Product Description
Fitness and vitality can be yours, writes Dave Barry-- provided you have the discipline, drive, and the plain old-fashioned guts required to procure the necessary steroids. This manual may help, too, but you'll just have to buy it and find out.

Barry on executive fitness
Today's top executives eat teeny meals and run 10 miles and play tennis and work out every day. Of course, they're so busy getting fit that many don't even know where their offices are. That's why the entire U.S. economy is now manufactured overseas.

Barry on fitness after death
A quick chill, to approximately 325 degrees below zero, yields a muscle tone that we normally associate only with world-class body builders and certain minerals!

Barry on nutrition
Every morning you should take a vitamin A pill, followed by a vitamin D, followed by an E, until you've spelled the healthful mnemonic phrase: "A DEAD CAD BAKED A BAD CAKE, ACE." And eat all the fiber-rich foods you can shove down your throat; these would be mainly your cotton candy and your Slim Jims.

Barry on junk foods
White bread and refined sugar, if eaten, cause death within hours. So it's important to watch what you eat, at least until you get it inside your mouth. After that it becomes pretty disgusting.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Dave Barry has another hit
My wife and I have read this book every five years or so for a while. Now we've bought a copy for a friend. If you like Dave Barry's humor, you'll like this book.

One of his best
Arte Johnson really brings the book to life!Not that it wasn't already funny enough, but Johnson's memorable character voices make it positively hilarious.If you are a Dave Barry fan, but haven't heard some of his older work, you definitely will want to get this one.I loved it.

Early Barry. . .
Though not as good as his later works, definitely worth buying, though 'Dave Barry's Guide To Life' is also availiable... and contains this and three other works of similiar quality and length by the same author, while being slightly cheaper than this edition alone.
Recommended.

Get ready for guttural laughter
Classic Dave Barry! A short read that you will read twice (at least). Get ready for Dave Barry's usual hilarious views, this time on working out and staying fit. If you have a fitness area in your home of office, this book belongs there. Enjoy!

One of his best
"In the short space I have here, it's very difficult for me to explain all of your body's complexities and subtelties in any detail, or even get any facts right. For more information, I suggest you attendHarvard Medical School..." Along with Claw Your Way to the Top, thisis my favorite Dave Barry book. Even the index is funny ("F" and"G", for example, contain the following fitness-relatedreferences: Ford, Gerald; Frequent Casual Motel Sex Diet, The; Godzilla;Gone with the Wind). Where else can you find a fitness test involving ascorpion and an elevator? ... Read more

Product Description
"Mr. Barry is the funniest man in America and we should encourage him."
--The New York Times Book Review
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME--EXCEPT IN A SELLER'S MARKET
At long last, Dave Barry, the dean of everything, lets you in on the deepest, darkest mysteries of life and answers your hysterical home purchase questions like they've never been answered before:
What's the best way to determine a realistic price range?
Take your total family income, including coins that have fallen behind the bureau, and any projected future revenue you have been notified about via personalized letters from Mr. Ed McMahon stating that you may already have won 14 million dollars. Then, multiply by something other than six.
Can you recommend a good mortgage?
There are several kinds: Fixed Rate, Variable Rate, and the bank's secret weapons, the Party Hat Mortgage and the Mortgage of the Living Dead.
How can I avoid spending money on do-it-yourself homeowner's projects?
Find a contractor. Their silent motto is "We Never Show Up." The Romans lived among the ruins. You must too.
Is there a secret to having a beautiful lawn?
Yes and no. If you fail to feed, fertilize, and water your lawn, it will die. However, if you feed, fertilize, and water your lawn, it will die.


From the Paperback edition.Amazon.com Review
So much classic humor comes from anxiety--think of all thebefuddled "little men," from JamesThurber to Bud Abbott to WoodyAllen.One of the most breakdown-inspiring activities in modernlife is buying a house, and Dave Barry is a battle-scarred vet of thewhole real estate experience. This book is his therapy.

There's nobody better than Barry to mine this territory, and everypage of Dave Barry's Homes and Other Black Holes yields upnuggets of the good stuff. Here are a few words from somebody who hasbeen there, done that: "Most experts recommend that, for maximumeffectiveness, you should look at forty-five or even fifty houses perday. Experienced home shoppers often reach the point where they canleap out of the real estate broker's car, look at a house, and getback into the car before it reaches a complete stop."

The book also discusses the myriad details of settling into your newlife, including a section on making new enemies, dealing withcontractors, and redecorating. "The main tip you will pick up is thatif you want your house to look really nice, you do not necessarilyhave to have professional training or even a 'flair' for design; allyou need is to have more money than the human mind can comprehend."

As always, Barry is assisted throughout by the illustrations of Jeff (Shoe)MacNelly, making Dave Barry's Homes and Other Black Holes a veryfunny book and excellent housewarming gift. --Michael Gerber ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

uproariously funny
This is one of the funniest Dave Barry books that I've ever read, and I've read most of them.The experiences of looking for, purchasing, outfitting, and maintaining a home are described in accurate and hilarious detail.If you want a book to lift your spirits, this one will do very well.

