Excuse me, but I'm a much purer soul than my pal, Dave, and I walk the streets of Florida, which is pretty goddam dangerous. Also: While the Rock Bottom Remainders might play "Not Fade Away," Dave Barry will NEVER fade away.
Being able to make people laugh, even for a small moment, is nothing to scoff at! Funnily enough, I just came to a similar conclusion—"If political enemies could sit down together and laugh at the same jokes, as Reagan and Pelosi once did, it would be a sign of civic health."—in a recent essay on The Pickwick Papers and Dickens' comedy. The excerpt from “A Million Words" is very moving—thanks for sharing!
Just a couple of months ago, I read my very first Dave Barry book. I took my husband’s copy “Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States” off the shelf, knowing it would be a quick, light read, and I was bored. It was written 2 years before I was even born, and yet it still made me laugh a lot more than I ever thought it would.
We forget how many of the greatest prose stylists were not literary novelists. I think the greatest prose writer this century was Roger Ebert. I’ll have to check out Barry - great piece!
A few years ago, by chance, I got a copy of Dave Barry Talks Back. I was just a young kid growing up in rural northern Nigeria, so some of the book's pop culture references were lost on me. But I appreciated it for being funny in a light way. Dave's humor isn't loaded. Every well-written paragraph is simply there to make you laugh. And laugh I did. It remained my favorite book for years.
Nice piece. His short description of saying goodbye to his dad is so good. Those last two lines! Not so much a one-two punch as a little coin-behind-the-ear magic trick
Strong disagree. Dave Barry Does Japan is still as funny as when it was first published in 1987. I am way younger than Barry's target audience and I love his stuff.
You are wrong. He is immortal. A million cups of coffee spew when he writes the word "booger."
Great summary of Barry's appeal. I was also a big fan when I was younger :)
That Mission Impossible column was 🔥
Art Buchwald is the best!
Excuse me, but I'm a much purer soul than my pal, Dave, and I walk the streets of Florida, which is pretty goddam dangerous. Also: While the Rock Bottom Remainders might play "Not Fade Away," Dave Barry will NEVER fade away.
Being able to make people laugh, even for a small moment, is nothing to scoff at! Funnily enough, I just came to a similar conclusion—"If political enemies could sit down together and laugh at the same jokes, as Reagan and Pelosi once did, it would be a sign of civic health."—in a recent essay on The Pickwick Papers and Dickens' comedy. The excerpt from “A Million Words" is very moving—thanks for sharing!
Just a couple of months ago, I read my very first Dave Barry book. I took my husband’s copy “Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States” off the shelf, knowing it would be a quick, light read, and I was bored. It was written 2 years before I was even born, and yet it still made me laugh a lot more than I ever thought it would.
You should read his "Dave Barry Does Japan". One of his finest that haven't aged
We forget how many of the greatest prose stylists were not literary novelists. I think the greatest prose writer this century was Roger Ebert. I’ll have to check out Barry - great piece!
A few years ago, by chance, I got a copy of Dave Barry Talks Back. I was just a young kid growing up in rural northern Nigeria, so some of the book's pop culture references were lost on me. But I appreciated it for being funny in a light way. Dave's humor isn't loaded. Every well-written paragraph is simply there to make you laugh. And laugh I did. It remained my favorite book for years.
But dirty jokes have a right to exist and be heard, and I have a right to aspire to be one.
Nice piece. His short description of saying goodbye to his dad is so good. Those last two lines! Not so much a one-two punch as a little coin-behind-the-ear magic trick
Strong disagree. Dave Barry Does Japan is still as funny as when it was first published in 1987. I am way younger than Barry's target audience and I love his stuff.
Great piece! He holds up! I’ve been revisiting lately.
Love Dave Barry. Have loved him for years. And I agree about your comments of how skilled he is. An all-time great. Wish I was him!
My father and I agree on nothing, except that Dave Barry is a funny bastard.