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Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass—How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up
America’s most beloved wiseass finally tells his life story with all the humor you’d expect from a man who made a career out of making fun of pretty much everything.
How does the son of a Presbyterian minister wind up winning a Pulitzer Prize for writing a wildly inaccurate newspaper column read by millions of people?
In Class Clown, Dave Barry takes us on a hilarious ride, starting with a childhood largely spent throwing rocks for entertainment—there was no internet—and preparing for nuclear war by hiding under a classroom desk. After literally getting elected class clown in high school, he went to college, where, as an English major, he read snippets of great literature when he was not busy playing in a rock band (it was the sixties).
He began his journalism career at a small-town Pennsylvania newspaper where he learned the most important rule of local never confuse a goose with a duck. His journey then took a detour into the business world, where as a writing consultant he spent years trying, with limited success, to get corporate folks to, for God’s sake, get the point. Somehow from there he wound up as a humor columnist for The Miami Herald, where his boss was a wild man who encouraged him to write about anything that struck him as amusing and to never worry about alienating anyone.
His columns were not popular with He managed to alienate a vast army of Neil Diamond fans, and the entire state of Indiana. But he also developed a loyal following of readers who alerted him to the threat of exploding toilets, not to mention the fire hazards posed by strawberry pop-tarts and Rollerblade Barbie, which he demonstrated to the nation on the David Letterman show. He led his readers on a crusade against telemarketers that ultimately caused the national telemarketers association to stop answering its own phones because it was getting—irony alert—too many unwanted calls. He has also run for president multiple times, although so far without success.
He became a book author and joined a literary rock band, which was not good at playing music but did once perform with Bruce Springsteen, who sang backup to Dave. As for his literary merits, Dave “I’ll never have the critical acclaim of, say, Marcel Proust. But was Marcel Proust ever on Carson? Did he ever steal a hotel sign for Oprah?”
Class Clown isn’t just a memoir; it’s a vibrant celebration of a life rich with humor, absurdity, joy, and sadness. Dave says the most important wisdom imparted by his Midwestern parents was never to take anything too seriously. This laughter-filled book is proof that he learned that lesson well.
How does the son of a Presbyterian minister wind up winning a Pulitzer Prize for writing a wildly inaccurate newspaper column read by millions of people?
In Class Clown, Dave Barry takes us on a hilarious ride, starting with a childhood largely spent throwing rocks for entertainment—there was no internet—and preparing for nuclear war by hiding under a classroom desk. After literally getting elected class clown in high school, he went to college, where, as an English major, he read snippets of great literature when he was not busy playing in a rock band (it was the sixties).
He began his journalism career at a small-town Pennsylvania newspaper where he learned the most important rule of local never confuse a goose with a duck. His journey then took a detour into the business world, where as a writing consultant he spent years trying, with limited success, to get corporate folks to, for God’s sake, get the point. Somehow from there he wound up as a humor columnist for The Miami Herald, where his boss was a wild man who encouraged him to write about anything that struck him as amusing and to never worry about alienating anyone.
His columns were not popular with He managed to alienate a vast army of Neil Diamond fans, and the entire state of Indiana. But he also developed a loyal following of readers who alerted him to the threat of exploding toilets, not to mention the fire hazards posed by strawberry pop-tarts and Rollerblade Barbie, which he demonstrated to the nation on the David Letterman show. He led his readers on a crusade against telemarketers that ultimately caused the national telemarketers association to stop answering its own phones because it was getting—irony alert—too many unwanted calls. He has also run for president multiple times, although so far without success.
He became a book author and joined a literary rock band, which was not good at playing music but did once perform with Bruce Springsteen, who sang backup to Dave. As for his literary merits, Dave “I’ll never have the critical acclaim of, say, Marcel Proust. But was Marcel Proust ever on Carson? Did he ever steal a hotel sign for Oprah?”
Class Clown isn’t just a memoir; it’s a vibrant celebration of a life rich with humor, absurdity, joy, and sadness. Dave says the most important wisdom imparted by his Midwestern parents was never to take anything too seriously. This laughter-filled book is proof that he learned that lesson well.
244 pages, Hardcover
First published May 13, 2025
592 people are currently reading
5918 people want to read
About the author
Dave Barry
150 books2,212 followersDave Barry is a humor writer. For 25 years he was a syndicated columnist whose work appeared in more than 500 newspapers in the United States and abroad. In 1988 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Many people are still trying to figure out how this happened.
Dave has also written many books, virtually none of which contain useful information. Two of his books were used as the basis for the CBS TV sitcom "Dave's World," in which Harry Anderson played a much taller version of Dave.
Dave plays lead guitar in a literary rock band called the Rock Bottom Remainders, whose other members include Stephen King, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson and Mitch Albom. They are not musically skilled, but they are extremely loud. Dave has also made many TV appearances, including one on the David Letterman show where he proved that it is possible to set fire to a pair of men's underpants with a Barbie doll.
In his spare time, Dave is a candidate for president of the United States. If elected, his highest priority will be to seek the death penalty for whoever is responsible for making Americans install low-flow toilets.
Dave lives in Miami, Florida, with his wife, Michelle, a sportswriter. He has a son, Rob, and a daughter, Sophie, neither of whom thinks he's funny.
Dave has also written many books, virtually none of which contain useful information. Two of his books were used as the basis for the CBS TV sitcom "Dave's World," in which Harry Anderson played a much taller version of Dave.
Dave plays lead guitar in a literary rock band called the Rock Bottom Remainders, whose other members include Stephen King, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson and Mitch Albom. They are not musically skilled, but they are extremely loud. Dave has also made many TV appearances, including one on the David Letterman show where he proved that it is possible to set fire to a pair of men's underpants with a Barbie doll.
In his spare time, Dave is a candidate for president of the United States. If elected, his highest priority will be to seek the death penalty for whoever is responsible for making Americans install low-flow toilets.
Dave lives in Miami, Florida, with his wife, Michelle, a sportswriter. He has a son, Rob, and a daughter, Sophie, neither of whom thinks he's funny.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 415 reviews
June 26, 2025
Dave Berry is a national treasure, as far as I'm concerned. What a fun and varied career he's had! Just like comedies rarely ever win an Oscar for Best Picture (and I don't count Birdman as a comedy - I actually thought it was tragically awful), it was a surprise that a humorist might win a Pulitzer. Obviously it happens, but not very often, and I think it's fair to say Berry was as surprised as anyone else. Nonetheless, I'd say it was well-deserved.
I see Berry as the embodiment of someone who followed his path, doing what he loved and leaning into his strengths. I know it's harder to do these days. Most of the young people I worked with came out of colleges with very practical and directly relevant degrees. Heck, that was true 30 years ago when I started in the workforce! But it does seem to get narrower and narrower each year, and the value of a liberal arts education less and less so. As a fellow English major from a small liberal arts college, cheers to you, Dave Berry!
Rounding up to 4.
I see Berry as the embodiment of someone who followed his path, doing what he loved and leaning into his strengths. I know it's harder to do these days. Most of the young people I worked with came out of colleges with very practical and directly relevant degrees. Heck, that was true 30 years ago when I started in the workforce! But it does seem to get narrower and narrower each year, and the value of a liberal arts education less and less so. As a fellow English major from a small liberal arts college, cheers to you, Dave Berry!
Rounding up to 4.
June 26, 2025
As always, Dave Barry is funny. This memoir had me laughing out loud multiple times in each chapter, because he has no respect or reverence for anything, including himself. When he does get serious, about his parents, his family, his friends, then it makes more of an impact.
The last chapter includes life wisdom from an old man, most of it cheeky fun from a geezer, but he leaves us with this little nugget, which I may frame and hang on my wall:
"It's gonna be okay.
Life goes on. It did for my generation; it will for yours. So when the next Very Bad Thing comes along, and the winds of panic start to whirl around you, try to remember:
It's gonna be okay."
The last chapter includes life wisdom from an old man, most of it cheeky fun from a geezer, but he leaves us with this little nugget, which I may frame and hang on my wall:
"It's gonna be okay.
Life goes on. It did for my generation; it will for yours. So when the next Very Bad Thing comes along, and the winds of panic start to whirl around you, try to remember:
It's gonna be okay."
May 24, 2025
ARC for review. Published May 13, 2025.
Review published in Charleston Gazette-Mail, Saturday-Sunday, May 24-25, 2025.
CLASS CLOWN - THE MEMOIRS OF A PROFESSIONAL WISEASS: HOW I WENT 77 YEARS WITHOUT GROWING UP by Dave Barry, May 13, 2025, Simon & Schuster, 204 pages.
“I began my education at Wampus Elementary. ‘Wampus’ comes from the Native American word ‘wampus’ which means, as far as I’ve been able to determine, ‘wampus.’”