An Important Read Before You Make Life's Big Decisions
A year or so ago I read one of Barry's fiction novels called Big Trouble which was pretty entertaining so when I came across this non fiction book as well as Dave Barry's Bad Habits I decided to check them out.Of the two non fiction books Homes and Other Black Holes is certainly the more entertaining of the two with Barry giving more tongue in cheek advice based on exaggerations of the real world.In Bad Habits he was prone to telling more of his life stories than dishing out advice which to be honest they weren't that interesting, so this much thinner book with most of the life stories filtered out is much more pleasurable a read and is also a lot less dated too.

In Homes and Other Black Holes Barry comments on and gives advice on all of life's big decisions such as purchasing and selling homes, having kids, having pets, security alarms, gardening and buying furniture.Definitely an interesting and entertaining read. Check out his fiction as well.

The funny side of home ownership
Its probably a good thing I wasn't drinking anything as I read this book, because I would have frequently sprayed the pages with my beverage if I had! Dave Barry takes aim at the trials and tribulations of home ownership, and hits the mark as accurately as he does any of his targets. This is funny stuff, best appreciated by those of us who have actually been there and done that. I had to read a number of passages to my wife, but her favorite was the bit about finding a pediatric group after moving. There is one piece of advice in here that I might actually follow when we finally are ready to move again: "Set fire to your household goods...and just walk away."

How to make yourself miserable in your spare time
If you have ever moved, chances are that you never want to do it again. And Dave Barry is quite willing to remind you why moving is such a hideous experience, and why if you ever get the urge to do it again, you should lock yourself in a broom closet until your fit of insanity passes.

Among other things, Dave explains why your furniture takes so long to arrive (it involves primitive harvesters in the jungle) and why you will hate it when it arrives; what is and is not a good neighborhood ("I [heart] my Pit Bull" is bad); the horrifying thing called a mortgage; home repair and why you should not do it yourself; making enemies with your neighbors and their big savage dogs; garage sales; moving stuff out of your old house ("Tropical fish should be individually wadded up in newspaper") and into your new house ("... which will give your possessions an opportunity to scurry, giggling, back out to the truck so that you may carry them inside again").

Basically, if the idea of moving doesn't scare you before you read the book, it definitely will afterwards. Dave explains in horribly, humorously accurate descriptions, just what will happen when you try to move from one house to another. His viewpoint is only warped by the bizarre mindset of one who has tried to move and is still scarred by the experience.

So if you ever look around your house and think that you need more space, or a chance of scenery, have the doctor prescribe you something. But only after you've read this book.

Great before owning a house, a riot after...
Look, how can you not love Dave Barry. The man is one of the touchstones of the '80s and '90s, standing among such comedic giants as PJ O'Rourke and holding his own.

This book cracked me up when I first read it as a non-homeowner, and cracked me up even more after I'd bought a house. While Dave has slown down slightly with success, this and his other early books (Babies and other Hazards of Sex, and Dave Barry's Guide to Marriage and/or Sex) are still uproarious.

Look, you need something to read on the john. This should be in the can at the Library of Congress. ... Read more

Product Description

When an earthquake strikes Neverland Island, things quickly go very wrong. The Lost Boys' underground hideaway is flooded, forcing them to leave. Meanwhile a mysterious barrel washes ashore and falls into the hands of the pirates. When their leader, Captain Hook, finds out what's in the barrel, he hatches an evil plan.

But worst of all is the change in the mermaids. These once-peaceful friends of the natives have turned violent, using their needle-sharp teeth to attack anybody who goes into the water. When they injure some members of the native Mollusk tribe, the Mollusk leader, Fighting Prawn, feels he has no choice but to fight back.

As the warriors prepare to attack, the Lost Boys and the chief's daughters, Shining Pearl and Little Scallop, set off on a secret mission to try to make peace with the mermaids. Instead they're captured by the mermaids, and while in captivity they discover the cause of the problem - the Blood Tide, which is poisoning the lagoon and will eventually kill the mermaids. With time running out, they must try to stop the tide and save the mermaids, as well as themselves. But to do so, they must deal with Captain Hook, whose plan threatens to destroy the Mollusk village and change life on Neverland Island forever.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

When Mermaids Turn Violent
Blood Tide is aimed at a younger market than the Starcatcher Peter Pan prequel books but that doesn't mean it's not as good. This is the third junior fiction spinoff novel series from the lengthier books that allows a the minor characters from those other adventures to have a bit of limelight and ultimately save the day.Teacher and the other mermaids, Fighting Prawn and the mollusk tribe, the Lost Boys and Black Moustache (now known as Hook) take over the pages with Peter and Molly away from the island during these three novels time period.

The two other books are Escape from the Carnivale and Cave of the Dark Wind but they are all standalone reads, you don't need to have read the other two to enjoy Blood Tide to its full extent.

In Blood Tide, an earthquake wakes the island and the four lost boys asleep in a hole underneath a tree stump.They decide to go for a swim but notice the Mermaids are ignoring them and that the water has turned a strange red colour.Peer pressure results in them going in anyway but it is not long before a Mermaid bites the ankle of a swimmer who is lucky to escape with his life.When Fighting Prawn goes to discuss the matter with the head mermaid named Teacher, he is also attacked.It seems inevitable that the Mollusk tribe will go to war with the mermaids.Meanwhile the pirates have found amongst other debris on the beach a barrel that can change the power struggle dynamics on the island into their favour forever.

