Amazon.com
"Many bad things happen when you turn 50. You can't see; you can't hear; you can read the entire Oxford English Dictionary in the time it takes you to go to the bathroom; and you keep meeting people your own age who look like Grandpa Walton (and those are the women)." Yep, Dave Barry is getting old, and the King of Humor may soon become the King Lear of Humor, but fear not, because Dave is not going quietly. Dave Barry Turns 50 is Barry at his best, mainly because it succeeds in being more than simply a collection of his newspaper columns. He examines the development of the baby boomer, from youth in the '50s ("an age so innocent that there could be a TV show featuring a main character called 'The Beaver'") to maturity in the '70s ("We ... basked in the reflected glory of Woodward and Bernstein: we were inspired by them; we kept a sharp eye out for any hint of corruption in the way our local school board purchased clarinets for the marching band"), before providing a self-help guide for those entering their second half century.
Barry could squeeze laughs out of a prostate exam (eventually he may have to, although the cover of this book proudly states that he refuses to even mention the word prostate), and Dave Barry Turns 50 provides him with ample opportunities to demonstrate the agile wit that has endeared him to millions of fans. Even in the final chapters, when he faces the inevitability of death, he manages to keep chuckling--after all, he is only 50, and this, he points out, "...is our glory time, this last decade or so before our powers decline and we start showing up for work with our pants on backwards." Let's hope that we'll be around for Dave Barry Turns 90. --Simon Leake
Amazon.com Audiobook 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 Publishers Weekly
Pulitzer prize-winning columnist Barry claims, "Many bad things happen when you turn 50. You can't see; you can't hear; you can read the entire Oxford English Dictionary in the time it takes you to go to the bathroom; and you keep meeting people your own age who look like Grandpa Walton." Even so, in this follow-up to his bestselling Dave Barry Turns 40, he decided not to dwell "on the negative aspects of turning 50" and instead offers a "celebration of the aging process" by examining significant baby-boomer accomplishments ("The New Age movement! Call waiting!"). Barry begins with boomer origins in the late 1940s, a time when record players "were closer in design and sound quality to washing machines." Each subsequent decade gets a full chapter as Barry waxes nostalgic while shuffling down pathways of the past to examine an assortment of arcane artifacts and "actual facts," largely gleaned from Rita Lang Kleinfelder's 750-page When We Were Young: A Baby-Boomer Yearbook. Barry ends each chapter with "Discussion Questions" ("Did you inhale? Explain."), and maintains mirth right to the closing pages (retirement plans, death options). However, it's the look back at TV commercials, politics, inventions and attitudes that really makes those who have seen it all (much of "it" through trifocals) chortle out loud. It's not unlike an archeological dig through an attic, choking from laughter rather than dust, as familiar and forgotten memories are refreshed and taken for a satirical synaptic spin by a master humorist. 13-city birthday tour. (Oct.) FYI: Appropriately enough, this title is also available as a Random House audio ($18 ISBN 0-375-40428-7) and in a large-print edition ($22 Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Baby-boomer Barry (Dave Barry Is from Mars and Venus, LJ 9/1/97) waxes nostalgic about his life and times in this latest autobiographical work. Tracing the history of boomers, Barry measures some of the greatest achievements of our time, like the introduction of the first major TV jingle, for Ajax ("Use Ajax! The foaming cleanser!"). From this point on, Barry notes, thousands more jingles gradually filled baby boomers' minds with "brain sludge." He points out that as we turn 50, most of us cannot name the secretary of defense, but we can sing the Brylcreem jingle. Other topics include politics, highlighted by Watergate, and inventions of concern to baby boomers such as Oreos, Silly Putty, long-playing records, and espresso makers. At once funny and depressing, Barry reminds us of the cost of sending a child to college ("a bajillion dollars"), planning for retirement ("how to survive when you get old"), and the inevitability of death ("your life is mostly over"). Guess you'd better buy this book now while you can still read the print.-?Joe Accardi, Northeastern Illinois Univ. Lib., ChicagoCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From AudioFile
How many more "I-can't-believe-I'm-getting-old" humor audiobooks does the world need? Well, at least one more. Dave Barry, that witty Libertarian troubadour of truth, absolutely nails the history of his generation and captures the experience of aging with his distinctly affable voice. In hilarious detail Barry describes menus, wondering when the restaurant industry decided to print words with "letters the size of bacteria." He also reflects on the possible ramifications of such concurrent developments during his Baby Boomer childhood as the Cold War and Reddi Wip, the first aerosol food product. Listeners on either side of 50 will surely get a kick out of this production. R.A.P. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
From Booklist
Master exaggerator Barry returns to the book tour, pushing one of his annual "Dave Barry does something" things. Staring his semicentennial right in the face, he does what any self-respecting, self-absorbed boomer will do in such a crisis: he starts talkin' 'bout My Generation. His saving grace is the sarcastic ridicule with which he reviews the faddish sides of the boomer upbringing, where Silly Putty was king, McDonald's took its place alongside the nursing bottle, TV began its moronization of the world, and awful-to-tolerable pop singles stalked the AM-only airwaves. With mock-horror, Barry catalogs those things--the toys, the gloppy food, the TV shows, and sappy songs--year by year up to 1974; so Barry's fans must wade through his past (not that they mind) for three-fourths of the book to get to the point: his geriatric future. It begins with The Letter, an invitation to join AARP, which Barry notes is the defender of Social Security and "the constitutional right to drive without any clue where the actual road is." Rebel with a cause, he's instead starting up BARF (Boomers against Reaching Farthood). So runs the Barry style, delivering a bushel of chuckles for readers of his weekly humor column. Gilbert Taylor
From Kirkus Reviews
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 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 the 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'' foundexcept 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. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
"QUOTING BARRY IS LIKE EATING PEANUTS. . . . ONCE YOU GET STARTED IT'S AWFULLY HARD TO STOP."--The Washington Post
"RIOTOUS . . . [Barry] can find the humor in pretty much anything. And . . . he does not intend to go even slightly gently into that good night."
