Review: Latest Dave Barry flush with humor

"Dave Barry Is Not Taking This Sitting Down"
By Dave Barry
Crown
Humor
224 pages

In this story: From cholesterol to lizards Weird names for potential bands RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Pam Perry
Special to CNN Interactive

(CNN) -- Dave Barry (motto: at least one guffaw per column) is a funny guy. I'm not making this up. But his friends, or at least a chorus of baby spiders, should have told him not to pose for the egregious cover photo of his new book, "Dave Barry Is Not Taking This Sitting Down."

(Honey, what were you thinking? No 50-plus guy looks good, or even amusing, scowling on a toilet in boxers and formal wear. President Clinton couldn't even pull that off, and he's way cool!)

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Excerpt: 'Dave Barry Is Not Taking This Sitting Down'

Having said that, let me stress that Barry takes toilet humor to new heights, lampooning 1992 legislation that mandates the installation of 1.6-gallon flush toilets in new homes. The old 3.5-gallon models, which actually flush on the first try, are still so popular that homeowners routinely smuggle them in from Canada.

In his never-ending quest to "help others and make the world a better place" (I'm not making this up; it's in the book) Barry, who eerily echoes Miss America finalists through the ages, discourses on a wide range of other topics. Fearless of showing stupidity -- if not unaware of what the word means -- Barry rambles amiably about book tours, cholesterol, wine tastings, public art, lizards, women's breasts, the Internet, family holidays and a whole lot more.

Despite the outrageous photo of the author on the cover, Dave Barry takes toilet humor to new heights in "Dave Barry Is Not Taking This Sitting Down"

As a professional book reviewer -- not nearly as good a job as Barry's gig -- I read this book from cover to cover in about an hour and a half. Trust me, this is a job for trained professionals. Don't try it at home.

The witty pieces in Barry's newest collection of columns are best pored over in short sittings, in the room the cover photo so grotesquely implies. That way, you can enjoy Barry's irreverent, ironic voice in small doses and laugh without noticing the clever formula he employs to set up his jokes.

Don't get me wrong: The jokes still work. But all grouped together, Barry's writings tend to lose their edge.

Still, it's hard to fault a man who can write about baby shower registry, radioactive ants, dieting, golf, Regis Philbin, sushi and numerous other subjects with such admirable ironic detachment.

It's also interesting, if somewhat pitiful, that he used to be in a rock band and still thinks up weird names for potential bands. But if he's really a rocker at heart, why did his moving tribute to Richard Berry, the author of "Louie Louie," leave out my heartfelt lament: "Now we'll never know what the words are!"

Could it be Dave Barry simply doesn't care? No, not possible.

He's caring enough to understand how a lack of trendy school supplies gave Abraham Lincoln the inferiority complex that led him to become president.

Dave Barry has the empathy to worry about a $1 million missile launcher that the U.S. military misplaced.

And I ask you, who else is caring enough to document how to get rich on the Internet so Dave can be your friend?

We're talking compassion and comedy which, taken together, can lead to really stupid sentences. If you like Dave Barry's columns, read the book. If you don't, well, DUH! (Motto of those who don't like Dave Barry: DUH! I'm not making this up.)

If, however, you want to boycott the volume because of the yukky old-man-on-a-toilet cover, you go girls and dudes! I'll join you in sending Dave a message.

I can afford to. My copy was free. Although what the message is, I'm not really sure. I'll have to wait for an alert reader to send me a clipping.

Dave Barry forgets
November 11, 1998
Review: 'Dave Barry turns 50'
November 10, 1998
Dave Barry goes on-line, gets interfaced
October 15, 1996

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