Blood Tide's plot's outcome is very predictable, but well written and the fun is in what happens getting there rather than being surprised in what eventually happens.

Fans of the Never Land series will not want to miss out on the Lost Boys' most important adventure yet.
It's the beginning of another nice, sunny day when Neverland Island is struck by an earthquake. Overall, the damage is fairly minimal, but the Lost Boys' underground hideaway is flooded. Fortunately, the boys are given shelter by the Mollusk tribe, and they get to see their friends Little Scallop and Shining Pearl.

The next day, after helping to clear up the debris, the children decide to go for a swim in the lagoon. It is then that James notices something wrong: the blue water is now a reddish color. Although concerned, but not wanting to appear silly to his comrades, James goes into the water with the other swimmers. However, his concern does not go unfounded when Thomas is attacked by a mermaid --- an ally of the Lost Boys and the Mollusk tribe. They tell the Mollusk chief about the surprising incident, and he promises to find out the reason behind the attack.

Meanwhile, the children notice that the pirates appear delighted over the discovery of a round, wooden keg. Convinced they are up to no good (as usual), the friends become determined to find out what trouble Captain Hook and his crew is planning next. Then there's another attack and a kidnapping, creating further tension within the Mollusk-Mermaid alliance. As the alarming reason behind the mermaids' bizarre behavior is discovered, there is talk of war. Will the Lost Boys and the princesses be able to save the alliance and stop Captain Hook's latest dastardly plan before it's too late?

BLOOD TIDE is Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's latest book featuring Peter Pan's friends and foes in Neverland. Amidst the daring action and scary moments, readers will discover how the importance of teamwork and environmental awareness affects the characters' decisions. Fans of the Never Land series will not want to miss out on the Lost Boys' most important adventure yet.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Sawtelle

disappointing
My problem is that I thought I was ordering the book in CD format, but got a MP3 format instead. Bummer. No way to return for another format. This place makes it very difficult to get results when you have a problem.

Peter and the Starcatchers #3
This is a Christmas gift so I haven't read it yet.However, the book is brand new and in excellent shape.My son loves this series so I expect he will be happy with this gift.

great book!
i bought this book for my boys - age 8.they love all the peter books and they loved this one as well.great adventure and fun!
... Read more

Product Description
From the jungles of Vietnam, where he shot a photo of "the loneliness and desolation of war" that won a Pulitzer Prize, to the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, David Hume Kennerly witnessed and photographed most of the history-making moments of the last third of the twentieth century. As the millennium turned and he set out to cover his eighth presidential campaign, however, the veteran photojournalist sensed something missing. In his words, "I had the uneasy feeling that I couldn't focus only on the story at hand while bypassing the texture of life that surrounds it. . . . This time I wouldn't speed across that covered bridge to get to the big event on the other side, but instead I would slow down a bit, maybe even pause to take a picture of the bridge." Photo du Jour is Kennerly's visual diary of "the texture of life" at the start of the twenty-first century. As he traveled more than a quarter of a million miles across thirty-eight states and seven countries, Kennerly took a picture every single day in the year 2000, using just one camera and one lens. Some offer candid, behind-the-scenes glimpses of the men who would be president--John McCain, Al Gore, and George W. Bush. Most of the photographs, though, seek to capture not the big, historic moments but rather the ordinary, even whimsical moments when the essence of a person or a place reveals itself to the observer who takes the time and has the heart to really see. Travel with him from Beijing to Boston, Moose to Miami, and Whynot to Weimea in Photo du Jour, and you'll quickly discover that David Kennerly is just such an observer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Deserves more reviews
This book deserves more reviews. I purchased it when first came out eight years ago and from time to time I revisit for the sheer honesty of capturing slices of mostly urban life in the midst of presidential campaign. When a contemporary photographer can complete such a project like this and dare to produce a book ofall monochrome photos, I think that says a lot for his dedication, style, skills, and commitment to the craft. So many of the images we see in Kennerly's book are ones that depict what many of us see and walk pass everyday of our lives. But Kennerly took the time to stop and capture precious moments that we too often ignore.

I also want to add this book of course is a treat for serious photographers. Each image is well composed and processed. There's lots to learn from how Kennerly frames a photo and what he choose to leave in and out when makes a shot.

I realize that the book was published years ago, but I think it's timeless and deserves a lot more attention.

