Guilty Pleasures
This week, Dave Barry's HISTORY OF THE MILLENEUM (so far) arrived in stores. I bought my copy the first day of its release.
Dave Barry has been one of my favorite authors for years, beginning in middle school when I read my tattered copy of DAVE BARRY'S ONLY TRAVEL GUIDE YOU'LL EVER NEED (sample chapter: Working Toilets of Europe) until the cover fell off. I tore through his first novel, BIG TROUBLE, during college, having never laughed so hard at a work of fiction. As I got older, I didn't read Dave quite as often. His new books went unpurchased, his newspaper columns unread. It was a conscious decision, as I assumed my sense of humor had matured with age, and I would feel somewhat dirty laughing at jokes primarily about mucus. Then last year I read DAVE BARRY'S MONEY SECRETS, mainly just to see if I still enjoyed his brand of humor. I cracked the spine feeling a little silly, and began reading.
To no great surprise, I laughed the entire 200+ pages. (if you think there's something just a little ridiculous about Donald Trump and/or Suze Orman--and really, who doesn't?--make sure to check it out)
I hesitate to say Dave Barry is a "guilty" pleasure--I mean the guy has won a Pulitzer Prize and sold millions of books, so I'm certainly not in a weird humor vacuum. But come on! I have a job! A mortgage! I'm not supposed to laugh at booger jokes!
But screw it. Boogers are funny, and I'm thrilled to say I enjoy Dave just as much now as I did when reading DAVE BARRY TURNS 50 (and not getting half the jokes). So needless to say I'm bringing Dave's new book this week on my flight to Bouchercon. I just hope whoever sits next to me understands when I laugh so hard I snort a booger onto their lap.
This week, Dave Barry's HISTORY OF THE MILLENEUM (so far) arrived in stores. I bought my copy the first day of its release.
Dave Barry has been one of my favorite authors for years, beginning in middle school when I read my tattered copy of DAVE BARRY'S ONLY TRAVEL GUIDE YOU'LL EVER NEED (sample chapter: Working Toilets of Europe) until the cover fell off. I tore through his first novel, BIG TROUBLE, during college, having never laughed so hard at a work of fiction. As I got older, I didn't read Dave quite as often. His new books went unpurchased, his newspaper columns unread. It was a conscious decision, as I assumed my sense of humor had matured with age, and I would feel somewhat dirty laughing at jokes primarily about mucus. Then last year I read DAVE BARRY'S MONEY SECRETS, mainly just to see if I still enjoyed his brand of humor. I cracked the spine feeling a little silly, and began reading.
To no great surprise, I laughed the entire 200+ pages. (if you think there's something just a little ridiculous about Donald Trump and/or Suze Orman--and really, who doesn't?--make sure to check it out)
I hesitate to say Dave Barry is a "guilty" pleasure--I mean the guy has won a Pulitzer Prize and sold millions of books, so I'm certainly not in a weird humor vacuum. But come on! I have a job! A mortgage! I'm not supposed to laugh at booger jokes!
But screw it. Boogers are funny, and I'm thrilled to say I enjoy Dave just as much now as I did when reading DAVE BARRY TURNS 50 (and not getting half the jokes). So needless to say I'm bringing Dave's new book this week on my flight to Bouchercon. I just hope whoever sits next to me understands when I laugh so hard I snort a booger onto their lap.
posted by Jason Pinter at
9:23 AM
1 Comments:
Dave Barry only uses boogers as a platform for some very excellent social commentary. Anybody who doubts his chops as a writer needs to read his column from two days after September 11.
http://blogs.herald.com/dave_barrys_blog/2006/09/today.html
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