--San Francisco Examiner
Book Description
And no, he's not going to whine about it. In fact, he's not going to dwell on the negative aspects of turning 50 at all, like the weight gain that results from merely watching food commercials, or that you discover random hairs sprouting from unexpected sectors of your body. Instead, Dave is going to make all of you out there under the half-century mark envious with a rundown of the advantages of turning 50. For instance, you know all those newspaper articles about Middle East turmoil you read because you think you should? Dave doesn't read 'em, because with his eyes he can't! And you know all that energy you expend trying to look and sound hip? Dave doesn't, because after 50 it's hopeless and he's through trying to be one of the Boyz N the Burbz.And Dave writes not only about being 50, but also about 50 years of inventions (Oreos, Silly Putty), arts (Howdy Doody, TV commercials), politics (the Cold War, the Cold War, and more of the Cold War), and other baby boomer nostalgia. So call Dave and let him know how much you're looking forward to reading Dave Barry Turns 50. But not right now--he's sleeping.Ten Signs That You Might Be Losing It
1. You tend to forget things.
2. When you drive your car, you notice that people yell at you a lot. Often, these people are lying on your hood.
3. On more than one occasion, while shaving, you have noticed that your razor seemed kind of dull. Upon closer examination, your razor turned out to be your toothbrush.
4. You're always searching for the right word or name. You'll be telling an anecdote, and you'll get stuck on a name, and you'll tell your listeners: "You know! That guy! With the thing! He has that thing! That guy!" And everybody will start trying to guess who you're talking about, as if you're playing charades, and finally, after ten minutes of this, it will turn out that the name you're trying to remember is: "The Pope." By this time, of course, you have no recollection of the original anecdote.
5. You sometimes address your spouse as "General Eisenhower."
6. You tend to forget things.
7. You sometimes wear a bathrobe to the office.
8. And it isn't your office.
9. It isn't your bathrobe, either.
10. You tend to forget things.
Card catalog description
Yes, Dave Barry has turned 50. And no, he's not going to whine about it. Instead, Dave is going to make all of you out there under the half-century mark envious with a rundown of the advantages of turning 50. And Dave writes not only about being 50, but also about 50 years of inventions (Oreos, Silly Putty), arts (Howdy Doody, TV commercials), politics (the Cold War, the Cold War, and more of the Cold War), and other baby boomer nostalgia.
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
From the Inside Flap
And no, he's not going to whine about it. In fact, he's not going to dwell on the negative aspects of turning 50 at all, like the weight gain that results from merely watching food commercials, or that you discover random hairs sprouting from unexpected sectors of your body.
Instead, Dave is going to make all of you out there under the half-century mark envious with a rundown of the advantages of turning 50. For instance, you know all those newspaper articles about Middle East turmoil you read because you think you should? Dave doesn't read 'em, because with his eyes he can't! And you know all that energy you expend trying to look and sound hip? Dave doesn't, because after 50 it's hopeless and he's through trying to be one of the Boyz N the Burbz.
And Dave writes not only about being 50, but also about 50 years of inventions (Oreos, Silly Putty), arts (Howdy Doody, TV commercials), politics (the Cold War, the Cold War, and more of the Cold War), and other baby boomer nostalgia.
So call Dave and let him know how much you're looking forward to reading Dave Barry Turns 50. But not right now--he's sleeping.
Ten Signs That You Might Be Losing It
1. You tend to forget things.
2. When you drive your car, you notice that people yell at you a lot. Often, these people are lying on your hood.
3. On more than one occasion, while shaving, you have noticed that your razor seemed kind of dull. Upon closer examination, your razor turned out to be your toothbrush.
4. You're always searching for the right word or name. You'll be telling an anecdote, and you'll get stuck on a name, and you'll tell your listeners: "You know! That guy! With the thing! He has that thing! That guy!" And everybody will start trying to guess who you're talking about, as if you're playing charades, and finally, after ten minutes of this, it will turn out that the name you're trying to remember is: "The Pope." By this time, of course, you have no recollection of the original anecdote.
5. You sometimes address your spouse as "General Eisenhower."
6. You tend to forget things.
7. You sometimes wear a bathrobe to the office.
8. And it isn't your office.
9. It isn't your bathrobe, either.
10. You tend to forget things.
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