Dave Barry Turns 50 - Softcover

Barry, Dave

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345431693 ISBN 13: 9780345431691

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 1999

Synopsis

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist comes a celebration of the aging process. Not just Dave's, but that of the whole Baby Boom Generation--those millions of us who set a standard for whining self-absorption that will never be equaled, and who gave birth to such stunning accomplishments as Saturday Night Live!, the New Age movement, and call waiting. Here Dave pinpoints the glaring signs that you've passed the half-century mark:

- You are suddenly unable to read anything written in letters smaller than Marlon Brando.
- You have accepted the fact that you can't possibly be hip. You don't even know if "hip" is the right word for hip anymore, and you don't care.
- You remember nuclear-attack drills at school wherein you practiced protecting yourself by crouching under your desk, which was apparently made out of some kind of atomic-bomb-proof wood.
- You can't name the secretary of defense, but you can still sing the Mister Clean song.

So pop open a can of Geritol®, kick back in that recliner, grab those reading glasses, and let the good times roll--before they roll right over you!

About this title

Review:

When your average baby boomer wakes up and discovers he's old, it might not be the funniest moment of his life. But Dave Barry isn't your average boomer. And he doesn't read this--his hilarious account of turning 50--with the expected whining grief of someone whose world has become utterly pointless. No, where others might shriek in horror at the thought of getting "wrinkled, and forgetful and achy, and that you gain weight merely by watching food commercials," Mr. Barry takes a much more mature and less-panicked approach--he cracks jokes. For anyone accustomed to Barry's writing, with its trademark drollery and knowing wit, his off-handed narration and casual, Everyman's voice will bring an added pleasure to his hysterical observations on the golden years--especially if their eyes have started to go, along with their teeth and hair and other remnants of fleeting youth. (Running time: three hours, two cassettes) --George Laney

From the Publisher:

It had to happen. Old Mister Barry (Dave Barry is from Mars and Venus, 1997; Dave Barry in Cyberspace, 1996; etc.), like many another humorist, has advanced in years and lived to tell about it.

Baby Boomer comics are reaching the half-century mark in droves. It generally turns them solipsistic as well as silly, as they hearken to the toots, creaks, squeaks, and other sounds of creeping senescence. Barry reports on his physical condition, too, and why not? But he also has another idea. A good part of his current effort presents a cultural history of the formative Boomer times and his part in them, starting with 1947 and going through 1974, when, it appears, the author gets tired of the exercise. If it's not quite Mark Sullivan's memorable six-volume Our Times covering the century's early decades, the survey is, indeed, our times (or Barry's times, anyway). And pretty foolish they seem, too, as Barry's time capsule recalls popular music, consumer products, TV shows, advertising, and, of course, the ever looming threat of godless communism and the scary Sputnik. Nixon, Johnson, Kissinger are recalled with pleasant contempt. Fearlessly, the author names names; and almost always the name is the late Buffalo Bob, so things weren't all bad. There was, after all, "streaking," and Barry would like to see the fad of naked sprinting brought back, although in the case of Boomers, "there should definitely be a weight limitation." In addition to nostalgia, Dave presents obligatory lists (number 14 in "25 Things I Have Learned in 50 Years": "Nobody is normal"), review questions, and footnotes (all citing "Buffalo Bob"). And nowhere is the word "prostate" found--except on the cover.

Barry's even longer in the tooth than he was when he wrote Dave Barry Turns 40, but despite his protestations of dotage, he is still clever enough to be his old funny self. There will probably be more laughs before Dave Barry Turns 60.

--Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 1998

About this edition

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0345431693
• ISBN 13: 9780345431691
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224