Dave Barry's Greatest Hits
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Dave Barry's Greatest Hits

3.92 of 5 stars 3.92  ·  rating details  ·  1,371 ratings  ·  77 reviews
WHEN DAVE BARRY IS ON THE LOOSE, NO ONE IS SAFE!

What Dave Barry did for the men's movement in his Complete Guide to Guys and for foreign relations when he did Japan he now does for . . . everything in America. The rapacious observer of Tupperware ladies and leisure concept salesmen sounds off on:

Football--Football is more than just a game. It is a potential opportunity to ...more
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages
Published July 28th 2010 by Ballantine Books (first published 1988)
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Community Reviews

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Stevecrandell
I don’t read when I’m in the bathroom. But if I did, Dave Barry would provide most of the material. His work pretty much screams bathroom. As if the essay title, “Some Thoughts on the Toilet,” didn’t make that clear enough for his billions of readers.

Not that I like bathroom humor. I don’t. I’ve probably only read “Some Thoughts…” two or three times. I’ve read a few of the other essays in here a couple dozen times. There’s just so much to learn, such as Dave’s tips for truffle harve...more
Weston Locher
Weston Locher rated it 5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: fans of laughing
Shelves: humor, essays
This is one of those timeless humor books that holds up just as well today as it did when it was initially released 15 years ago! Dave Barry's mastery of the written word is at peak performance with this collection of columns. When they stuck the words "GREATEST HITS" on the cover, they were absolutely not lying.

Sure, some of the events and people discussed within these pages may be dated, but if you were alive for those times (or took a history class in school) then you'll...more
Shawn Sorensen
Shawn Sorensen rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: humor
It’s not that John Ritter doesn’t give it a good go on this unabridged audio version of Dave Barry’s Greatest Hits (audio book didn't have correct cover...). While he tries too hard with timing, Ritter still reads at an appropriately accelerated pace and doesn’t commit the cardinal sin of audio book performers - muttering so low that you can’t hear a punch line no matter how much you tax your car's subwoofer.

These chuckle-inducing essays about making beer, poor eyesight or having t...more
Dylan
Dylan rated it 4 of 5 stars
Often humour books are the last refuge for no-longer-popular comedians and one only has to look at the list of comedic authors to see the number of has-beens and sophomoric satirists. Case in point: a couple weeks back while browsing the humour section at a local bookstore I spotted a grinning, overtly-flabby Jay Mohr plastered on the front of a hardcover. For every “Me Talk Pretty One Day”, one of David Sedaris’s collections of wit-fuelled, self-deprecating essays, there are ten “Dirty Jokes an...more
Susan
Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars
This book is hilarious and even though it came out 21 years ago it is still so funny as history repeats itself. Didn't some of those comments about Reagan apply just as well to Bush? I thought the story about New York was the best and still current (cab drivers who don't speak English,the subway,"spare change"). I also remember some of those politicians involved in scandals, eg Gary Hart and it continues today. If you've ever traveled in Europe and esp Wales you can relate to 'Europe...more
Danarae
My "desert island" book. If I could only pick one book to take, this would be it. Classic Dave Barry, released in 1988 I think. Absolutely hilarious columns about his son Robby, TV specials about sharks, and how *not* to get press coverage (hint: by issuing a press release, which journalists will immediately throw into the trash.) My copy is so old it has puppy teeth marks from our dog Ginger, who we first got in '90, I think. LOVE this book.
Stacy
Stacy rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: humorous
There are two main problems with reading this book in the bathroom.

1) It will take you a really, really long time to finish it, unless you are prone to frequent gastrointestinal difficulties.

2) You must make sure that no one is within hearing distance who might feel uncomfortable upon hearing chuckles, guffaws, even hee-haw laughter emitted from the bathroom. This could be embarrassing for both you and them and should be avoided.

Dave Barry- what a guy. Funny i...more
Sarai
Sarai rated it 5 of 5 stars
Shelves: humor
This is a collection of artciles by humor columnist Dave Barry, writer for the Miami Herald. Some may be a bit dated for current readers, as they refer to events that were happening at the time, but the writing is laugh-out-loud funny. I like to re-read selected articles from time to time to give myself a lift. :)
William Cooper
William Cooper rated it 5 of 5 stars
Shelves: comedy
A really funny collection of essays, Barry is one of the contemporary greats when it comes to humor writing. This is a collection of quick, funny pieces - some of his best. One of my favorites is right in the middle though, the one about his father. I think he placed it there unpurpose.

