This was the first book I read on my new Kindle!
From Amazon:
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.
Going to the Bahamas, I had a $20 giftcard to use to buy a new book with my Kindle, which I’d take with me instead of the actual books. And I chose to buy this book, for one reason and one reason only: when I first picked up in Barnes & Noble (pre-buying it for the Kindle) I saw there was a made up 24 script that he wrote.
When 24 was on the air, Dave Barry would live blog it. Hilariously. So I decided I would add it to my Amazon wishlist, and when I got the Kindle, and was going to be spending a week at the beach, I decided this would be a great beach book.
It was. I blew through it (way faster than my other title). And it was really funny. But it wasn’t my favorite Dave Barry book ever, even with the hilarious 24 plot. My favorite Dave Barry books remain Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States and Dave Barry’s Book of Bad Songs.
The essay I enjoyed most was his essay about being 50 and having to endure a colonoscopy - which is, he says, one of the few times he’s tried to make a serious point with one of his essays. I got the point. It was a good point. I’m glad I’m still 28 years away from my first “required” colonoscopy.
There was an essay on healthcare, which was amusing, but because of the current situation with it I found it kind of sad. And then, of course, my favorite essays were the 24 script and the Twilight parody chapter he did. It was pretty funny - I also got the impression that he read actually read Twilight in order to write said parody, which I appreciated.
I think I missed the more touching moments of parenthood essays. I’m not much into parenthood. I haven’t experienced it, I don’t really want to experience it, etc…
There was an essay on being a minor celebrity which was pretty priceless, where he described that they made up their own VIP platform after not making it to the second level of VIP-ness. Cracked me up.
Overall, I enjoyed this book enough to recommend it. I was laughing in public enough to get asked what I was reading on a number of occasions. Great, fast beach book.