And we’re off with the autobiography of Dave Barry from childhood on. There’s some not-so-funny stuff - his dad was an alcoholic, his mom died by suicide - but Barry is always hysterical, so the Miami Herald’s”columnist’s wit always shines through.
Take, for instance, his story about how he was in the “control” group for the first polio vaccines and only got a placebo and, therefore, had to get a second set of shots: “I had to get TWICE AS MANY SHOTS AS MY SISTER. I think this at least partly explains why I ended up being an atheist.”
He worries he might not be famous enough to write a memoir. He notes that in Barbra Streisand’s recent 970 page behemoth of an autobiography (which I, personally, have been listening to for about a year and I think I’m only on chapter 12. It is 48 hours long. Will I finish it before I’m “finished”? Betting pool currently open.) she questioned whether she slept with Warren Beatty, then decides she probably did.
Barry is certain he’s never even MET either Streisand or Beatty, but notes, several times, that he’s been in a rock band, the Rock Bottom Remainders (“remainders” are books that don’t sell) with Stephen King for about 30 years and he hopes that brush with fame is enough to get him over the threshold.
Oh, Dave…I think you get in just under the wire.
His parents were Democrats but had good friends who were Republicans and they all went to loads of cocktail parties (the thing to do in 1960 - not that I haven’t been to a few in my day) where people talked politics and disagreed, and even got “emotional, sometimes angry. But never nasty. At the end of the night everybody hugged everybody because they were friends and they understood that they could disagree about politics without believing the other side was evil. Mistaken, maybe. Evil, no.”
Also in his early years , Glenn Close was in his eighth grade homeroom. And he was at Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington in 1963. And he WAS voted male class clown. He went to Haverford College where he was in rock bands and wrote an occasional humor column for the college paper.
The book moves through his work history. He did not have a meteoric rise to greatness, but was eventually discovered by the Philadelphia Inquirer and then the Miami paper came calling and he remained with them through his retirement, winning a Pulitzer Prize for commentary. He could write about pretty much whatever he wanted and one of the delights of the book is reading about some of his favorite columns.
He went to the 1984 First Annual French Wine Sommelier Contest in New York and participated in tastings. “‘Much too woody,’ said one journalist. ‘Heavily oxidized,’ said another. ‘Bat urine,’ I offered.
I made so many notes for this review I’m having to leave out some of the best material, but you’ll see it all when you read the book.
Dave Barry is now 77. He no longer writes his weekly column, but he does an occasional bit for the Herald. He’s as sharp as he ever was and he has a seemingly unlimited supply of great potential band names: Fugitive Squirrel and the Clearly Disturbed Beavers and Earl Piedmont and the Dipthongs are, at press time, both still available.
Review published in Charleston Gazette-Mail, Saturday-Sunday, May 24-25, 2025.
CLASS CLOWN - THE MEMOIRS OF A PROFESSIONAL WISEASS: HOW I WENT 77 YEARS WITHOUT GROWING UP by Dave Barry, May 13, 2025, Simon & Schuster, 204 pages.
“I began my education at Wampus Elementary. ‘Wampus’ comes from the Native American word ‘wampus’ which means, as far as I’ve been able to determine, ‘wampus.’”
And we’re off with the autobiography of Dave Barry from childhood on. There’s some not-so-funny stuff - his dad was an alcoholic, his mom died by suicide - but Barry is always hysterical, so the Miami Herald’s”columnist’s wit always shines through.
Take, for instance, his story about how he was in the “control” group for the first polio vaccines and only got a placebo and, therefore, had to get a second set of shots: “I had to get TWICE AS MANY SHOTS AS MY SISTER. I think this at least partly explains why I ended up being an atheist.”
He worries he might not be famous enough to write a memoir. He notes that in Barbra Streisand’s recent 970 page behemoth of an autobiography (which I, personally, have been listening to for about a year and I think I’m only on chapter 12. It is 48 hours long. Will I finish it before I’m “finished”? Betting pool currently open.) she questioned whether she slept with Warren Beatty, then decides she probably did.
Barry is certain he’s never even MET either Streisand or Beatty, but notes, several times, that he’s been in a rock band, the Rock Bottom Remainders (“remainders” are books that don’t sell) with Stephen King for about 30 years and he hopes that brush with fame is enough to get him over the threshold.
Oh, Dave…I think you get in just under the wire.
His parents were Democrats but had good friends who were Republicans and they all went to loads of cocktail parties (the thing to do in 1960 - not that I haven’t been to a few in my day) where people talked politics and disagreed, and even got “emotional, sometimes angry. But never nasty. At the end of the night everybody hugged everybody because they were friends and they understood that they could disagree about politics without believing the other side was evil. Mistaken, maybe. Evil, no.”
Also in his early years , Glenn Close was in his eighth grade homeroom. And he was at Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington in 1963. And he WAS voted male class clown. He went to Haverford College where he was in rock bands and wrote an occasional humor column for the college paper.
The book moves through his work history. He did not have a meteoric rise to greatness, but was eventually discovered by the Philadelphia Inquirer and then the Miami paper came calling and he remained with them through his retirement, winning a Pulitzer Prize for commentary. He could write about pretty much whatever he wanted and one of the delights of the book is reading about some of his favorite columns.
He went to the 1984 First Annual French Wine Sommelier Contest in New York and participated in tastings. “‘Much too woody,’ said one journalist. ‘Heavily oxidized,’ said another. ‘Bat urine,’ I offered.
I made so many notes for this review I’m having to leave out some of the best material, but you’ll see it all when you read the book.
Dave Barry is now 77. He no longer writes his weekly column, but he does an occasional bit for the Herald. He’s as sharp as he ever was and he has a seemingly unlimited supply of great potential band names: Fugitive Squirrel and the Clearly Disturbed Beavers and Earl Piedmont and the Dipthongs are, at press time, both still available.
June 3, 2025
This memoir of a professional wiseass/humor columnist was entertaining.
Unfortunately, it was short on LOL moments.
(Sorry, Dave!)
I especially enjoyed learning about Dave Barry's early years in the once-thriving newspaper industry and his vulnerabilities.
I appreciated his openness about his father's alcoholism and his mother's suicide (Ouch!)
His passion for journalism and his career triumphs were palpable.
The funniest chapter?
Dave's recount of what happens when a 77-year-old man goes to a doctor.
WHY NOT 5 STARS?
I would have enjoyed this memoir more if it contained fewer excerpts from his column and more interesting Dave facts.
I listened to the audiobook and Dave Barry did an outstanding job with the narration.
September 2, 2025
Tactical Assault Clown
There is one living human who can write prose that makes me laugh so hard I can't breathe. That person is Tactical Assault Clown Dave Barry. Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass—How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up had that effect on me at least twice -- an automatic five-star rating. ("Tactical Assault Clown" is right up there with "Combat Epistemologist" (The Jennifer Morgue) on my list of creative military specializations. And if you're one of those people who get their knickers all in a twist when someone uses parens inside of parens, you know what you can do about it.) (Yes, I know I'm not funny.)
It's not all ROFL funny. In fact, he tells about his father's alcoholism () and his mother's suicide (). Later in the book he tries to convince us that his real life is nothing like the wacky sitcom life of the main character of Dave's World.
For many years Barry worked as a columnist at the Miami Herald. The Herald not infrequently sent him out into the field to do Real Honest-to-God News Reporting. And he had experiences that were quite unlike staring at a computer screen and thinking: This is not funny. For instance, he played in a rock band called the Rock-Bottom Remainders whose musicians (using the word loosely) are authors, and in that role he once sang lead to Bruce Springsteen's backing vocals. While some of his columns are pure invention, some are not. In fact, "I am not making this up," became a tag phrase of his (Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up), and as far as I can tell he was always honest when he wrote it.
Of course, he is 77 years old, and that is plenty of time both to rack up a score as history's most effective Tactical Assault Clown, and to spend many hours staring bleakly at computer screens.
Class Clown is a short book, and much of it is excerpts from Barry's columns. The best and funniest parts, though, are the new material. If you're one of those folks who gives one-star ratings to short books and complains of being cheated, you're not going to be happy. Personally, I think it is worth every penny I paid for it. (Well, OK -- I got a free Advance Reader Copy from Edelweiss and Simon and Schuster. (Thank you!) But I have pre-ordered the book and will pay full price for it on release.)
Blog review.
There is one living human who can write prose that makes me laugh so hard I can't breathe. That person is Tactical Assault Clown Dave Barry. Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass—How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up had that effect on me at least twice -- an automatic five-star rating. ("Tactical Assault Clown" is right up there with "Combat Epistemologist" (The Jennifer Morgue) on my list of creative military specializations. And if you're one of those people who get their knickers all in a twist when someone uses parens inside of parens, you know what you can do about it.) (Yes, I know I'm not funny.)
It's not all ROFL funny. In fact, he tells about his father's alcoholism () and his mother's suicide (). Later in the book he tries to convince us that his real life is nothing like the wacky sitcom life of the main character of Dave's World.