Photo edit of the day
Maybe my expectations are over the top, maybe I know more than the average joe/jane when it comes to photography, or maybe I just got the whole idea of this book wrong.Whatever the reason, David Hume Kennerly's Photo du Jour is nothing more than a document of his time and access throughout 2000.For some reason, I got the idea in my head that here was a photojournalist going to lug around an extra Leica and only shoot one image a day with it.How would he choose and at 11:59PM would there be regrets over the shot passed up for the possibility of another later in the day that never presented its self?I really wanted this guy to only have ten rolls of 135-36 for the project- I wanted this to be the photo equivalent to Zen in the Art of Archery.I obviously got it wrong.Another thing that gets me about this book is how it is promoted ie. Rosenthal saying "one camera and one lens".Again, all of the conceptual limitations on this project that never materialized!If you are shooting a 21mm on an M body, setting the hyper focal distance around 5ft. and using f8 you are basically good from 2ft to infinity.Fine, understandable and I love wide angles on 35mm format but then you go a crop the image!!!!!This is my biggest jab at the book, if you are going to say one camera, one lens be photographer enough to print the FULL FRAME!I guess if you spend you life getting paid to "get the shot", you learn to shoot it close and wide and then crop what you want later.Some images in this book look like 6x7, some 135-36, and some 6x9 or even a Panavision 16:9 so again, where is the skill/discipline?The fishing equivalent would be using dynamite.The book is what it is and unfortunately is billed as something else.Howard Fineman states in the introduction that this book shows Kennerly in an "uncharacteristic mode" and says this puts him "effortlessly" in league with the likes of Evans, Smith, and Robert Frank...........Please don't insult my intelligence or these photographers.The sophomoric juxtaposition on pages 142-143 is a Photo 1 shark jump that sounded like "badap bumb".Maybe all the text and praise from a Winogrand, Cartier-Bresson, or a Davidson book got mixed up with the images in this one.More hype than hypo. With all that said, the book is beautifully bound a put together.The reproductions are clear, well printed and maintain an elegance and crispness that is not out there in many books today.If you are interested in a slice of time kind of document and are just plain addicted to looking at images, then you should be happy with this book.If you are at all knowledgeable of the work of Winogrand, Cartier-Bresson, Davidson, Friedlander (there is a lame rip off on Like a One-Eyed Cat in du Jour page 156) or even Eggleston in a color version, you may be disappointed in the cost/benefit analysis as I was.I can't remember his exact words but Duane Michals said it best- (paraphrasing)- many photographers shoot hundreds of shots hoping, amidst all of the confusion, to come up with an interesting image...but the difference between the artist and the photographer, is a sense of control.I will keep this book, shelve it with a ton of Magnum issues, and I am sure pull it down once a year or so and flip though it because that's what I do. This could have been brilliant both conceptually and perceptually but end the end, just another guy with a camera and access.

Exquisite
This book is a must have. At the Texas Book Festival (2002) this book caught my eye. Never heard of the photographer before but the book was exquisite: filled with stunning black and white pictures. Pictures of everyday things. Of people laughing, of streets and events - capturing the magic moments without a pose.It was a simple concept: One camera. One lens. One year. The results are photos that also capture the routine, sometimes humorous and often extraordinary moments of everyday life. ... Read more

Product Description
This collection of Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist Dave Barry's essays will amuse, entertain and bring a smile to the heart. 6 cassettes. ... Read more

Product Description
The first three books in the Peter and the Starcatchers series tell the story of a young orphan named Peter and how he became the forever-young boy from J. M. Barrie's classic novel. Pirates, sea battles, starstuff, flying camels, treacherous villains, and intrepid heroes make for an incredible adventure that is impossible to put down. Readers will be rooted to their chairs from the first page of Peter and the Starcatchers to the last page of Peter and the Secret of Rundoon. And once they finish, fans will be chomping at the bit for the fourth novel, Peter and the Sword of Mercy, which hits shelves just a month later. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

HAPPY 9 YEAR OLD
I bought this set as a gift for my niece who is really into Tinkerbell.Thought she might enjoy reading the history behind Tink and Peter and the gang.With every book she reads she calls me in the middle and at the end thanking me for giving her this set of books!!She tells me in great detail what has been going on in the stories.How Tinkerbell got her name, how Peter keeps loosing his shadow, why they are called the lost boys, who Wendy is, all with such excitement in her voice.She is now in the middle of the third book, and can't wait, sort of, to start the forth.I asked her why she was hesitant and she said, because there wasn't a fifth book yet!!I laughed and told her to be patient that there would be she just had to wait and watch for it.She totally LOVES this series of books!!!She can't put them down and can't wait to pick up the next book.

Peter and the Starcatchers
A good read - both for children and those young at heart.Heartily recommend. ... Read more

Product Description
The popular humorist presents a selection of more than fifty one-of-a-kind gifts for the discriminating individual, furnishing vendor names, prices, and addresses for such treasures as elephant-print Republican pants and a capsule of rodent bones regurgitated by an owl. 150,000 first printing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Bizzarre and amusing, as usual with Dave Barry
OK, this is just a silly piece of fluff, but it's a FUN silly piece of fluff, and that's all it ever aspired to be. It's a collection of items that are actually available for purchase, with all relevant information necessary to purchase them, that NO ONE in their right mind would ever buy, along with Dave Barry's comments. (As an example, perhaps the most "normal" item in the book is a rubber chicken; one of the less-normal items was a motrized prank rat, a realistic rubber rat with it's nose caught in a trap that wriggles and writhes when a loud noise is registered.)

A quick read for the Dave Barry fan
I can't see reading this book over and over, but the "Mr. Dip Lip" is funny every time I imagine some poor, hungover fool waking up to, "Hello Bob, WELCOME TO HELL!"

Barry can do much better...
Like several of the other reviewers, I try to read anything that I can find written by Dave Barry.Unlike most of the other reviewers, however, I would not list this book among his best.There were certainly a few moments when I had that standard "laugh out loud" response to Barry's wit.However, this book really read to me like an excuse to publish and sell a book without too much work.Most of his other books that I have read and thoroughly enjoyed included a lot more text and fewer pictures.The genius of Barry's writing is his ability to use everybody language in hysterical ways, and this "Gift Guide" doesn't allow him a platform for his usual linguistic shenanigans.