Brett
Brett rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: humor, essays
I read my first Dave Barry column back when I was probaby 13 or 14. I still remember that it contained some bit about how snakes were learning to move from toilet to toilet, which I thought was absolutely hilarious. As a middle and high schooler, I read quite a few of his books and generally enjoyed most of them a lot. Now that I'm somewhat older, I don't think Barry is quite the genius I used to, but I still find him surprising enough that I don't mind picking up one of his books once in a whil...more
Lucy
The usual Dave Barry silliness (though apparently they only have Earnest, the large main backup dog, and not yet Zippy, the small emergency backup dog) with a review of 1987 containing a fair amount of real facts. Twenty-something years on, it's interesting to look back and think that I was really too young to appreciate the sheer ludicrosity of the '80s when they happened.
Alexandra Spangler
Alexandra Spangler rated it 4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: Mature Readers
Recommended to Alexandra by: Dad
Dave is so funny! Though he does use some foul language and inapropriate stories/references, this book is too funny! Dave Barry has many other books I love and I would like to recommend them to people who love to laugh.
Chris
Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars
Anyone who likes Dave Barry will like this book. I like Dave Barry, so I liked this book. It had no surprises, but it delivered what I expected it to, including several LOL moments.
Sonia Rumzi
Hilarious as usual. What else is there to say. Even the posts that I had read before, left me in stitches. If you think you are alone in things, you are not. He is sure to let you know.
Lia
Lia rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: humor
I agree with the title. This is probably the best collection of his writings. It has a bit of everything, including an unexpected essay about when his father died.
Shraddha Gupta
I've never laughed this much while reading a book, except for the time when I read his guide to guys. He, like the cliche goes, defines laugh out loud. LOL.
Jessie
Jessie rated it 4 of 5 stars
I cannot get enough of Dave Barry. This collection of short stories best belongs in the bathroom for the brief reading pleasure of all your guests.
Halla
Halla rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: 3rd-term-read
304 pgs, comedy.

This book is a whole bunch of humorous articles Dave Barry wrote for a newspaper, all assembled into a book.

A little dated, and some of the humour is hard to comprehend, but some of the lines, I have to admit are funny. I find this book slightly flaky; in some parts I'm laughing out loud, and in some parts, I just want to flip ahead and not read it. It's not very consistent that way.

For the funny articles, I would give them a 9. For the non-funny o...more
Bunxena
A very funny collection of columns on a wide variety of topics. I always like the ones where he talks about The Rock Bottom Remainders.
Jennifer Xu
Jennifer Xu rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: nonfiction
I can't read Dave Barry in the library any more because I make the most ridiculous sounds when I'm trying to stifle my laughter.
Craig
Craig rated it 4 of 5 stars
I love humor columns, and Barry's is one of the best. This greatest hits collection is dated, but hilarious.
Lisa
Lisa rated it 2 of 5 stars
I used to love reading Dave Barry's column in the newspaper, but the book form was perhaps too heavy a dose. Some of the essays (especially about his family) were quite funny, but a good bulk of the others just felt repetitive. This would probably be a good book to pick up every now & again for a little chuckle... rather than reading it like a novel, as I did. Also, future readers should be warned that this was written in the late 80's. So be prepared for lots of Reagan jokes, and references to ...more
Eva
Eva rated it 2 of 5 stars
Shelves: gave-aways
outdated and some chapters of little interest for non-Americans
benebean
maybe i wasn't in the right mood or had too high expectations
Kathy
Kathy rated it 4 of 5 stars
Dave Barry can make me laugh out loud in the middle of very quiet places and he can also make me cry. He writes about embarrassing things in a way that makes me say, "Yes! That's exactly how it feels!" His story about his dog ("Yay!!") is a crack-up. And when he writes about visiting his dying father, well, I can hardly see the book for tears.
Kara
Kara rated it 3 of 5 stars
I devoured Dave Barry books when I was a preteen...I checked them all out of the Des Plaines Public Library and would go to the Mount Prospect Public Library for more. I love Barry's everyman style and funny turn of phrase. Some find his humor cheap, and it certainly is repetitive, but he pretty much introduced me to humor writing, and obviously many other readers love him; he was quite prolific at one point. I feel nostalgic about his books and I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have developed the...more
Madhuri
Madhuri rated it 5 of 5 stars
Shelves: dave-barry
I love it. The best comedy ever.
Alyson
Alyson added it
Funny. Always funny.
Jill
Jill rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: humor
Loved the bit on taxes. Very funny!
Terry
Terry rated it 3 of 5 stars
Dave Barry has a great, humorous view of the world. His columns were always good for a laugh. This compilation will keep you snickering!
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Dave Barry 1 11 Feb 18, 2009 10:01am  
Dave Barry's Greatest Hits (Paperback)
Dave Barrys Greatest Hits (Hardcover)
Dave Barry's Greatest Hits (ebook)
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Dave Barry's Greatest Hits (Compact Disc)

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Dave Barry is a humor columnist. For 25 years he was a syndicated columnist whose work appeared in more than 500 newspapers in the United States and abroad. In 1988 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Many people are still trying to figure out how this happened.
Dave has also written a total of 30 books, although virtually none of them contain useful information. Two of his books were u...more
More about Dave Barry...
Peter and the Starcatchers (Peter and the Starcatchers, #1) Peter and the Shadow Thieves (Peter and the Starcatchers, #2) Peter and the Secret of Rundoon (Peter and the Starcatchers, #3) Big Trouble Peter and the Sword of Mercy (Peter and the Starcatchers, #4)

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