My real life was nothing like that. My real life, at that time, consisted of sitting in a room with two dogs and zero other humans, hour after hour, day after day, staring at a computer screen and thinking: This is not funny.Although I believe him, this book does a poor job of conveying that message. The message is undermined by the Tactical Assault Clown parts of his story.
For many years Barry worked as a columnist at the Miami Herald. The Herald not infrequently sent him out into the field to do Real Honest-to-God News Reporting. And he had experiences that were quite unlike staring at a computer screen and thinking: This is not funny. For instance, he played in a rock band called the Rock-Bottom Remainders whose musicians (using the word loosely) are authors, and in that role he once sang lead to Bruce Springsteen's backing vocals. While some of his columns are pure invention, some are not. In fact, "I am not making this up," became a tag phrase of his (Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up), and as far as I can tell he was always honest when he wrote it.
Of course, he is 77 years old, and that is plenty of time both to rack up a score as history's most effective Tactical Assault Clown, and to spend many hours staring bleakly at computer screens.
Class Clown is a short book, and much of it is excerpts from Barry's columns. The best and funniest parts, though, are the new material. If you're one of those folks who gives one-star ratings to short books and complains of being cheated, you're not going to be happy. Personally, I think it is worth every penny I paid for it. (Well, OK -- I got a free Advance Reader Copy from Edelweiss and Simon and Schuster. (Thank you!) But I have pre-ordered the book and will pay full price for it on release.)
Blog review.
March 10, 2025
Full disclosure: I believe I am semi-intimately related to Mr. Dave Barry even though we've never met or enjoyed carnal knowledge. At only 9% into an advance e-copy of Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass—How I Went 77 Years without Growing Up (pub. date, May 13, 2025), I was so delighted, entertained, and aroused that I prematurely ejaculated on Facebook:
But it turns out that's where our parallel existences diverged.
Although Barry claimed to have been aimless after leaving college, flitting from bookkeeping to a local paper to misery at the Associated Press to teaching writing to business people, from my point of view as a writer who's slogged through publishing mud for more than 40 years, he was a goddam bird dog—zeroing in on Gene Weingarten (another writer who makes me guffaw) at the Miami Herald's Sunday magazine, Tropic … which is where this book became my personal hilarious writer's tutorial.
Lessons from Dave Barry: To do a successful humor column, it is critical to care nothing about the truth of your subject, what your subject is, or basically anything. Sometimes the stupider the questions, the more entertaining the column. Hence, my imagined interview with Dave Barry about his new memoir:
BETSY: Why class clown? For goodness sake, you were only in school for 12 of your 77 years (well maybe 16 if you count college, but by then you seemed to have outgrown clowning for clowning's sake). So isn't it kind of disingenuous to qualify your life by 1/6.416666666 of its duration? Speaking of which, what do you think of clowns? In my experience, they are often sad and depressed and they make lousy dates.
DAVE: Aw gee, I never dated a clown, Betsy. I'm sorry you had such traumatic experiences. We only picked that title because everybody in the focus group voted for the cover with six-year-old me in a party hat. I do look pretty cute, despite the buzz cut my father insisted on giving me, but he was probably drunk when he did it, or in the middle of writing a sermon—did you like the parts about my dad?
BETSY: Very much, Dave. Your dad seems like a swell guy, the way he helped so many people and took you, with his camp group, to the march in Washington, DC, to hear Martin Luther King, Jr. speak. (BTW, nice historical significance, giving the memoir the obligatory gravitas required for a Pulitzer. Smart move.*) Speaking of which, you said you didn't realize at the time that you were witnessing history. What were you doing standing there in the crowd in front of the Lincoln Memorial?
DAVE: To be honest, Betsy, my mom had insisted I wear laced shoes, and one of the staffers in my Camp Sharparoon inner city kids group thought it'd be a great joke to tie them together. So I spent a lot of the speech trying not to faint from the heat or fall down because we were packed so tight I couldn't bend over to untie them. But I've heard the speech on video many times—thank goodness for YouTube—and, like I said, it's mind-expanding.
BETSY: Speaking of almost dying, (I know we weren't but you seem okay with leaps of nonlogic), one of my favorite of your millions of quoted parts in the book (Great recycling! More leisure time to practice your broom and lawnmower marching skills and think about what to eat for dinner!) was your interview with Bob Graham, the then governor of Florida. And speaking of almost drowning in a harmonica accident (readers, you'll have to buy and maybe read the book to understand that—You're welcome, Dave!), have you ever played harmonica? I know you spent and spend a lot of time in a band—currently with a lot of famous writers—but how do you feel about blowing into a small box?
DAVE: Wow, what a creative question. Well, honestly, Betsy, I long ago stopped blowing into anything because it makes me hyperventilate, and particularly if I were to do so while standing next to a pool. I really valued Bob Graham's warning and establishment of the Harmonica Safety Day (Read the book!). Who knows how many lives besides mine have been spared. Full disclosure: I still do have impulses to blow into small containers, particularly if they make funny noises.
BETSY: What's a mutilated verb? I've heard of mutilated body parts and your description of your colonoscopy made me laugh so hard I may have fractured one of mine. But until your book, I never heard of "mutilated verbs."
DAVE: Wow, you're a real word person, aren't you? Try this:
It is my conclusion that the explosion in your head at the mention of this mutilation is due to the failure of the relief valve in your ears and may in the future result in sentences that are just too long for their own good.
See what I did? Lots of verb ideas have been mutilated into nouns: "conclusion," "explosion," "failure" and maybe some other ones that you added to this totally unauthorized revision of my book. Thus you pressed some really dull verbs into service. An unmutilated way to write it is:
"I conclude that your head exploded because your ears are blocked."
BETSY: Okay … So how about farts? You talk a lot about body emissions. Any final toots?
DAVE: Speaking of "toots," how come they don't rhyme with "foots" which brings me to footnotes. Did you like them?
BETSY: About footnotes**
_____________
*I'm not being cheeky. Dave has a whole section where he makes fun of newspaper writers' obsession with winning Pulitzers, so this sentence is a bit of an homage. BTW, Dave did win a Pulitzer—I'm not making that up—so I'm sure he won't take offense if he ends up reading this after all his book tour interviews, signing autographs, and setting fire to many pairs of perfectly good underpants (Read the book!).
**There are lots of footnotes in this book and, in the digital edition, the way they pop up when you tap the footnote number makes the jokes on top of jokes even funnier. Way to go, Dave!
_____________
DAVE: Thanks, Betsy.
BETSY: My pleasure, Dave. And thanks for the free book in exchange for an honest review … which I guess this really isn't. Whoops. Well, thanks anyway, and I'll think of you whenever I have nothing else to think about.
Dave grew up in the 1950s in Armonk … just a hop, skip and a jump from where I was growing up in Briarcliff Manor.
His parents were married the same date as mine were. They were both smart and funny like mine. His father became an alcoholic but recovered. Mine didn't. And on and on and on.
I don't know whether to be jealous or in awe that I'm seeing a kind of parallel life in an alternate reality if only my family had been sane, nonviolent, and Presbyterian.
But it turns out that's where our parallel existences diverged.
Although Barry claimed to have been aimless after leaving college, flitting from bookkeeping to a local paper to misery at the Associated Press to teaching writing to business people, from my point of view as a writer who's slogged through publishing mud for more than 40 years, he was a goddam bird dog—zeroing in on Gene Weingarten (another writer who makes me guffaw) at the Miami Herald's Sunday magazine, Tropic … which is where this book became my personal hilarious writer's tutorial.
Lessons from Dave Barry: To do a successful humor column, it is critical to care nothing about the truth of your subject, what your subject is, or basically anything. Sometimes the stupider the questions, the more entertaining the column. Hence, my imagined interview with Dave Barry about his new memoir:
BETSY: Why class clown? For goodness sake, you were only in school for 12 of your 77 years (well maybe 16 if you count college, but by then you seemed to have outgrown clowning for clowning's sake). So isn't it kind of disingenuous to qualify your life by 1/6.416666666 of its duration? Speaking of which, what do you think of clowns? In my experience, they are often sad and depressed and they make lousy dates.
DAVE: Aw gee, I never dated a clown, Betsy. I'm sorry you had such traumatic experiences. We only picked that title because everybody in the focus group voted for the cover with six-year-old me in a party hat. I do look pretty cute, despite the buzz cut my father insisted on giving me, but he was probably drunk when he did it, or in the middle of writing a sermon—did you like the parts about my dad?
BETSY: Very much, Dave. Your dad seems like a swell guy, the way he helped so many people and took you, with his camp group, to the march in Washington, DC, to hear Martin Luther King, Jr. speak. (BTW, nice historical significance, giving the memoir the obligatory gravitas required for a Pulitzer. Smart move.*) Speaking of which, you said you didn't realize at the time that you were witnessing history. What were you doing standing there in the crowd in front of the Lincoln Memorial?