In short, it's a quick and easy read with a lot of pictures.It does offer a few good laughs.But given the body of his work, I would recommend his other books well ahead of this one.

a VERY breif review
A very good book of cool gifts.

The Perfect Gift
Ever want an "Auto Security Spider," the cheap alternative to "The Club?"How about a game of "Roadkill Bingo" forthe kids?Perhaps a "High-Tech Loudspeaker Hat" for your lovedone who has it all?These are just a few of the items listed and describedin detail in this wacky book.

Dave Barry is one of the funniest writes ofall time, but he is usually at his best when it comes to him poking fun atthe truth.This book, slightly dated written in 1994, is a virtualcatalogue of items that you can actually purchase.Trust me.These giftsare better given than received.

It's a really fast read, and Dave Barryis truly at his best.It 's just non-stop laughter, and there are somedecent gift ideas in the book.If fact, Dave Barry's Gift Guide to End AllGift Guides would make a pretty nice gift itself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Barry at his best; don't miss it!
I've read most if not all of Dave Barry's books, but for some
reason had missed DAVE BARRY'S WORST SONGS AND OTHER
HITS . . . now I know why; it apparently never came out as book.

What Dove Audio did was record his original "Bad Song Survey"
columns and then add a long piece about Elvis fans and the tale
of his "Tupperware Song" . . . the compilation rocks.

Barry is sooooo funny, as evidenced by his description of the
voter's choice for Worst Song--in both the Worst Overall and Worst Lyrics
category:

"MacArthur Park," as sung by Richard Harris, and later remade, for
no comprehensible reason, by Donna Summer.

It's hard to argue with this selection. My 12-year-old son, Rob, was
going through a pile of ballots, and he asked me how "MacArthur Park"
goes, so I sang it, giving it my best shot, and Rob laughed so hard
that when I got to the part about leaving the cake out of the rain, and
took so long to bake it, and I'll never have the recipe again, Rob was
on the floor. He didn't believe those lyrics were real. He was sure
his wacky old humor-columnist dad was making them up.

So as to not disappoint readers of this review, here are the other
results . . . the clear runner-up in both categories was "Yummy
Yummy Yummy (I Got Love in my Tummy), performed by Ohio
Express, and coming in a strong third was "(You're) Having My Baby"
by Paul Anka. Honorable mention went to Bobby Goldsboro, who
got many votes for various songs, especially "Honey."

Arte Johnson and John Ritter both did a fine job on the narration
of WORST SONGS.

Fun listening to cope with traffic on the Northway...
If you are a Dave Barry fan, you'll enjoy this compilation of tales....The piece about Elvis fans and the saga of the Tupperware Song are the best!John Ritter is an excellent choice to read / "sing" thetales (very expressive storyteller and great "singer" for thistype of musical content).Thanks for making the commute more tolerable! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Writer's Road Trip
I listened to Stranger Than Fiction under the perfect conditions. On the way home from a book event full of authors like Pat Conroy, Janis Owens, Elizabeth Berg and dozens more. The only thing that would have made it better is if they could have all been in the jeep with me singing along with Stephen King belting out Stand By Me. This is good time CD for readers and writers to enjoy what it's like for kids to play their hearts out. Only these kids are grown up, talented writers showing us their fun sides.

Get rid of the Republican Party.Cast them asunder.
This CD features writers singing classic rock and roll, country, R&B, blues and pop songs; along with a few original songs. The writers are people like Stephen King, Amy Tan, Norman Mailer, Dave Berry and Maya Angelou. Most of them are pretty bad singers, although a few of them can sing a little. At least they managed to get professional musicians to back them up, so it doesn't sound completely awful. Almost, but not completely. But it was done for charity, so I won't pick on them too much.Here is the track listing:

Chapter 1

1. Bo Diddley - Stephen King
2. Jungle Hop - Amy Tan and Kathi Kamen Goldmark
3. Alimony Blues - Norman Mailer
4. Proofreading Woman - Dave Berry
5. Right, Said Fred - Maya Angelou and Jessica Mitford
6. Roly Poly - Roy Blount Jr.
7. I Want To Eat - Oscar Hijuelos
8. Baby, It's Cold Outside - Cynthia Robins and Billy Philadelphia
9. Act Naturally - Leonard Maltin with Meg Mackay
10. Rave On - Bob Greene
11. Steamroller Blues - Susanne Pari
12. Double Shot of My Baby's Love - too many to list
13. It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels - Molly Ivins
14. Chain Gang - Robert Reich
15. On the Good Ship Lollipop - Tomie dePaola
16. Stang By Me - Stephen King

