Dave Barry Turns 50

OK - are you a Dave Barry fan, or is this going to be your first Dave Barry book? If you like Dave, this is another of his never-ending series of incredibly funny books. You'll get a copy, of course, and it will be one of the funniest books you've ever read, of course, since no one else (except James Lileks) is even remotely as funny as Dave Barry is. Like someone else said here, even if this one isn't his funniest, it's funnier than almost any other 'funny book' you'll read.I'm not kidding when I tell you that I stopped carrying Dave Barry books to read on flights. It's not possible to laugh under your breath three times a minute, and I've noticed that people tend to stare if you laugh out loud three times a minute, for an hour or more.If you're not a Dave Barry fan already - this one won't be the best place to start if you want to decide whether to join the Dave Barry club or not. Read "Dave Barry's greatest hits", or the travel one (can't remember the name).After having read all of Dave's books, I must conclude that there is something fundamentally wrong with people who don't find him funny ... just kidding! But honestly, Dave's is a brand of humor that appeals to a surprisingly large variety of people; and this one (DB turns 50) is typical Dave.

Classic Barry iconoclastic humor. A real hoot for any baby-boomer. Chock full of nostalgic remembrances mixed in with a little 60's philosophy. I chuckled through nearly every page. Would also make a great birthday gift.

My husband bought this book because I was always berating him about reading Barrons and the Wall Street Journal on our vacations. He read this book by the pool, before bed, at the beach, everywhere. He never wanted to put it down... He laughed out loud on almost every page. He would read paragraphs to me and start laughing so hard he would be crying...I think the reason he really likes this book is because Dave Barry is one year older than he is. He, also, is accused of looking younger than he really is... No one believes he is over 50 until he starts talking about Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody--just like Dave does... He managed to get in the National Guard to get out of Vietnam and was very impressed with Dave's CO status. Jim had to get an ulcer to get out all together.I am so glad there is another guy out there that my husband can relate to. He is hanging out with too many young people now (like me.) He had to explain who Captain Video was to me. His first memory was begging his mother for a Captain Video helmet. Once he got it, he turned on the TV show and ran around in cirlces with the helmet on his head...(???)I am so happy Dave made my husband's trip so enjoyable. I promise I will read it myself to gain insight into his psyche. (Even though he has read over 3/4 of it aloud to me already.)Because of this book, I now know what to get him for Father's Day: the Collected Works of Dave Barry. I hope it comes in a boxed set suitable for giftwrapping. PS We used to get Dave in our newspaper (and my husband used to cut out the articles and send them to his friends....) but now that we live in Connecticut, we don't get his column in our Stamford Advocate (or the New York Times.) If his publicist is reading this, please see if we can get his column in the New York Times... Thank you...Dee Bragg [email protected]

I gave the LARGE PRINT edition to my Aunt as a 50th birthday gift, thinking that it would help rub in the fact that she was now old, but instead, she loved the book, and could not put it down. I recommend this for anyone who needs to give a 50th birthday present, just make sure that it is the LARGE PRINT edition if it is for a gift.

I thought that Dave Barry Turns Fifty was an amazing collection of humor, knowledge and history. I hope that certain readers don't get offended by the fact that I call the 50's and 60's and The Early Seventies "history", but c'mon, I'm only 17. I really learned quite a bit of factual information about various years throughout the 1950's to the 1970's. I can't believe the Pop Tart is over 20 years old... I figured it had come out in the last ten years!I really appreciated the last couple of chapters, as they spoke to me with great conviction about some very important philosophies that I had been challenging over the last month at a program I had attended. I was very impressed that he could make me laugh until I was running out of breath, and experiencing a significant amount of pain in my sides, as well as challenging me to think on an intellectual level, and inspire me to think more seriously about certain views I held.