DAVE: To be honest, Betsy, my mom had insisted I wear laced shoes, and one of the staffers in my Camp Sharparoon inner city kids group thought it'd be a great joke to tie them together. So I spent a lot of the speech trying not to faint from the heat or fall down because we were packed so tight I couldn't bend over to untie them. But I've heard the speech on video many times—thank goodness for YouTube—and, like I said, it's mind-expanding.
BETSY: Speaking of almost dying, (I know we weren't but you seem okay with leaps of nonlogic), one of my favorite of your millions of quoted parts in the book (Great recycling! More leisure time to practice your broom and lawnmower marching skills and think about what to eat for dinner!) was your interview with Bob Graham, the then governor of Florida. And speaking of almost drowning in a harmonica accident (readers, you'll have to buy and maybe read the book to understand that—You're welcome, Dave!), have you ever played harmonica? I know you spent and spend a lot of time in a band—currently with a lot of famous writers—but how do you feel about blowing into a small box?
DAVE: Wow, what a creative question. Well, honestly, Betsy, I long ago stopped blowing into anything because it makes me hyperventilate, and particularly if I were to do so while standing next to a pool. I really valued Bob Graham's warning and establishment of the Harmonica Safety Day (Read the book!). Who knows how many lives besides mine have been spared. Full disclosure: I still do have impulses to blow into small containers, particularly if they make funny noises.
BETSY: What's a mutilated verb? I've heard of mutilated body parts and your description of your colonoscopy made me laugh so hard I may have fractured one of mine. But until your book, I never heard of "mutilated verbs."
DAVE: Wow, you're a real word person, aren't you? Try this:
It is my conclusion that the explosion in your head at the mention of this mutilation is due to the failure of the relief valve in your ears and may in the future result in sentences that are just too long for their own good.
See what I did? Lots of verb ideas have been mutilated into nouns: "conclusion," "explosion," "failure" and maybe some other ones that you added to this totally unauthorized revision of my book. Thus you pressed some really dull verbs into service. An unmutilated way to write it is:
"I conclude that your head exploded because your ears are blocked."
BETSY: Okay … So how about farts? You talk a lot about body emissions. Any final toots?
DAVE: Speaking of "toots," how come they don't rhyme with "foots" which brings me to footnotes. Did you like them?
BETSY: About footnotes**
_____________
*I'm not being cheeky. Dave has a whole section where he makes fun of newspaper writers' obsession with winning Pulitzers, so this sentence is a bit of an homage. BTW, Dave did win a Pulitzer—I'm not making that up—so I'm sure he won't take offense if he ends up reading this after all his book tour interviews, signing autographs, and setting fire to many pairs of perfectly good underpants (Read the book!).
**There are lots of footnotes in this book and, in the digital edition, the way they pop up when you tap the footnote number makes the jokes on top of jokes even funnier. Way to go, Dave!
_____________
DAVE: Thanks, Betsy.
BETSY: My pleasure, Dave. And thanks for the free book in exchange for an honest review … which I guess this really isn't. Whoops. Well, thanks anyway, and I'll think of you whenever I have nothing else to think about.
August 23, 2025
Let's see if I can remember the review I just wrote and deleted since GR failed to do so as promised...
Dave Barry is a very talented, good man, who manages to write social commentary, sometimes critical, while offending virtually no one. I have followed his career since the sixties when his column appeared in the Chicago Tribune Sunday magazine and find him as relevant and hysterical today as I did back then.
I'm glad NetGalley knew me well enough to send me a comp copy... just sorry it took me so long to read it!
Dave Barry is a very talented, good man, who manages to write social commentary, sometimes critical, while offending virtually no one. I have followed his career since the sixties when his column appeared in the Chicago Tribune Sunday magazine and find him as relevant and hysterical today as I did back then.
I'm glad NetGalley knew me well enough to send me a comp copy... just sorry it took me so long to read it!
June 25, 2025
Brilliant
Read
May 29, 2025This was just a delight - I've loved Dave Barry my whole life!
August 16, 2025
This was a really good autobiography combining all of Dave Barry's classic bits, actual interesting details about how he became a humor columnist, and some surprisingly insightful reflections. He writes fairly seriously about his family, which was a loving one, despite his parents' struggles with alcoholism and depression. He has a pretty long chapter about all the political campaigns he covered, which provides a snapshot of the '80s and '90s, as well a reminder of a time when we used to be able to laugh at politicians.
My favorite chapter was the one about the letters he gets from readers, many of whom take him inexplicably seriously on all manner of topics from Neil Diamond lyrics to the location of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. He describes one of his personas as "Wildly Incorrect Expert," and this seems to get the most outrage. In one column he speculates that "Hoosier" (as in Indiana, The Hoosier State) could be a Native American word meaning "has sex with caribou," resulting in a huge backlash of angry letters. He says: "My favorite was from a man who blew my theory completely out of the water by pointing out that 'Indiana has no caribou.'"
Toward the end, he offers this reflection, which I totally agree with.
My favorite chapter was the one about the letters he gets from readers, many of whom take him inexplicably seriously on all manner of topics from Neil Diamond lyrics to the location of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. He describes one of his personas as "Wildly Incorrect Expert," and this seems to get the most outrage. In one column he speculates that "Hoosier" (as in Indiana, The Hoosier State) could be a Native American word meaning "has sex with caribou," resulting in a huge backlash of angry letters. He says: "My favorite was from a man who blew my theory completely out of the water by pointing out that 'Indiana has no caribou.'"
Toward the end, he offers this reflection, which I totally agree with.
All my life I've been told that some Very Bad Thing or another was going to happen. I've been told that there was going to be nuclear war. I've been told that the planet would become an uninhabitable wasteland because of global cooling, and also because of global warming. I've been told that we were going to run out of food, and oil, and water. I've been told that civilization would collapse because of a pandemic. I've been told multiple times that a worldwide economic catastrophe is imminent. I've been told that the United States government was going to be taken over by communists, and also by fascists. I've been told that someday breakdancing would be an Olympic sport.
OK, that last one happened. But the others did not. My point is, I've been hearing apocalyptic predictions, often from people considered to be authorities, for going on eighty years. If I'd believed all of these predictions, I'd have lived my entire life in a state of abject quivering terror.
Fortunately, I didn't. Most of us didn't. Most of us lived our lives as if we expected life to go on. We had careers and kids, and now our kids are having kids, because they also expect life to go on, because that's what life does.
June 22, 2025
This was tough to rate. I grew up reading Dave Barry. I owned many of his books (I still own four, and that was a vast paring-down) and read them many, many times. I got to interview him when I did a story about Gene Weingarten for a writing class and it was an absolute thrill for me. (He was lovely, and in retrospect I appreciate that he took the time to talk to me, someone who was just doing a class assignment, not even something that would be published.) He liberally quotes from his own material throughout this book and I recognized a lot of it.
That both is and isn't a complaint, but it did ultimately bump this from a 3.5 to a 3. This book is called a memoir. We get chapters on his family (which is genuinely illuminating) and education, but a lot of the book covers his career. I liked some of the more behind-the-scenes stuff when he discussed his writing, particularly about how in the 1980s, a humor journalist could, for example, rent a helicopter for a few hours in New York to get a particular photo--without prior approval. A lot of the names are familiar to me, many because they eventually wound up at The Washington Post and getting glimpses into the logistics of his work was enjoyable. The story of him finding out he won the Pulitzer was adorable. And while I vaguely knew about his early, pre-humor column career, I enjoyed learning more.
That said, I felt like reasonably large chunks of this were rehashes of things that he wrote about over the years. The kinds of stories he wrote, the things his readers were passionate about (did I wind up with the Neil Diamond song "I Am, I Said" in my head? I did), some highlights over the years. I mean, true, I didn't know about his involvement in the popularization of Talk Like a Pirate Day (though I'm not particularly surprised by it). But a lot of the book felt almost like an annotated greatest hits to me.
Which I'm honestly not totally against! Like I said, I read a LOT of his stuff growing up and it was nostalgic to re-read. I had forgotten about Judi (who I believe he referred to as his research department), and was delighted when he mentioned Earnest (his dog) and Zippy (his small back-up dog). I always loved his dog columns. And his columns about book tours, which he mentions here. He also does discuss his post-column career of writing fiction, including a fun story about a trip to Russia.
I didn't love his chapter on politics. I did like the first part of the chapter, where he wrote about being sent to cover primaries and conventions and what the actual experience was like for him and other journalists. But once he got into the specific elections...pass. Particularly his concluding belief that the problem is that journalists were too hard on Trump (who, for the record, he does not like); he's one of those who thinks that the media leaned too anti-Trump and it turned people off. He does mention the other argument--namely, that journalists who were anti-Trump went too easy on him in an attempt to appear fair, which firmly is where I land--but doesn't think it. And honestly, I didn't want or need any discussion of Trump in this book.