Chapter 2

1. Rainy Day Bookstores - Ben Fong-Torres
2. Hot Rod Lincoln - Blanche McCrary Boyd
3. Tupperware Blues - Dave Barry
4. Man Smart, Woman Smarter - Peggy Orenstein
5. If I Had a Talking Picture of You - Leonard Maltin
6. Johnny Get Angry - Walter M. Mayes
7. These Boots Are Made For Walkin' - Amy Tan
8. Happy Birthday, Mitzi Gaynor - Molly Ivins, Bob Livingston and Jerry Jeff Walker
9. Wall of Death - Louis B. Jones
10. You'll Come Back (You Always Do) - Norris Church Mailer
11. Wild Thing - Roy Blount Jr. and Dave Marsh
12. Busted - Mary Mackey
13. Proud Mary - Tananarive P. Due
14. I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man - Ken Follett
15. Hit the Road, Jack - Digby Diehl and Kay Diehl
16. You Can't Judge a Book By the Cover - Stephen King and Kathi Kamen Goldmark
... Read more

Product Description
Nine acclaimed novelists teamed up to answer the question: can golf save the world? When three down-on-their-luck golfers are invited by the richest man in the world to play in a golf tournament on a mysterious Scottish course, none can refuse. What they dont realize is that the fate of the world rests on the outcome.Amazon.com Review
There's a great tradition of golf fiction, stretching from P.G. Wodehouse'sEdwardian follies to JohnUpdike's narrative birdies andchip shots. The Putt at the End of the World is a worthyaddition to the canon, in spite of the fact (or because of the fact) thatit's a team effort. Nine authors, including such worthies as Dave Barry,Tami Hoag, Tim O'Brien, Lee K. Abbott, and Les Standiford, have contributedchapters to this farcical thriller. The premise, which is less wacky thanit initially seems, involves a software tycoon named Phillip Bates, who'sbuilt a deluxe golf course north of Edinburgh. To kick things off heconvenes a celebrity invitational, and draws not only a clutch ofworld-class hackers but several terrorists, counterterrorists, and whatappear to be counter-counterterrorists. Clearly there's more at stake here than a mere 18 holes.

Slapped together by one author after another, the crazy plot issurprisingly consistent. Yet the contributors have made no effort todisguise their individual styles, which range from Barry's potty-mouthedslapstick to Richard Bausch's tonier stuff to James Crumley's pulp fiction.Indeed, this shift in tone is one of the book's great pleasures. So is thesex and satire, if not necessarily in that order. Still, the ultimatereason to read The Putt at the End of the World is for itsstrange-but-true evocation of the game itself. Here's Tim O'Brien's take ona ball with a mind of its own:

For the first thirty feet, the old Titlist did not touch the earth,heading for orbit, engines roaring, but then suddenly the rain and wind andfog forced a scrubbed mission. Gravity reasserted itself. By pure chance--amiracle, some would call it--the ball dropped heavily onto the green, notfive feet from the cup.... It caught a sidehill slope. It wobbled off linefor a second, then straightened out and continued its erratic pilgrimagetoward destiny.

Customer Reviews (17)

Wha?
This group-written book has two things going for it:Colorful characters and a promising plot.But that's about it.Wading through several chapters to get to Dave Barry's part in this fiasco was a waste of time otherwise.While the characters are certainly vivid, NONE of them are likeable.At all.ZERO.To top it off there are more F-bombs here than a def jam hosted by Chris Rock, and not nearly as many laughs.The handoff from one writer to the next is sometimes fairly smooth, but the writing styles sometimes vary so wildly that one wonders if one is still reading the same book from one chapter to the next, and it's intended to tell one cohesive story, not be a collection of shorts.Pass on this.

A Fictitious Golf Classic Par Excellence.
Golf is not a team sport, but this book used ten different writers to come up with a murder mystery on a golf course full of celebrities.Each wrote a different segment, and sometimes the story line does not jell, but I'd say they had fun working on this silliness.

Golf used to be a man's game, and used to be called the "good walk" when the men used that means to exercise their bodies as much as their golf swings.Nowadays, they ride the golf carts and play at the game.They've actually started teaching golf in schools, and nine great values the game teaches for youth (sportsmanship, confidence, integrity, perseverance, respect, responsibility, judgment, courtesy, and honesty) ensures a future for the continuation of the game of golf.

Only one of the nine contributors was female who used such off-hand characters to pepper her chapter: Mr. Potato Head, Sensible Shoes, Book Bag Woman, 'Star Wars' star pilot, MacLout, and Cameron who directed the movei 'Titanic.'She laid out the sexual hijinks of the golfers at the castle in Scotland.Dave Barry had the middle to fill in so he used his usually raucous vocabulary as he led into an explouding golf ball made out of enough plastique to end the world as we know it.

Tim O'Brien, whose book IN THE LAKE OF THE WOODS I enjoyed, wrote "On an adjacent putting green, also under umbrellas, mingled such notables as Tony Blair and Al Gore, both decked out in tweeds and starched golf shirts.Nearby, Mu'ammar Qaddafi was giving a now-or-never, sink-it-before-you-die putting lesson to Jack Lemmon, while only a few feet away Chi Chi Rodriguez did his best to adjust the clumsy, rather primitive one-handed putting stroke of former senator Robert Dole."These are just a few of the names; Fidel Castro was present as was Dan Rather and other important people.

The ending was written by the editor whoever he is, preferred to stay anonymous.The ending was explosive, to match the varied styles of writing the international language of golf.Other writers taking part in this project are Lee K. Abbott, Richard Bausch, James Crumley, James W. Hall, Ridley Pearson, Les Standiford, and Tami Hoag.How many are golfers, I wonder?

