Rating: 
Summary: Lite Summer Reading
Review: If you want a no brainer to read this summer, this would be a good book for you to choose. It reads fast, and the plot keeps moving the whole time. Occasionally goes off on tangents that add nothing to the storyline, but if you a fan of Barry, you would expect nothing less!
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Summary: Big Trouble has Big Laughs
Review: With this book, Dave Barry moves seamlessly from being a columnist to being a novelist. He maintains his sense of humor and simply adds a plot. The plot defies description but basically it involves a teen-aged boy who is attempting to "kill" a girl he's interested in with a water pistol, all of which is part of a game played at his high school. As he and a friend approach the girl's home, another duo, who truly are killers, are attempting a real murder of the girl's father, a man who has embezzled bribe money from his company. This situation, coupled with a homeless man who lives in a tree near the home, and a curious and friendly dog, causes no end of chaos. The mental pictures created by Barry's prose are hilarious. This book would make a great movie, but Jim Carrey would have to play several parts in it. The biggest challenge would be to train a python and a poisonous toad, both of whom are vital to the telling of this story.
Rating: 
Summary: My Sides Hurt
Review: Dave Barry is a freakin' genius.I could end the review right there and anyone who read the book after that would probably concur. Only someone who lives in the environment of South Florida could have a mind warped enough by the world around him and the humidity to write this novel. I plead with the powers that be in Hollywood to make this novel into a blockbuster summer release movie! Imagine if you will Brian Dennehy and Ernest Borgnine as the hired killers. John Cusak as the homeless hero. It would make millions. This book is worth your time, money and attention.
Rating:
Summary: Into Miami with Barry
Review: In his first attempt at fiction, Dave Barry has given us an undeniably excellent romp through Miami culture. As an outsider, I especially benefited from his narrative commentary. I enjoyed how he was able to craft characters that seem to reflect fringe elements of society. Using only about 250 pages, Barry was still able to tell us how a less-than-minor character needed her 1987 Ford Taurus repaired. Barry found the happy medium between leaving us in the dark, and boring us. Also admirable is how Barry created numerous factors which would seemingly culminate in catastrophic disaster, but didn't. The ending was refreshingly happy. I may have even smiled. Barry is undoubtedly the premier humor columnist around. By trade, he his a jouralist. And in a way, "Big Trouble" is journalism, as it serves as a commentary on Miami and society in general.
Rating: 
Summary: a good beach read
Review: Let me start off my saying I agree with the reviewer below who can't help but laugh out loud when reading Barry's writing. I have read every single one of his non-fiction books (most in public places) and I really CANNOT control my laughter. I even grew up in Armonk where Barry did and love all his descriptions of that small town. I'm one of his biggest fans and laugh at almost every sentence he's ever written. So, I don't want to say that this book was bad because that's too strong. It does have many funny lines and some good moments, but it's really just a trifle. I enjoyed the Coconut Grove descriptions and the general descriptions of Miami, I laughed at some of the characters, but overall I lost interest about the middle of the novel and sped read through the last 100 pages or so. For Barry fans I'd recommend it, but for others who haven't yet read Barry's columns or other books, I would definitely recommend skipping this one and going right to any of his other books. I'm glad he got this out of his system so he can go back to non-fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Craziness at its best
Review: Thank God for the zany mind of Dave Barry and the talent for creating funny characters. Life is too important to be taken seriously and this view of life is the author's credo. He makes us laugh at a time when the world needs more laughs.
Rating:
Summary: NEARLY DIED FROM LAUGHTER
Review: I consider myself a reasonably humorous and clever woman, but I'm sorry, Dave Barry kills me. I don't know how this illness/affection began - I guess it was his column. But then I read that crazy "Naked Came the Manatee" and thought it was high time somebody - namely Barry and his nut ball bunch of cronies - told the literary world to just go take a deep breath and get over it - the rules, the pomposity, the whatever. So I grabbed a copy of "Big Trouble" at a book fair in Nashville last October, and found myself setting my alarm for five-thirty to get up and read more. Pardonny moi - Franchaise fer excuuuusse me - Room service thought I was borderline from the laughter they heard behind my door - imagine trying to convince a waiter at six in the morning that this book you're reading is the funniest thing in the world - believe me - HE DOESN'T CARE! And, no, I didn't turn room service in on expenses! Thank God, I was in a place that if I fell out of bed I wouldn't hurt myself. He needs this review like King Kong needs fur. Nevermind. I'm still here to say that if laughter is the best medicine, this book could cure diseases! I actually met Dave at a Literacy Partners "do" in NY - and gotta tell y'all, he's a peach of a guy. A very, very funny and very nice peach. Buy the darn book in hardcover and read it out loud to your friends. It will expand your social life. People might say you're getting mellow. At least they'll say you're an edgy kind of reader. Is "edgy" a word?
Rating:
Summary: Don't have high expectations
Review: Don't be fooled by the Author. I certainly liked the book. However, in crossing the literary barrier between astute social commentary (most of which involve boogers and bizarre events) and (humourous) fiction, Dave Barry loses a lot of his telltale schtick. The book has almost nothing in common with his articles and previous books, and, of course, is far racier than anything he's written in the past. So although an interesting read, do not read *Big Trouble* simply because it was written by your favorite humourist: you may be sorely disappointed.
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Summary: Laughed out loud through the whole book
Review: I listened to this book on tape in the car, and worried about getting in an accident. I laughed so hard I had to turn it off in heavy traffic. I spilled coffee laughing. I didn't want it to end. This is a VERY funny book.
Rating:
Summary: Big Trouble Rawks
Review: After having read the book in one sitting i'll have to say a couple of things. As one of the other members posted, the book had this eerie feeling that it was based on Dave Barry's columns. The reality as i see it, is that Dave Barry loves to harp on the same issues over and over again, and his themes from the columns naturally transplanted over into the book. His opinions tend to flavor the book, and it's fun when you can see part of the story you know he directly took out of one his ranting columns. The book isnt particularly deep either. It's fun and all, dont get me wrong, but it's a work of fiction that's meant to be zany. I walked away from the book thinking "cool" or some other similar word. It was nothing incredibly profound. if you're looking for an awesome novel, pick up "heart of darkness" peace gum2me?
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