What I did want was more insight into Barry's actual life. Early in the book, after the chapter on school, he mentions getting married, then says he's been married three times, takes the blame for his divorces, and then says that he's not going to talk about his marriages. He mentions briefly the birth of his son Rob (and gave a life update on him, which I appreciated, having read a bunch about him growing up), but his personal life is basically not a part of this memoir at all. He mentions things like moving and picking job offers and there's just nothing about what anything meant for him as a person. We get a little insight into his decision to retire from his weekly column, but that's about it. I kind of get it, but also, I spent years reading about his wife Beth, so I was bummed. I don't need the sordid details, but just more about his non-work life.
It comes down to me wanting this to include more of Dave Barry, the person, and less Dave Barry, the humor columnist. Still, if you're a fan of his, you'll enjoy this walk down memory lane.
That both is and isn't a complaint, but it did ultimately bump this from a 3.5 to a 3. This book is called a memoir. We get chapters on his family (which is genuinely illuminating) and education, but a lot of the book covers his career. I liked some of the more behind-the-scenes stuff when he discussed his writing, particularly about how in the 1980s, a humor journalist could, for example, rent a helicopter for a few hours in New York to get a particular photo--without prior approval. A lot of the names are familiar to me, many because they eventually wound up at The Washington Post and getting glimpses into the logistics of his work was enjoyable. The story of him finding out he won the Pulitzer was adorable. And while I vaguely knew about his early, pre-humor column career, I enjoyed learning more.
That said, I felt like reasonably large chunks of this were rehashes of things that he wrote about over the years. The kinds of stories he wrote, the things his readers were passionate about (did I wind up with the Neil Diamond song "I Am, I Said" in my head? I did), some highlights over the years. I mean, true, I didn't know about his involvement in the popularization of Talk Like a Pirate Day (though I'm not particularly surprised by it). But a lot of the book felt almost like an annotated greatest hits to me.
Which I'm honestly not totally against! Like I said, I read a LOT of his stuff growing up and it was nostalgic to re-read. I had forgotten about Judi (who I believe he referred to as his research department), and was delighted when he mentioned Earnest (his dog) and Zippy (his small back-up dog). I always loved his dog columns. And his columns about book tours, which he mentions here. He also does discuss his post-column career of writing fiction, including a fun story about a trip to Russia.
I didn't love his chapter on politics. I did like the first part of the chapter, where he wrote about being sent to cover primaries and conventions and what the actual experience was like for him and other journalists. But once he got into the specific elections...pass. Particularly his concluding belief that the problem is that journalists were too hard on Trump (who, for the record, he does not like); he's one of those who thinks that the media leaned too anti-Trump and it turned people off. He does mention the other argument--namely, that journalists who were anti-Trump went too easy on him in an attempt to appear fair, which firmly is where I land--but doesn't think it. And honestly, I didn't want or need any discussion of Trump in this book.
What I did want was more insight into Barry's actual life. Early in the book, after the chapter on school, he mentions getting married, then says he's been married three times, takes the blame for his divorces, and then says that he's not going to talk about his marriages. He mentions briefly the birth of his son Rob (and gave a life update on him, which I appreciated, having read a bunch about him growing up), but his personal life is basically not a part of this memoir at all. He mentions things like moving and picking job offers and there's just nothing about what anything meant for him as a person. We get a little insight into his decision to retire from his weekly column, but that's about it. I kind of get it, but also, I spent years reading about his wife Beth, so I was bummed. I don't need the sordid details, but just more about his non-work life.
It comes down to me wanting this to include more of Dave Barry, the person, and less Dave Barry, the humor columnist. Still, if you're a fan of his, you'll enjoy this walk down memory lane.
July 19, 2025
3.5 I’ve followed Barry for years - he’s a great writer. I enjoyed the first half of the book far more than the second, which morphed into a greatest hits from his columns vs. memoir. He doesn’t share much about his adult personal life ( his prerogative)
May 2, 2025
“Atomic war was part of the school curriculum in the fifties… aside from polio and nuclear war, elementary school was a pretty good experience,” Dave Barry writes in his memoir Class Clown.
Of course, he finds the humor in everything. Puberty. Politics. Great Literature (which he read thirty percent of as an English major). Hawking your books. The dangers of fire-starting Barbie Dolls. Did I mention politics?
Barry’s memoir shares his childhood, which was a pretty good one. His high-minded clergy dad ran an inner city nonprofit while building their house in a small town. Barry credits his mom’s sharp, dark, humor for his own sense of humor. But his parents had their dark sides; his dad’s drinking turned into alcoholism and his mom’s depression, in the end, won out.
In high school he found his niche, and was elected Class Clown.
What surprised me was his early newspaper career as a serious journalist at small papers and the AP, and as a business writing consultant,teaching writing to businessmen.Through these jobs he honed his skills in writing and public speaking. Teaching writing “made me a better humor writer,” Barry admits. During this time, he was also sending out columns to a small paper, which eventually led to the Philadelphia Inquirer hiring him full time, and then his move to Miami Herald.
Barry inserts excerpts from his columns as he shares his career highlights. We read him back in his Philadelphia Inquirer days, and when our son was growing up his syndicated column kept our whole family in stitches.
His career included a TV show inspired by his life, movies, playing in a band, co-writing a spoof novel, and authoring books for adults and kids.
To conclude, he shares his advice for all of us aging boomers.
It’s a laugh out loud book with genuine heart.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.
Of course, he finds the humor in everything. Puberty. Politics. Great Literature (which he read thirty percent of as an English major). Hawking your books. The dangers of fire-starting Barbie Dolls. Did I mention politics?
Barry’s memoir shares his childhood, which was a pretty good one. His high-minded clergy dad ran an inner city nonprofit while building their house in a small town. Barry credits his mom’s sharp, dark, humor for his own sense of humor. But his parents had their dark sides; his dad’s drinking turned into alcoholism and his mom’s depression, in the end, won out.
In high school he found his niche, and was elected Class Clown.
What surprised me was his early newspaper career as a serious journalist at small papers and the AP, and as a business writing consultant,teaching writing to businessmen.Through these jobs he honed his skills in writing and public speaking. Teaching writing “made me a better humor writer,” Barry admits. During this time, he was also sending out columns to a small paper, which eventually led to the Philadelphia Inquirer hiring him full time, and then his move to Miami Herald.
Barry inserts excerpts from his columns as he shares his career highlights. We read him back in his Philadelphia Inquirer days, and when our son was growing up his syndicated column kept our whole family in stitches.
His career included a TV show inspired by his life, movies, playing in a band, co-writing a spoof novel, and authoring books for adults and kids.
To conclude, he shares his advice for all of us aging boomers.
It’s a laugh out loud book with genuine heart.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.
September 6, 2025
The story of how I acquired my signed copy of this book is long and involves an unethical bookseller and what was essentially theft, not on my part. But I have it, which is what matters.
I liked it. I didn't love it. I guess I was expecting more humor; the excerpts Barry posted to his Substack (yes, I am that kind of fan) were pretty funny, but a lot of the book wasn't. Not that I expected the parts about his parents' deaths to be a laugh riot, obviously, but the rest of it... anyway, it wasn't what I hoped for. The funniest moments ended up being when he included parts of columns he'd written over the years--especially ones I have read more than once.
I was also disappointed that he left out any account of his first two marriages. Sure, it's his memoir, he can curate it the way he wants. And he puts it in terms of respecting his ex-wives' privacy, which I get. But his second wife, Beth, was so frequently referred to in his columns while they were married, it felt more like erasure not to at least talk about her influence. My favorite book of Barry's is Dave Barry Does Japan, and Beth's experiences were a huge part of what I loved. So losing that part of his life was sad.
Overall, I enjoyed the material. It was fun to get a look at the different circumstances that led to Dave Barry becoming one of our great comedic writers. But mostly, it made me want to pick up one of his old collections and revisit the ones that cracked me up most.
I liked it. I didn't love it. I guess I was expecting more humor; the excerpts Barry posted to his Substack (yes, I am that kind of fan) were pretty funny, but a lot of the book wasn't. Not that I expected the parts about his parents' deaths to be a laugh riot, obviously, but the rest of it... anyway, it wasn't what I hoped for. The funniest moments ended up being when he included parts of columns he'd written over the years--especially ones I have read more than once.
I was also disappointed that he left out any account of his first two marriages. Sure, it's his memoir, he can curate it the way he wants. And he puts it in terms of respecting his ex-wives' privacy, which I get. But his second wife, Beth, was so frequently referred to in his columns while they were married, it felt more like erasure not to at least talk about her influence. My favorite book of Barry's is Dave Barry Does Japan, and Beth's experiences were a huge part of what I loved. So losing that part of his life was sad.
