Recently I saw a comment in a thread here that wasn’t too favorable to him. This got me to wondering what do others think about his writing. I have been reading his columns for several years and I usually enjoy them. It’s not the first thing I read in the Sunday paper (front page news or sports usually gets that honor) but it is one thing I make it a point to read every week. I like his writing style, although I think his subject matter has dropped off a bit lately. One of my favorite all-time lines of his is one where he refers to Jesse Helms as “Jesse Helms (R-Hell)”.
I think Dave rocks. I have several of his books. Do you have a link to the thread in which someone is not talking kindly of Mr. Barry? I’d like to see it.
Dave Barry is the best humor writer currently active in the business. That is what I think of him.
With the exception of those few writings that he intends to be serious (I recall he wrote a column or two about his father’s death, about his son getting into a bike accident w/o a helmet, and a chapter in his Japan book about the Hiroshima memorial), I can’t recall reading two of his sentences in a row without falling down in laughter.
I have to say, I generally enjoy his columns. I like the fact that not a one of them really make a serious comment about anything. Some of his trappings can get a little predictable, though. Usually as I read his columns, I try to pick out which phrase he’ll say would make a great name for a rock band by the end of the article. And I think he may be running out of ideas for mottos.
But, hey, he’s a successful, professional columnist. As in he gets paid to write whatever he feels like writing. Our only recourse is the Pit.
However, I get the feeling that most of us are getting paid by someone as we contribute to the board, so in that sense - professional, schmrofessional, aren’t we all?
I love Dave Barry. Most of the time he’s laugh-out-loud funny.
P.S. Don’t forget to fart.
OOOOOOO! You just reminded me, today his new column comes out. Time to switch sites for a sec…
How about a link?
I’ve read his columns off and on for years, and haven’t found them funny. Even as humor, they don’t appeal to me.
I miss Lewis Grizzard. He was funnier and coherent.
Gotta agree with Saint Zero on this one. I’ve read his columns for years, and can’t recall ever really laughing at one.
I don’t particularly dislike his work, but it never really struck me as funny, either.
Lewis Grizzard, on the other hand, was a hoot.
I’ve read Dave Barry on and off, and I’ve laughed out loud at some of his stuff. Most of it, however, seems to be boring drivel. I simply don’t get what’s funny about it a lot of the time. Invariably, though, when I’m about to give up reading him altogether I read some article that’s so clever & funny that I give him another try.
I have to disagree with those who don’t like him. Dave Barry gets to me every time. I’ve reread his books more times than I can recall, yet I’ll still start the bed shaking because I’m laughing while reading him in bed. This makes Mrs. Cal look up from her book and say “Reading Dave Barry again?”
There are times when he’s formulaic, or just seems to be coasting. But he’s usually ood for at least ne laugh from me. “Transcendentally churlish”, as one newspaper reviewer (from the Times?) called him.
When he quotes articles in his column, I would swear he was making all that stuff up.
I really like him. I have read numerous columns of his that fall flat, although there is always at least one line that makes me laugh at loud.
I used one of his quotes as a sig file on one of my listservs that started a lively debate. It’s still one of my favorites:
“If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant’s life, she will choose to save the infant’s life without even considering if there are men on base.”
The comment was in the “Band Names” thread (I believe here in IMHO). Here is the link; I hope it works:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=29048
The comment was: “And it’s probably Dave Barry’s most irritating running joke. And that’s saying a lot”. (~ the 8th post down.)
I assumed this would be completed with “because he has a lot of irritating running jokes.”
I have been a HUGE Dave Barry fan for years. I own all of his books. Even when I’m just rereading one of them, he never fails to make me laugh out loud.
I had to stop reading him at work, because there was always something that would catch me off guard and I wouldn’t be able to stifle the laughter. (This is the same reason I might have to stop reading the SDMB during the work day :)) My coworkers must think I have some weird lung problem with the way I’m constantly doing that fake cough thing to cover up my laughter.
I even loved the TV show Dave’s World.
I “get” his humor. Have actually laughed at it. glad my paper doesn’t carry it. Why? 'cause when I read too much of his stuff in a row, it gets really old. chuckle, chuckle, yea, yea, right, yawn. is how it goes for me. a little of him goes a looooooong way for me. Having said that, yea, we have a few of his books around. just not willing to stand in line a Barnes & Noble the night before his new ones come out, ya know?
I’m middle of the road, too. Some of it really makes me laugh, but some of the time I feel like he’s trying too hard. That maybe a slightly subtler take on it would be funnier. Right perspective, but over the top on execution.
I used to enjoy his columns more than I do now. Don’t know whether he’s changed or I have. I still read him weekly, but he seems to be pretty thin on ideas lately. Loved the recent airline column. Must be that new young wife and baby are sapping his energy now that he’s past the big 5-0.
No one is consistently on target 100% of the time, and Barry is no exception. It’s damn hard to write a weekly column and keep it fresh and funny.
But Barry does it better than anyone else, IMO. He’s got his stock gags, as mentioned in earlier posts, but I’m willing to forgive him those. No other writer can make me actually laugh out loud. Dave Barry doesn’t manage it every week, but he’s got a higher batting average than anyone else I’ve read.
I like him, but I think his earlier stuff is better than his current stuff. We got ahold of (I think) his first book before he became famous, and I still think it’s hilarious. I can’t remember the name of it, though.
Yeah, he’s been getting repetitive lately, but it seems like every week he’s got a couple of phrases that are good enough to read aloud to whoever is there.