Know What You're Getting Into
I haven't read this book in a long time, but I thought it was great.I don't know why other readers gave it such a low score.I can only think that they didn't know what type of book they were getting into.If you want to laugh out loud, get this book!

The putt at the End of the World
This was a terrible book.Multiple authors were not able to successfully make the book flow from chapter to chapter.Character development was disjointed to say the least.Way tooooo much celebrity name dropping...it almost read like People Mag.Buy "The Greatest Player Who Never Lived" instead.

Bagger Vance Meets Monty Python
It is said that a camel is a horse designed by a committee.Since a camel is very efficient doing what camels are intended to do, then the remark must mean that a camel is a very funny looking horse.Well, in The Putt at the End of the World, a committee of nine individually popular writers has turned out a very funny golf story.
The Putt at the End of the World is apparently the brainchild of last-listed author Les Standiford, shown as editor and compiler.It also seems to be a salute, at least in part, to recently deceased British writer Douglas Adams, author of the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy series which includes The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.It is certainly reminiscent of Adam's work, with zany characters interacting amidst nefarious schemes, all centered around a golf tournament.But not just any golf tournament.Computer zillionaire Philip Bates has bought a Scottish castle and cleared original growth timber to construct the ultimate golf course-as well as rehabbing the castle into an exotic hideaway retreat.This infuriates both environmental terrorists and the last of the MacLout clan, who claims that the MacGregor sellers usurped his family's claim to the property and he should have gotten the money. Then Bates (no relation to this reviewer) scheduled a conference and golf tournament inviting all of the world's political leaders and top golf players.
One of the invitees is Billy Sprague, club pro from Squat Possum Golf Club in rural Ohio.Billy is a magnificent golfer, unless there is money involved in which case he can't even get the ball of the tee.Billy's mentor is the old retired family doctor whose life is golf, who build the Squat Possum Club and who dies immediately after giving Billy his invitation and telling him that he has to go to Scotland and play in order to lift the curse and "...save the world as we know it..."Then FBI and British Secret Service refugees from the Keystone Kops get involved because of the terrorist threat, and the rest is-not history, but hilarious.
Each of the nine authors wrote one of the chapters.They did a good job matching styles, and/or Standiford did a great job of editing, because the novel is seamless.It is a farce, but at the same time has a "Bagger Vance" note of paean to the wonder of golf.It reads fast, and it reads great. ... Read more

Product Description
Barry offers hilarious tips on getting to the top and staying there. From Primitive human businesses to tax implications of going into business for yourself, comedian Dave Barry mocks all aspects of the corporate jungle in this classic volume.
Amazon.com Review
Chances are probably infinitesimal that you are currently the headof a major corporation. But you can dramatically increase theprobability that you will end up where you belong in the corporatehierarchy by following choice bits of wisdom such as the following:

"Remember: your subordinates are not machines. They are human beingswith the same dreams as you. OK, maybe not all the samedreams. Probably they don't have the one where you're naked in a vatof Yoo-Hoo with the Soviet gymnastics team."

If you're looking at one of the cassette editions of this title,note that you can absorb all this wisdom while listening to itin your car or Walkman in the course of onecommute to work (estimated time: approx. 3 hrs., unless you're alreadya CEO with a Lear Jet). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

A review of the audiobook
Arte Johnson does a great job as narrator with Dave Barry's offbeat sense of humor. Dave Barry can be read in so many ways, most of them wrong. Arte Johnson does a strong job with this text.

Dave Barry's humorous look at the world of business is strong throughout, but occassionally dated, especially when he talks about computers. Dave Barry could easily update this book and make it even more funny. That being said, this one is still worth a look.

Hysterically funny
This is one of the funniest books I've ever read.I'm surprised that some of the other readers below didn't find it as humorous as later Dave Barry works, because I end up on the floor whenever I reread this.the sections on meetings, on resumes, on office attire--all brilliantly funny.I guess it helps to have been a disenchanted office employee at least once in your life.But if you've tried climbing the corporate ladder and have decided that there's no worse fate, this book is for you!

Like all of Dave Barry's books
...amusing, occasionally laugh out loud funny, but ultimately as memorable as a Debbie's Snack Cake. I'm a diehard Barry fan, and highly recommend Big Trouble. This one, though - buy it used, read and sell.

Mostly smiles rather than laughs
This is not the funniest book written by Dave Barry, although it is funny in spots. He lampoons the current business world, the absurdities and incongruities that are a daily part of the life of so many people. As is the case with the best satire, there is a great deal of truth in the exaggerated nonsense that Barry writes. Meetings do dull the mind to the point where you flap your lips with your fingers, the terminology used in corporate America is often the lowest quality double-speak and resumes and press releases are often works of fiction.
"Dilbert" by Scott Adams is considered the bible of corporate misfeasance; it always seems to hit the business world right in the privates. This book is not as good as the Dilbert comic strip; I smiled rather than laughed my way through it.

Corporate Comic Relief
I'm in the middle of reading the Enron story, "The Smartest Guys in the Room", and decided to take a brief intermission. And what should I find on the shelf but "Claw Your Way to the Top" by Dave Barry. It's one of the few Barry books that I've missed, and very appropriate while I'm in "Let's Try to Dissect the Corporation" mode. Except that maybe I shouldn't have sat down to read it right there in the Public Library, since it was work trying to stifle my laughter and not disturb other patrons.

