Rating: 
Summary: The LARGE PRINT edition is perfect for a 50th birthday gift.
Review: I gave the LARGE PRINT edition to my Aunt as a 50th birthday gift, thinking that it would help rub in the fact that she was now old, but instead, she loved the book, and could not put it down. I recommend this for anyone who needs to give a 50th birthday present, just make sure that it is the LARGE PRINT edition if it is for a gift.
Rating:
Summary: yep, yep been there.....done that too !!
Review: I have read many of Dave Barry's books, and find them very easy to relate to. As I was reading this one (I turn 50 in one month)it was like reading a time-line of my own life. The little things that I had almost forgotten.... My life was also influenced by Mad magazine and the music I listened to over the years. There were some things that I remember as being very influential in my life such as the Munich Olympic massacare, the day the POW/MIA's came home, watching the 7 day war on tv in Senior High school.Maybe there is another book out there.... Dave Barry waxes more contemplative in this book than in any others that I have read. But at our advanced age....contemplating the past can produce fits of nostagia. Potential old farts......UNITE!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Almost as good...
Review: I have to admit that my favorite Dave Barry books have been the ones that simply compile his newspaper columns. Maybe it's that I have a short attention span. Nonetheless, this book was highly entertaining. Now, I wasn't born until the late 70s, so I probably didn't find it as amusing as, say, my parents would have. But still, it's typical Dave Barry. And a good, quick, painless history lesson for anyone my age who had a less-than-adequate education in American history.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a laughing explosion, but quite educational!
Review: I just started my reading of Dave's material, and I have to say, I wasn't laughing my head off, but the positive thing about the book is that it made me learn a lot of things about Americana in the mid-20th Century. Fortunately, I have never had problems with heating Pop-Tarts, I'm so-so on the hula hoop, and Richard Nixon did get us out of the Vietnam War, which is one of his few angelic deeds. Dave does put light into the dark happenings of the Baby Boomer generation, and he tells it like it is. I guess that I could recommend this book to someone who is in the 50-range when it comes to age. Pretty amazing since I myself am only 22. Anybody in my age group will enjoy learning about their parents' young days. I guess that I could read some of Dave's other books, because I like to absorb myself in pop culture. One thing, though...why does Dave have such an obsession with Buffalo Bob Smith? The guy is DEAD! G-whiz.
Rating:
Summary: you'll smile!
Review: I learnde so much from this book! I laughed(yes!), I cried(not really), and I had the time of my life. This is a great book. I've only been around since the late 80s so a lot of jokes were kinda way above me. But I still enjoyed it! Herman's Armpits forever (har har)
Rating:
Summary: you'll smile!
Review: I learnde so much from this book! I laughed(yes!), I cried(not really), and I had the time of my life. This is a great book. I've only been around since the late 80s so a lot of jokes were kinda way above me. But I still enjoyed it! Herman's Armpits forever (har har)
Rating:
Summary: A Hilarious Retrospective
Review: I loved this book. As a mid 40-something person I found myself to relate to the different decades in this book, and found much of it to be quite hilarious as well as nostalgic. The musical references helped me keep it all in perspective, and some of the social/political commentary got me thinking back on things in a new light.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious look back through time
Review: I really enjoyed this book even though i am 16 and was not alive when these events occured. One thing i didnt like was there was too much seriousness but that was really the only thing. I thougt the chapter on the 60s was best.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious,as usual,but thistimewithserious insightsaswell!!
Review: I thought that Dave Barry Turns Fifty was an amazing collection of humor, knowledge and history. I hope that certain readers don't get offended by the fact that I call the 50's and 60's and The Early Seventies "history", but c'mon, I'm only 17. I really learned quite a bit of factual information about various years throughout the 1950's to the 1970's. I can't believe the Pop Tart is over 20 years old... I figured it had come out in the last ten years! I really appreciated the last couple of chapters, as they spoke to me with great conviction about some very important philosophies that I had been challenging over the last month at a program I had attended. I was very impressed that he could make me laugh until I was running out of breath, and experiencing a significant amount of pain in my sides, as well as challenging me to think on an intellectual level, and inspire me to think more seriously about certain views I held.
Rating:
Summary: Hilariously funny, whether you're 50 or not
Review: I was born in 1967 and so have no claim whatsoever to being a Baby Boomer. But this book made me laugh so hard that my sides ached and tears rolled down my face. If you want to laugh, read it. You won't be disappointed.
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