Dave Barry once again proves he is one of America's funniest writers in his new book "Dave Barry is from Mars and Venus."
The title, a parody of the best selling book "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus," has virtually nothing to do with the book's contents, except to hint at the author's wacky sense of humor.
Barry states in the introduction that he would have preferred either "Another Damn Dave Barry Book" or "something like Develop Washboard Abs in One Hour with John Grisham and Madonna (As Seen on Oprah)."
The book contains 62 essays from his Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated column. The essays deal with subjects as varied as synchronized swimming to the worst commercials on television and radio. The titles of each essay are often humorous as well, including "Snuggle Bear Must Die!" and "Invasion of the Tree Sheep."
Barry often relies on interesting local news stories sent to him by his nationwide following to serve as material. Any story that is the least bit out of the ordinary, or often a very good deal out of the ordinary, becomes fodder for his rapier wit and talent with "booger jokes," as he says.
Stories he mentions include an argument which led to a man being stabbed by dry pasta, and when latex gloves in a hot warehouse spontaneously combusted.
When not relying on odd news stories, Barry draws on personal experience. He tells stories of an aborted lunch engagement with Hillary Rodham Clinton and of his ride in an Air Force F-16 fighter.
He outlines his conversation with his pilot in the essay on the jet. The pilot says, "That's called an aileron roll." Barry's response is a nauseated "BLEAAARRGGGHH."
When not talking about his adventures on a dogsled or discussing the work of a bacteriologist who focuses on germ life in public bathrooms, Barry comments on life in general. Often, he focuses on the habits of people in his hometown of Miami.
"The driving public here apparently believes that there is some kind of deadly voodoo curse on the right lane, so everybody drives in the left lane here, at speeds ranging from Indianapolis 500 to Car Wash," he writes.
While there is no particular order to the essays, often two or three will be related, like his ongoing series on commercials everyone hates. He uses Wisk's old "ring around the collar" commercials ("the single most detested aspect of American culture") as evidence in his theory that the Soviets were using them to force Americans to hate American culture during the years of the Cold War.
Barry's genius with hyperbole and his understanding of human nature once again make the book entertaining. Some of the essays can elicit almost painful belly laughs.
Barry has written numerous other books, mostly collections of essays and his famous "guides," such as "Dave Barry's Guide to Guys" and "Babies and Other Hazards of Sex."
The only thing lacking in the book is that you can tell its content is drawn from a weekly news column. He occasionally repeats the same jokes in different essays, like the several times he offers the services of Tobacco Institute scientists as test subjects for various painful or embarrassing experiments.
While Barry's work, including this newest book, is obviously not intended to have any deep social or intellectual meaning, his writings do serve a purpose. Not only are his essays and books brutally funny, but Barry serves as a satirist in the style of Mark Twain.
Through his parody of the silly things all Americans do, he aids us in critiquing ourselves. Look for it. Amidst the jokes about exploding toilets, the Simpson legal defense team and American guys' spitting habits, it's there.