Overall, I enjoyed the material. It was fun to get a look at the different circumstances that led to Dave Barry becoming one of our great comedic writers. But mostly, it made me want to pick up one of his old collections and revisit the ones that cracked me up most.
August 19, 2025
I’ve been a devoted Dave Barry reader since I was a teenager and his writing has shaped my own sense of humor and what I view as funny. For example:
1. Embrace the ridiculous and the absurd.
2. I should be able to laugh at anything. Most of all, myself.
3. Poop is funny.
The first couple chapters of Dave’s memoir were my favorites, particularly the first chapter, where he talked about his parents. In reading it I was reminded that funny writers begin by first being good writers, and man is Dave a good writer. I could see his mom and dad with all of their humanity, both the triumphs and tragic flaws. I thought of my own parents and their legacy. That chapter broke me. ♥️
As the book went on the chapters felt more like a collection of ‘greatest hits’ from Dave’s writing career. He shares extensively from some of his most memorable columns. Remember when Dave wrote about his colonoscopy? Remember when Dave started a feud with the Orlando Magic? I was cry-laughing all over again. But I also kinda wished for the poignancy and emotional punch of chapter 1.
I’ll always be grateful to my husband and our friend Mary for urging me to talk to Dave at a Washington Post event. I have a picture with him too. ☺️
1. Embrace the ridiculous and the absurd.
2. I should be able to laugh at anything. Most of all, myself.
3. Poop is funny.
The first couple chapters of Dave’s memoir were my favorites, particularly the first chapter, where he talked about his parents. In reading it I was reminded that funny writers begin by first being good writers, and man is Dave a good writer. I could see his mom and dad with all of their humanity, both the triumphs and tragic flaws. I thought of my own parents and their legacy. That chapter broke me. ♥️
As the book went on the chapters felt more like a collection of ‘greatest hits’ from Dave’s writing career. He shares extensively from some of his most memorable columns. Remember when Dave wrote about his colonoscopy? Remember when Dave started a feud with the Orlando Magic? I was cry-laughing all over again. But I also kinda wished for the poignancy and emotional punch of chapter 1.
I’ll always be grateful to my husband and our friend Mary for urging me to talk to Dave at a Washington Post event. I have a picture with him too. ☺️
June 9, 2025
Dave Barry, much to my father's delight, is writing a weekly column again. And much to my delight (my brother and I went through a Peter and the Starcatchers phase). His column on tariffs made me laugh until I cried, despite the fact that I do not have a prostate. What can I say. I don't usually find toilet humor funny, but it's funny coming from Dave Barry, who is still alive. I enjoyed his memoir about working in journalism; it wasn't overly personal and nearly entirely focused on his career, with lots of passages from his columns and other articles. I appreciated that because I was not alive for most of his columnist career. Those who were will, hopefully, find some long-lost favorite passage printed and preserved here. I liked his perspective on news media and journalism, and found his thoughts on the state of the industry reasonable (in some of the few serious moments). Father's Day is almost here, folks, and your dad might find this book excessively diverting.
February 20, 2025
This is self proclaimed "wiseass" Dave Barry’s memoir. For those not fortunate to be familiar with some of his work, this Pulitzer Prize winner is most known for his syndicated newspaper humor columns through the years. Growing up in the 50s and 60s, he recounts memories of those times, his family, his early career, his foray into following politics as a journalist, being involved in the film industry, a member of a rock band, and other experiences. And, yes, he was voted “class clown” in high school.
Reading this, I was laughing out loud by page 2. It is entertaining, witty, intelligent, irreverent, poignant as he shares his autobiography sprinkled with snippets from his columns. Boomers will particularly enjoy his reminiscences through the years and his take on the aging process.
In these dark days, we all need something light and humorous to raise our spirits. I particularly liked his reassuring message to readers at the end of the book. It is worth reading for that alone….
Thanks to #NetGalley and @SimonBooks for the DRC
Reading this, I was laughing out loud by page 2. It is entertaining, witty, intelligent, irreverent, poignant as he shares his autobiography sprinkled with snippets from his columns. Boomers will particularly enjoy his reminiscences through the years and his take on the aging process.
In these dark days, we all need something light and humorous to raise our spirits. I particularly liked his reassuring message to readers at the end of the book. It is worth reading for that alone….
Thanks to #NetGalley and @SimonBooks for the DRC
June 26, 2025
This one was really good. A memoir not a collection of his columns or short humor pieces. With all the Dave Barry I’ve read the last year and some, I feel like I could write a book about him. 🤣
September 2, 2025
Dave Barry has been one of my favorite writers since his syndicated column was in the Inquirer. I LOVED listening to this book. His life story is wild and unique, his stories are mostly self-deprecating, and I laughed out loud 100 times.
January 4, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
I grew up listening to my dad read Dave Barry's newspaper column to my mom. I think he even wrote a piece about a family member back in the 90s.
This book is typical Dave Barry humor. Some parts are serious but most of it is humorous. There are excepts from some of his writing that tie nicely with the backstory of what was going on in his life at the time.
I grew up listening to my dad read Dave Barry's newspaper column to my mom. I think he even wrote a piece about a family member back in the 90s.
This book is typical Dave Barry humor. Some parts are serious but most of it is humorous. There are excepts from some of his writing that tie nicely with the backstory of what was going on in his life at the time.
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March 18, 2025
⤅ Nonfiction Book of the Month: July 2025
I can't believe how well my nonfiction reading resolution is going, I'm more than halfway through the year and it's only March...
I've been a fan of Dave Barry since I was 14 or so, and in fact I'd say he's the only humour writer I actually know about or have sought out, although it appears he was a MUCH bigger sensation in the latter half of the 20th century. Or, you know, decades before I was born. Periodically I Google him to see if he's still alive (he's 77 so one can't be too careful) and that's how I discovered he had this memoir coming out. I've long thought he'd write a great memoir, so I was on this ARC in milliseconds.
Unfortunately, it kind of... was really meh?
By far the strongest chapter is the first one, where Barry talks about his parents and his childhood in a lot of detail. It's not always a happy story - his dad was an alcoholic and his mum later committed suicide - but that first chapter is infused with life and, more importantly, a ton of originality. The rest of the (very slim) book is mostly just excerpts from a few of his columns. If you read this book hoping to get to know more about Barry as a person, as I did, you'll be disappointed. His personal life isn't mentioned at all, other than a throwaway line which leads one to suspect adultery, and there are large swathes of this book which are honestly just dry.
Overall the main impression I got, leaving this book, is a sense of tiredness. The world has changed a lot in the last 77 years and let's just say he seems to be over it. Time to reread his older stuff, I reckon.
February 20, 2025
This was an ARC copy, thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley.
I grew up with a daily newspaper that I usually devoured, especially the Sports section. I can’t say I read Dave Barry’s syndicated column weekly but I did read it. I loved his humor. This book is an autobiography. There were some revelations. I won’t spoil them for you.
I grew up with a daily newspaper that I usually devoured, especially the Sports section. I can’t say I read Dave Barry’s syndicated column weekly but I did read it. I loved his humor. This book is an autobiography. There were some revelations. I won’t spoil them for you.
July 13, 2025
Dave Barry is the funniest author on the planet. His humor is irreverent, but never mean spirited or cruel. He has an unsurpassed ability to see the humor in everyday situations, to make us laugh at our own idiosyncrasies and personal foibles, to parody social conventions, to identify the absurdities in political discourse, and most of all to spot the incongruities between what we expect to happen and what frequently does happen. When he spoke in Cleveland years ago as part of the Town Hall Series, Dave told the story of a time when the sunroom in his Florida house was destroyed in a tropical storm. Although only the doorframe had been left standing, he found his dogs the next morning by the door waiting to be let out. All the dog owners in the audience were rolling in the aisles because we knew that our own dogs would have engaged in the same seemingly incomprehensible behavior. He has written numerous columns and several books which never fail to amuse. The social and political commentary in his annual year in review always leaves me howling.
Now 77, Dave has written his memoirs – a short tome that he has entitled “Class Clown.” Devoted readers will find a more somber tone than characterizes everything else he has written. Hinting that this is the last book he plans to publish – we’ll see about that – Dave uses the book to tell his life story. Although I count myself as a fan, there is much about Dave in the book that I never knew. It is at various times poignant, heartbreaking, incisive, and painfully honest. But, as you would expect, the book is also very funny. Dave – and he would never want you to refer to him in any other way – re-publishes some of his best lines, but also offers lots of material that is new to me.
