are among the passengers it carries: Fay Benton, a single mom and cocktail waitress desperate for something to go right for once; Johnny and the Contusions, a ship's band with so little talent they are . . . well, the ship's band; Arnold and Phil, two refugees from the Beaux Arts Senior Center; Lou Tarant, a wide, bald man who has killed nine people, though none recently; and an assortment of uglies whose job it is to facilitate the ship's true business, which is money-laundering or drug-smuggling or . . . something.
Synopsis
A dark comic masterpiece—the first solo adult novel in more than a decade from the Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times–bestselling author. Seth Weinstein knew Tina was way out of his league in pretty much any way you could imagine, which is why it continued to astonish him that he was on the plane now for their destination wedding in Florida. The Groom Posse had already sprung an airport prank on him, and he’d survived it, and if that was the worst of it, everything should be okay. Smooth sailing from now on.
Seth has absolutely no idea what he’s about to get into. In the next several hours, he and his friends will become embroiled with rioters, Russian gangsters, angry strippers, a pimp as big as the Death Star, a very desperate Haitian refugee on the run with her two children from some very bad men, and an eleven-foot albino Burmese python named Blossom. And there’re still two days to go before the wedding.
As it turns out, it’s not smooth sailing, it’s more like a trip on the Titanic. And the water below him is getting deeper every minute. By the end, amid gunfire, high-speed chases, and
mayhem of the most unimaginable sort, violent men will fall, heroes will rise, and many lives will change.
Seth’s, not least of all.
Synopsis
A brilliantly funny exploration of the treacherous state of adulthood by the Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist. Some people may wonder what this subject has to do with Dave Barry, since Dave's struggled hard against growing up his entire life-but the result is one of the funniest, warmest, most pitch-perfect books ever on that mystifying territory we call "adulthood".
In hilarious, brand-new pieces, Dave tackles everything from fatherhood, new fatherhood ("Over the next five years, you will spend roughly 45 minutes, total, listening to songs you like, and roughly 127,000 hours to songs exploring topics such as how the horn on the bus goes* [*It goes: 'Beep! Beep! Beep!']"), self-image, the battle of the sexes, celebrityhood, technology, parenting styles, certain unmentionable medical procedures ("There is absolutely no reason to be afraid of a vasectomy, except that: THEY CUT A HOLE IN YOUR SCROTUM."), and much more. It is a book of pure delight from the man one newspaper claimed "could become the most important American humorist since Mark Twain" (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)...though, frankly, we think they were indulging in some adult beverages at the time. Watch a Video
Synopsis
Seth Weinstein always knew Tina was way, way,
way out of his league. Which is why hes still astonished that hes on a plane heading for their wedding in Florida. The Groom Posse has already pulled an airport prank on himand hes survived! It should be easy going from now on.
But Seth has absolutely no idea what hes about to get into. A simple drink or two with the boys sparks a series of events that will pit Seth and his friends against everything and everyone imaginable, from his very powerful, very disapproving soon-to-be father-in-law to the federal government to a love-struck orangutan.
Seths hope for smooth sailing is turning into a trip on the Titanic. And the water is getting deeper by the minute
Synopsis
An uproariously funny examination of what one generation can teach to anotheror notfrom the Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Timesbestselling author of You Can Date Boys When Youre Forty and Insane City.
During the course of living (mumble, mumble) years, Dave Barry has gained much wisdom* (*actual wisdom not guaranteed) and he is eager to pass it onto the next generation, the generation after that, and to those idiots who make driving to the grocery store in Florida a death-defying experience.
In brilliant, brand-new, never-before-published pieces, Dave passes on home truths to his new grandson and to his daughter, Sophie (who will be getting her learners permit in 2015, the thought of which scares Dave silly). He explores the hometown of his youth, when all the men went to the city in suits and hats but still seemed to be having un-Mad Menlike fun, and how they turned into the neurotic hover-parents of today. He dives into everything from Google Glass (bottom line: You feel like an idiot”) to why men hate birthdays and anniversaries; from How to Speak Spanish to firsthand accounts of the soccer craziness of Brazil and the just-plain-crazy craziness of Putins Russia, and a lot more besides.
By the end, if you do not feel wiser, richer in knowledge, and more attuned to the universe
it wouldnt be surprising. But youll have had a lot to laugh about!
About the Author
Dave Barry is proud to have been elected Class Clown by the Pleasantville High School class of 1965. From 1983 to 2004, he wrote a weekly humor column for The Miami Herald, which in 1988 won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. He is the author of some thirty books, his most recent bestsellers including his Peter Pan prequels, written with Ridley Pearson; his Christmas story The Shepherd, The Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog; Dave Barry’s History of the Millennium (So Far); and I’ll Mature When I’m Dead. Barry lives in Coral Gables, Florida, with his family and a domestic staff of forty-seven.
Alan Zweibel is an original Saturday Night Live writer who The New York Times said has “earned his place in the pantheon of American pop culture.” He is the winner of lots and lots of Emmy Awards for his work in television, which also includes It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, Monk, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and PBS’s Great Performances. He won the Thurber Prize for his novel The Other Shulman, and collaborated with Billy Crystal on the Tony Award–winning play 700 Sundays. Zweibel and his wife, Robin, live in Short Hills, New Jersey, because they enjoy paying exorbitantly high property taxes.