Rating: 
Summary: Hysterical
Review: As a loyal reader of Dave Barry's column in The Miami Herald, I am familiar with Dave's humor and how he examines things and makes these things seem like the funniest thing in the world. This was actually my first non fiction book by Dave, and in this book he continues with the same comedy that can be found in his columns. "Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway" is a book about the American government and includes things on American history and comes all the way to today's politics. The first chapter is about the origins of government, and starts with the cavemen and continues to people like the Romans and Greeks. In this chapter Barry shows how government originated by introducing some very funny concepts. Chapter two is about the United States of America being born and includes things on colonial life. In this chapter you read the Constitution according to Dave, which is hilarious. Next, in chapter three, Dave Barry describes today's government and talks about the departments that make up the government. His views on the United States departments are very funny. Chapter four gives a tour of the U.S. Capital, Washington, D.C. This is one of the funniest parts of the book. The fifth chapter describes the presidential election process. Chapter six is a funny chapter that shows what a political campaign is like by showing how the candidates trash one another and how elections can be corrupt. Chapters seven and eight tell about the year 2000 election and then go into telling about South Florida. The parts about South Florida were especially funny since I read about how corrupt the area that I live in is. As the title suggests, Dave Barry hits below the beltway with his humor. It is great to read about how he views the United States government and then giving ideas that may be rational to him on everything. Dave Barry's opinions on America's politicians and lawyers are funny as he informs you in a funny way about how corrupt they are. The last two chapters, which are mainly on South Florida, are hysterical as Barry tells what a corrupt area of the country this is. For people that have never been to South Florida what is stated here is exceptionally funny. All of the jokes in the book, with the exception of the zucchini ones, will have you laughing. I will definitely will be reading more books by Dave Barry, who indeed is "the funniest man in America." For plenty of laughs in a fast read, this is the book to read. Happy Reading!
Rating: 
Summary: Barry Goes Nuts
Review: Barry once again writes what he knows. Rather than a rehash of columns (which are also funny) he skewers the DC scene in a fresh and funny way. You'll laugh. That's a promise. And sometimes you won't laugh because he's dead on -- which is funny in its own sort of way.
Rating:
Summary: If you don't laugh at this, you must be dead...
Review: Dave Barry is a master at making foolish things look even more ridiculous than they originally were, and in the 2000 presidential election fiasco he has found his perfect foil. Not only did the "hanging chads" controversy play out in South Florida - a region which Barry knows well, since he lives there - but the election gave Barry a chance to give an entire "sort-of" history of the US government. Among the gems - his hilarious "personalized" version of the US Constitution: "The House of Representatives shall be composed of people who own at least two dark suits and have not been indicted recently". Then comes his take on South Florida politics: "I am NOT saying that every South Florida politician is corrupt. Some are merely insane". But, in my opinion, nothing equals his chapter on the election-night coverage by the major television networks. If you saw CBS's Dan Rather and his absurd Texas "folkisms", or ABC's stiff Peter Jennings, or NBC's Tim Russert going berzerk with his magic markers and dry-erase board trying to figure out the electoral college situation, then Barry's spoof of these gentlemen will leave you howling with laughter. Dan Rather: "Folks, we are redder than a baboon's behind...all we know is, the margin in this race is smaller than a speck on a tick's whisker...it's time to slop the hogs and put some kibble where the slow dogs can get it, because CBS News is calling George W. Bush the winner in Florida...". Or Tim Russert: "If Gore can also pick up Oregon and Missouri, and any 2 states containing the letter "L", then he looks to be in good shape. But if Bush is able to hold on in Georgia, Arkansas and...the British Virgin Islands, and then move his men north to Gettysburg before Grant can position his troops...". Dave Barry is one of the best humorists of his generation, and "Hits Below the Beltway" is a worthy addition to his previous bestsellers. Highly Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Laugh out loud funny!
Review: Dave Barry is often called the greatest American humorist, a statement I completely agree with. I've read his column for years, as well as some of his earlier books, and this is vintage Dave Barry. He manages to fit the history of humanity, the formation of America as a nation, and the 2000 presidential election into 180 pages. His humor is pointed and (no matter what he might have you believe) educated, but not mean-spirited. Barry pokes fun at lawyers, campaign smear ads, and much more, as well as inserting giant zucchini into every chapter. If you're confused, all I can say is read the book. It will give you a new perspective on the funny sides of American government-and believe me, there are many.