Dave was born and raised in Armonk, New York, along with his two brothers and sister. While his homelife would appear troubled to most outsiders, Dave adored his parents and considered his upbringing charmed. His father – a Presbyterian minister who ran an inner-city mission in Manhattan – was a recovered alcoholic, as is one of his brothers, and his sister was institutionalized for schizophrenia. Dave’s mother – to whom he attributes his sense of humor – was clinically depressed and ultimately took her own life. The book contains numerous examples of his mother’s sarcastic wit -- observations that sound like something that Dave himself might have written. If there is a difference, it is that Dave is a bit kinder and gentler.
Dave regales us with stories of his years at Wampus Elementary School – experiences that include duck & cover drills (Dave wonders why, if school desks provide meaningful protection against atomic bombs, we didn’t erect giant school desks over major cities), becoming obsessed with Davey Crockett, polio shots, puberty, and dealing with girls. Dave claims that he was a serious scholar at Pleasantville High School, where he was elected “Class Clown” (from which the book derives its title) and where he shared a homeroom with Glenn Close.
Dave appears to have been a less serious student during his years at Haverford College, where his principal interest was playing in a band called “Federal Duck.” Along with the personal anecdotes about his college years, we learn how Dave and others in his generation – like me – were affected by world events such as the launch of Sputnik, the March on Washington, the JFK assassination, and the Vietnam War. As an alumnus of a Quaker-affiliated college, Dave avoided military service during the War by registering as a conscientious objector. But he decided not long afterwards that he was an atheist, explaining: “The problem with writing about religion is that you run the risk of offending seriously religious people, and then they come after you with machetes.”
Dave wrote for the student newspaper in college and, after graduation, landed a position with the “Local Daily News” in nearby West Chester, Pennsylvania. Beginning as a local beat reporter covering fires. burglaries, and meetings of the board of zoning appeals, Dave worked his way up to a management position. Dave claims that he learned everything he knows about writing at the Local Daily News, and he waxes rhapsodic about the years he spent there. But an opportunity in a wholly different field presented itself. For seven years, Dave traveled the country presenting week-long seminars at big corporations on effective business writing. During this time, he continued to write humorous pieces for the Local Daily News and, in addition, freelanced articles for a host of other publications.
Eventually, Dave was discovered. He was offered positions at both the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Miami Herald. While he recognized that the Inquirer was the more prestigious paper, he accepted a job with the Herald. Principally, that was because the Herald offered him the freedom to write about any topic he chose. But Dave also saw Florida generally and Miami specifically as endless sources of material for his columns. Dave’s choice of the Herald proved not to diminish others’ respect for his work. In 1988, he was awarded the Pulitzer Price for Distinguished Commentary. The Pulitzer Committee recognized him for “his consistently effective use of humor as a device for presenting fresh insights into serious concerns.”
In the wake of that award, a publisher approached Dave about writing a book. His initial effort was essentially a collection of his columns. But his book publishing career quickly blossomed. Over time, Dave wrote (or co-wrote) 15 novels and 28 other books that can be loosely categorized as parodies. In the 1990s, CBS broadcast a weekly sitcom called “Dave’s World” based on his writings. A couple of his books became movie adaptations, and he is co-author of the play “Peter and the Starcatcher.”
When not writing, Dave has played in a band called the “Rock Bottom Remainders” with a host of other celebrity authors, including Stephen King, Amy Tan, Scott Turow, Mitch Albom, Barbara Kingsolver, and Matt Groening. The band’s concerts have raised over $2 million for various charities. Dave also ran unsuccessfully for President and claims credit for inventing “Talk Like A Parrot Day” – which I think was a national holiday until replaced recently by Juneteenth.
But I said at the outset that the book is funny, and I would be remiss as a reviewer if I did not highlight a few of the humorous passages. Dave’s childhood memories include family car trips: “My family had a system for car travel. My father would drive; my mother would periodically offer to drive, knowing that my father would not let her drive unless he went blind in both eyes and lapsed into a coma; and my sister and I would sit in the back seat and read Archie comic books for the first 11 miles, then punch each other and scream for the remaining 970.”
Shortly after Dave moved to Florida, the New York Times published a serious article describing Miami’s numerous problems. The Herald responded to this snooty piece by dispatching Dave to New York to write a parody about the Big Apple’s own problems. That article included a piece on “New York Taxi Rules: (1) Driver speaks no English; (2) Driver just got here two days ago from someplace like Senegal; and (3) Driver hates you.”
Much of Dave’s writing consists of mock advice columns – e.g., ““Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys”; “Dave Barry’s Only Travel Guide You’ll Ever Need”; “Homes and Other Black Holes”; “Dave Barry’s Guide to Marriage and/or Sex”; “Stay Fit and Healthy Until You’re Dead”; and “Babies and Other Hazards of Sex.” Within this genre, Dave wrote a recurring column in which he presented himself as the world’s foremost expert on grammar, punctuation, and writing in general – probably an outgrowth of his years spent teaching business writing. Here’s an example:
“Q: What is the proper format for a formal wedding invitation?
A: A Formal wedding invitation should come in a squarish envelope, inside which should be several increasingly small envelopes accompanied by some sheets of what appears to be Soviet Union toilet paper. Also there should be various cards on which all the numbers are spelled out, as in ‘at Four O’clock on the Seventeenth of June, Nineteen Hundred Ninety Six’ and ‘Two Hundred Ninety Eight Harbour Oaks Manour Court Drive Terrace, Next To The Seven-Eleven.’ This information should be written in a high-class style of penmanship so difficult to read that many guests show up in the wrong state.”
Of course, it was political satire at which Dave really excelled. He was assigned by the Herald to cover presidential primaries, and that experience resulted in a host of gems. For example, Dave wrote this account of an Obama campaign speech: “Obama noted that he is for Change, and that he was for Change before Change was cool. He is unchanged in his commitment to Change. He did not mention his arch-rival, Hillary Clinton, by name, although he made several subtly veiled references to ‘my opponent, the screeching harpy.’”
Republicans were not spared. Writing about John McCain’s vice-presidential choice, Dave observed: “Critics continue to ask how much McCain really knew about Sarah Palin before he selected her as his running mate, especially in light of the fact that he keeps referring to her, in speeches, as ‘whatshername.’ But McCain’s staff insists that it conducted a thorough investigation of Palin, which included not only inspecting her driver’s license, but also, according to a campaign spokesperson, ‘reading almost her entire Wikipedia article.’”
If you’re a Dave Barry devotee, “Class Clown” is a must read. It explains how he developed his wicked sense of humor and serves as a collection of his greatest hits. But if he is an author you don’t know, it is probably better for you to explore one of his dozens of other books before reading this one. Trust me when I tell you that you won’t be disappointed.
February 16, 2025
Dave Barry’s secret: Never grow up!
Class Clown author Dave Barry lives up to the title of the book in his memoir of his life from early childhood through his many years as a humor columnist.
One of the first questions people always ask Dave Barry is, “Where do you get your ideas?” So where does he get his ideas? Spoiler alert: Most of the time he has no idea; it just appears in his head.
So why should you read this book? Most important, because it will make you laugh and lift your mood even if you have been having a tough day! It is more effective than medications and has no bad side effects except for possible irritation to a spouse who may be trying to read or sleep or otherwise be unreceptive to the sounds of your laughter. My usual practice is to write a “ha ha” note in my kindle and highlight passages that make me laugh, but I quickly abandoned that in this book because the text was so full of highlights!
There are other enjoyable aspects to the book that are worthwhile in themselves. If you have been a fan of Barry over his long career it is delightful to hear about his life and how he got into the unusual niche of writing humor in mainstream journalism. More broadly, though, it was insightful to read about the era when he grew up, the late 50s and 60s, a very tumultuous time in our history that included Vietnam and civil rights unrest. Barry also remembers, though, how in that era Democrats and Republicans would debate and argue over policies but then get together and exchange hugs. I am only 3 years older than Dave Barry, and his very accurate personal recollections provoked vivid memories, like the dangers of polio before vaccines were available. Readers who are too young to remember those times will get a perspective not found in the history books.
Another bonus was to learn about the movie and entertainment industries through Barry’s experiences in both. Obviously Barry’s profession is challenging and requires both talent and diligence, but it is also obvious that it is fun, especially with side benefits like playing in the Rock Bottom Remainders, a band composed of authors like Barry and Stephen King. There are even writing tips that we all can benefit from even if we do not submit our work to the Miami Herald, like the importance of starting with a lead sentence and avoiding verb mutilation.
This is Barry’s autobiography, so most of the writing is, indeed, new, but there are many excerpts from his earlier pieces throughout the book. These were enjoyable especially as insights into the period in which he wrote them, but it seemed to me that his writing has gotten better and better. As the book ends, he acknowledges that his plan is to lead a quiet life as he drifts towards eighty but promises to write another memoir if anything major happens. I certainly do not wish you ill, Dave, so I will simply wish you an even better future than your laughable past so that you will feel provoked to write volume 2 .
I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley and Simon and Schuster.
Class Clown author Dave Barry lives up to the title of the book in his memoir of his life from early childhood through his many years as a humor columnist.