Because "Claw Your Way to the Top" was written in 1986, before the rise and fall of Enron, there are no references to Kenneth Lay and his cronies, though Lee Iacocca's name does come up a few times. Similar to Scott Adams ("Dilbert"), Dave Barry's insights into corporate BS are right on the $$$ money, as truthful as they are hilarious. Of course when all the hilarity destroys peoples' lives and livelihoods, it's not so funny, but Barry's book doesn't cover that. Instead it's comic relief from the sobering and sordid truth of such travesties as Enron. Take a timeout andtreat yourself to some corporate humor, courtesy of Dave Barry. If you fail to find this book funny, you must be one of those psychopathic suits we should all fear... ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (41)

third book as good as the first...
Love this series! Peter Pan fans will not be disappointed! It's always bittersweet when the adventure comes to an end.

excellent third outing for Peter Pan and friends (and enemies)
Once again,Dave Barry pulls through for us with another great book!

This is the third in the series about Peter Pan and his colleagues, Starcatcher Leonard Aster and his daughter Molly, her friend George, the Lost Boys, Capt. Hook and Mr. Smee, Fighting Prawn, the native chief of Peter's home island, and of course Tinker Bell.In thisthird instalment, the Starcatchers are up against the Others, including creepy alien (?) Ombra and malevolent King Zarboff the Third of Rundoon, who feeds transgressors to his rather large pet snake.This book is packed with adventure from start to finish.Great series for middle schoolers or older independent readers.Lots of fun, thrills and adventure with no gore.Highly recommended.

Delightful Conclusion To The Trilogy
This conclusion to the Starcatchers trilogy, or, 'What happened before Peter met Wendy', is a fast paced delight, and makes me wonder why more people haven't discovered them. Children and adults will be swept up in the ongoing adventures of Peter and his gang of misfits boys. Hook takes pretty much a back seat to Lord Ombra this outing, but all the familiar characters are here with a sweet ending, that closes this chapter, but leaves you anxious for more.

Peter and the Secret of Rundoon (Starcatchers)
I enjoy listening to CD Books while traveling in my auto--I purchased this series for that purpose and enjoyed it very much.

Peter and the Secret of Rundoon:(Secret!)
Title: Peter and the Secret of Rundoon by Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry

Pages: 482.

Time spent on the "to read" shelf: 2 1/2 years.

Days spent reading it: 4 days.

Why I read it: I already read (and liked) the other two books in this series, so I wanted to read this one (obviously)!

Brief review: Since this is the third book in a series, I do not want to give too much away in regards to the series. But I do want to give a little review. Peter and the Secret of Rundoon continues the popular Peter and the Starcatchers series that re-envisions the Peter Pan story.

I went into this book a little nervous about the quality. Susan and some others I know read this book and were not as impressed as they were with the first two books in the series. So I thought I would not like it as much either. However that was not the case. I actually liked it quite a bit. Right there with the second book, not quite as good as the first book.

Barry and Ridley continue to create a magical world that is fun to explore. I liked the change of scenery that this book offered (a desert instead of an island or city). This book also explains more about the origins of the Starcatchers and the Others. It even explains a little more about what the mysterious and powerful starstuff is.

In my opinion this book was definitely worth reading if you enjoyed the first two. If you didn't enjoy them, you won't enjoy this one. The only real criticism I have about this book is that, as far as plot and storytelling go, there is nothing really new here. Sure there are some new elements (new bad guy, bigger picture). But clearly Barry and Ridley have a formula going. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And I'm fine with that. This series is fun and lighthearted and is a good read for relaxing.

Favorite quote:
"You trust [Hook]?" said Peter.
"I trust him to do what's in his interest," said Leonard. "Right now it's in his interest to take us where we want to go so that we don't toss him over the side, which I have assured him we will happily do at the first sign of treachery."
Peter smiled and was rewarded with a personalized glare from Hook.

Stars: 4 out of 5.

Final Word: (Secret!) ... Read more

Product Description
Here is the absolute best of Dave Barry; selections from four of his most popular books, including the hilarious Guide to Guys. There's no such thing as too many laughs! Dave Barry is on the loose and no one is safe! ... Read more

Product Description
What Dave Barry did for American history in Dave Barry Slept Here and for getting older in Dave Barry Turns Forty, he does for everything else in America! Tupperware ladies, eighties people and leisure-concept salesmen beware: Dave Barry is on the loose and no one is safe! 2 cassettes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Dave does it again!
In this audiotape, Dave Barry has once again proven that he is the funniest man in America, and we should encourage him. This is probably the only person in the world who could write a column about an article that appeared in a tabloid newspaper about giant killer fleas, and actually be funnier than the original article! Mr. Barry covers the gamut, from toilets that communicate with each other to fishing trips where his son and a doomed worm are competing to see which can be the most pitiful. I have read virtually all of Mr. Barry's books, and this is the fifth audiotape of his that I have heard. This rates very high among them, being a compilation of some of his best writing. This tape has the added benefit of being narrated by John Ritter(of Three's Company fame), who has wonderful comedic inflection. If you are already a Dave Barry fan, this is a needed addition to your collection. If you haven't yet discovered him, this is a perfect place to start! ... Read more