Rating:
Summary: Dave Barry's take on politics and government
Review: Dave Barry is one of the best humor writers in the world today. This book is his entry into the latest round of political/humor books that folks like Al Franken and Roger Moore have been putting out of late. Barry is more of a political moderate, where as Franken and Moore are liberals who in turn as responding to Right-Wingers like Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and others. Barry does make his moderate beliefs funny, which is something that writers normally find difficult to do. The left and right normally are able to be funny by making fun of the other side. Barry does it by mocking both, and neither at the same time. However, his heart does not really appear to be in it. I think this book is some publisher's idea of a direction for Barry to go in, in order to ride the latest fashionable book wave and make a little money. Sure, the book is funny, but not as funny as you would normally expect from Dave Barry. Because of that the book is somewhat short, and has a lot of bad jokes... I didn't think all the zucchini jokes worked. However, it is still Dave Barry here and the book is still better than most others written in this particular category.
Rating:
Summary: Dave Barry's take on politics and government
Review: Dave Barry is one of the best humor writers in the world today. This book is his entry into the latest round of political/humor books that folks like Al Franken and Roger Moore have been putting out of late. Barry is more of a political moderate, where as Franken and Moore are liberals who in turn as responding to Right-Wingers like Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and others. Barry does make his moderate beliefs funny, which is something that writers normally find difficult to do. The left and right normally are able to be funny by making fun of the other side. Barry does it by mocking both, and neither at the same time. However, his heart does not really appear to be in it. I think this book is some publisher's idea of a direction for Barry to go in, in order to ride the latest fashionable book wave and make a little money. Sure, the book is funny, but not as funny as you would normally expect from Dave Barry. Because of that the book is somewhat short, and has a lot of bad jokes... I didn't think all the zucchini jokes worked. However, it is still Dave Barry here and the book is still better than most others written in this particular category.
Rating:
Summary: Better without the vegetables
Review: Dave Barry's work always seems to mix very clever, witty, laugh-out-loud humor with attempts at absurdity (I'm thinking of the zucchini jokes) that just aren't clever or funny. The closer he sticks to reality, the funnier he is. There's lot of skewered reality in this book, zucchini notwithstanding, and it's well worth the read. Don't miss Dave's version of the U.S. Constitution.
Rating:
Summary: Dave Barry at his best... and that's saying something
Review: First of all, disregard the comments about a certain vegetable character in this book. Who cares? It's not like this joke is pulling down the rest of the material.
Anyway, I don't think a paragraph went by in this book that didn't have me chuckling. Certain parts, especially the meandering and largely off-topic musings on southern Florida and the dangerously amusing re-creation of the 2000 election news coverage, will have you laugh out loud more or less constantly. More than once I had to put the book down, calm myself, and then find my place again.
The only negative point I have to make is that, eventually, you'll finish reading and be forced to purchase another Dave Barry book.
Rating: 
Summary: Audio version, ugh.
Review: I bought the audio version read by Dick Hill, and I think I could tell that this is another great book from Dave Barry. But Dick Hill's reading voice is wrong, all wrong. He is SUCH a distraction from the content of the book. I had to give up after about 10 minutes. He constantly plays with his voice and does all these stupid inflections as though he's reading to a child. It's awful, simply awful. I hope that next time Dave's publisher will choose a voice that doesn't constantly interfere with the content.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious as usual
Review: I don't know what some of these other reviews are talking about, frankly. This book highlights Barry at his best, hilarious as usual.
The more you know about politics, the funnier this stuff gets. Barry is a highly intelligent commentator on politics and on the sometimes insane world of campaigning and lawmaking. His new-and-improved version of the Constitution is roll-on-the-floor laughing material.
Barry also discusses the 2000 presidential candidates, making light of their shortcomings, but also getting serious: he met both of them, and says that Gore was much more personable than he seemed on TV, and Bush much more intelligent. He's on to an important point here: the way candidates appear on TV, or the ways they are sterotyped by the media, doesn't necessarily have anything to do with who they are in real life.
A must-have for anyone who likes politics, and actually has a sense of humor.
| 