One of the first questions people always ask Dave Barry is, “Where do you get your ideas?” So where does he get his ideas? Spoiler alert: Most of the time he has no idea; it just appears in his head.
So why should you read this book? Most important, because it will make you laugh and lift your mood even if you have been having a tough day! It is more effective than medications and has no bad side effects except for possible irritation to a spouse who may be trying to read or sleep or otherwise be unreceptive to the sounds of your laughter. My usual practice is to write a “ha ha” note in my kindle and highlight passages that make me laugh, but I quickly abandoned that in this book because the text was so full of highlights!
There are other enjoyable aspects to the book that are worthwhile in themselves. If you have been a fan of Barry over his long career it is delightful to hear about his life and how he got into the unusual niche of writing humor in mainstream journalism. More broadly, though, it was insightful to read about the era when he grew up, the late 50s and 60s, a very tumultuous time in our history that included Vietnam and civil rights unrest. Barry also remembers, though, how in that era Democrats and Republicans would debate and argue over policies but then get together and exchange hugs. I am only 3 years older than Dave Barry, and his very accurate personal recollections provoked vivid memories, like the dangers of polio before vaccines were available. Readers who are too young to remember those times will get a perspective not found in the history books.
Another bonus was to learn about the movie and entertainment industries through Barry’s experiences in both. Obviously Barry’s profession is challenging and requires both talent and diligence, but it is also obvious that it is fun, especially with side benefits like playing in the Rock Bottom Remainders, a band composed of authors like Barry and Stephen King. There are even writing tips that we all can benefit from even if we do not submit our work to the Miami Herald, like the importance of starting with a lead sentence and avoiding verb mutilation.
This is Barry’s autobiography, so most of the writing is, indeed, new, but there are many excerpts from his earlier pieces throughout the book. These were enjoyable especially as insights into the period in which he wrote them, but it seemed to me that his writing has gotten better and better. As the book ends, he acknowledges that his plan is to lead a quiet life as he drifts towards eighty but promises to write another memoir if anything major happens. I certainly do not wish you ill, Dave, so I will simply wish you an even better future than your laughable past so that you will feel provoked to write volume 2 .
I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley and Simon and Schuster.
August 5, 2025
I have a very distinct memory of standing in the bookstore when Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs was released, and laughing so hard as I read it that I thought I was going to have an accident of some sort. It is still probably my favorite book of his, and I was right there for the prime years of his column. I remember reading it in the local paper and then grabbing up all of the books he had published to that point, mostly collections of his columns and essays. Our senses of humor were definitely on the same wavelength.
When he retired from writing his column in 2005, that was kinda the last I "saw" of him. I was aware that he'd written more books, both fiction and non-fiction, and I'd pick up the nonfiction when I spotted it in the library, but it wasn't the same as having that weekly column or those collections or the still-hilarious compendium of bad songs. I've enjoyed his post-2005 work, but not with the same intensity and interest as when we were both much younger.
I was a little hesitant to pick up the memoir. These things can either be really awesome or really horrible - and mercifully, it landed squarely in the awesome category. This was just like picking up the old column again. And I even learned some new things, like the fact that Rob is also a journalist and has also won a Pulitzer Prize!
This books feels like old times because it excerpts quite a bit of the old columns, as Barry waxes poetically about his career, going from a daily reporter at a small-town daily newspaper, to a feature writer for the Miami Herald Sunday magazine (Tropic), to a nationally-syndicated columnist who not only won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, but whose collections of columns and essays formed the basis for the TV series Dave's World, and whose first novel was turned into a cult classic movie.
Barry is hilarious as usual, but also poignant, when he outlines his modest childhood years, the issues his parents suffered through, and the inexplicable tie to 9/11 that soured that movie experience. He outlines the reasons why he ended his column "so soon" (as if a thirty-year career is somehow "soon") and how he has moved through his professional life over the last 20 years.
It is quite amazing to realize how neatly he excises his personal life (after college) from this book, especially considering how much fodder it provided for his columns. There is also comparatively little about The Book of Bad Songs, and Dave's World. This is totally his right, of course, and good on him for protecting the privacy of those who never sought the spotlight, especially in this changing media landscape. There is plenty here to reminisce about, and it's a really great read.
If you were a fan of the column-days Dave Barry, I think you'll really enjoy this.
When he retired from writing his column in 2005, that was kinda the last I "saw" of him. I was aware that he'd written more books, both fiction and non-fiction, and I'd pick up the nonfiction when I spotted it in the library, but it wasn't the same as having that weekly column or those collections or the still-hilarious compendium of bad songs. I've enjoyed his post-2005 work, but not with the same intensity and interest as when we were both much younger.
I was a little hesitant to pick up the memoir. These things can either be really awesome or really horrible - and mercifully, it landed squarely in the awesome category. This was just like picking up the old column again. And I even learned some new things, like the fact that Rob is also a journalist and has also won a Pulitzer Prize!
This books feels like old times because it excerpts quite a bit of the old columns, as Barry waxes poetically about his career, going from a daily reporter at a small-town daily newspaper, to a feature writer for the Miami Herald Sunday magazine (Tropic), to a nationally-syndicated columnist who not only won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, but whose collections of columns and essays formed the basis for the TV series Dave's World, and whose first novel was turned into a cult classic movie.
Barry is hilarious as usual, but also poignant, when he outlines his modest childhood years, the issues his parents suffered through, and the inexplicable tie to 9/11 that soured that movie experience. He outlines the reasons why he ended his column "so soon" (as if a thirty-year career is somehow "soon") and how he has moved through his professional life over the last 20 years.
It is quite amazing to realize how neatly he excises his personal life (after college) from this book, especially considering how much fodder it provided for his columns. There is also comparatively little about The Book of Bad Songs, and Dave's World. This is totally his right, of course, and good on him for protecting the privacy of those who never sought the spotlight, especially in this changing media landscape. There is plenty here to reminisce about, and it's a really great read.
If you were a fan of the column-days Dave Barry, I think you'll really enjoy this.
Read
August 21, 2025If you are in your 70’s and enjoyed Dave Barry’s syndicated humor column in the 80’s, you will find this book laugh out loud funny. If not, give it to someone who fits this description as a gift. They’ll love it!
July 14, 2025
Laugh-out-loud funny.
September 2, 2025
Dave Barry revisits his career with stories of his life and his work. It's a fun book that made me remember just how hilarious some of his columns were.
July 4, 2025
If you are a Dave Barry fan, you will love this scamper down memory lane. He combines his usual irrepressible humor with sweet memories and leaves his readers feeling well entertained and perhaps understanding a little better what makes this writer tick.
All in all, a nice respite from the usual vitriol published in the daily news.
All in all, a nice respite from the usual vitriol published in the daily news.
March 18, 2025
4.5 stars
I understand that Dave Barry’s humor is not everyone’s cup of tea, but when I need a good laugh, I turn to his books and/or old columns (he retired from writing weekly columns years ago). So I was excited to read his forthcoming memoir, CLASS CLOWN: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass–How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up, a subtitle I can relate to.
Well, it was fun—not quite the hilarious romp I expected—but it was fascinating to see how he went from being a newspaper journalist to a humorist and learn about some of the events he participated in. Despite the lack of tears-inducing laughter, I ultimately enjoyed his well-written story and would recommend it as a “feel-good” memoir.
It incited me to bookmark many of his books in audio for future listening, although I’ll have to make sure not to listen to them when in public or driving a car (once, I nearly drove off the road from laughing so hard). And I’ll probably reread one of my favorites, DAVE BARRY’S BOOK OF BAD SONGS.
For a good laugh, read his column (you can google it) about staying in an NYC City, which he dubbed the “Hotel Shpennsylvania.”
Thanks to the publisher for the advanced digital reading copy. The publishing date is May 2025.
I understand that Dave Barry’s humor is not everyone’s cup of tea, but when I need a good laugh, I turn to his books and/or old columns (he retired from writing weekly columns years ago). So I was excited to read his forthcoming memoir, CLASS CLOWN: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass–How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up, a subtitle I can relate to.
Well, it was fun—not quite the hilarious romp I expected—but it was fascinating to see how he went from being a newspaper journalist to a humorist and learn about some of the events he participated in. Despite the lack of tears-inducing laughter, I ultimately enjoyed his well-written story and would recommend it as a “feel-good” memoir.
It incited me to bookmark many of his books in audio for future listening, although I’ll have to make sure not to listen to them when in public or driving a car (once, I nearly drove off the road from laughing so hard). And I’ll probably reread one of my favorites, DAVE BARRY’S BOOK OF BAD SONGS.
For a good laugh, read his column (you can google it) about staying in an NYC City, which he dubbed the “Hotel Shpennsylvania.”
Thanks to the publisher for the advanced digital reading copy. The publishing date is May 2025.
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