Homes and Other Black Holes

Rating:
Summary: Good Barry, some recycled material
Review: Excellent book, definitely recommended. Only one complaint: there is some recycled material in the book. By recycled material I mean text that was taken out of columns written on the subject at hand and inserted into the book with, at most, only minor modifications. This is minimal, though, and the book is almost completely new material.

Rating:
Summary: Better than average Barry:
Review: For those of you not familiar with Dave Barry, he is one of the funniest writers around, if completely irreverent and frequently downright silly.

For those of you who ARE familiar with his writing, all I can say is that this book is well above average for his writing, but not among his very best. It isn't, for instance, nearly as good as "Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up", "Dave Barry Talks Back", "Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need", "Dave Barry's Greatest Hits", or "Dave Barry Turns 40". It is, however, better than many others, and is about on a par with "Dave Barry Slept Here".

Rating:
Summary: How to make yourself miserable in your spare time
Review: If you have ever moved, chances are that you never want to do it again. And Dave Barry is quite willing to remind you why moving is such a hideous experience, and why if you ever get the urge to do it again, you should lock yourself in a broom closet until your fit of insanity passes.

Among other things, Dave explains why your furniture takes so long to arrive (it involves primitive harvesters in the jungle) and why you will hate it when it arrives; what is and is not a good neighborhood ("I [heart] my Pit Bull" is bad); the horrifying thing called a mortgage; home repair and why you should not do it yourself; making enemies with your neighbors and their big savage dogs; garage sales; moving stuff out of your old house ("Tropical fish should be individually wadded up in newspaper") and into your new house ("... which will give your possessions an opportunity to scurry, giggling, back out to the truck so that you may carry them inside again").

Basically, if the idea of moving doesn't scare you before you read the book, it definitely will afterwards. Dave explains in horribly, humorously accurate descriptions, just what will happen when you try to move from one house to another. His viewpoint is only warped by the bizarre mindset of one who has tried to move and is still scarred by the experience.

So if you ever look around your house and think that you need more space, or a chance of scenery, have the doctor prescribe you something. But only after you've read this book.

Rating:
Summary: You will laugh until you cry!
Review: If you've ever bought a home or you work in real estate, you will find this especially funny because it hits so close to....uh, home. And it's a short book too, so it'll be a nice quick read to fit into your busy schedule.

Rating:
Summary: The funny side of home ownership
Review: Its probably a good thing I wasn't drinking anything as I read this book, because I would have frequently sprayed the pages with my beverage if I had! Dave Barry takes aim at the trials and tribulations of home ownership, and hits the mark as accurately as he does any of his targets. This is funny stuff, best appreciated by those of us who have actually been there and done that. I had to read a number of passages to my wife, but her favorite was the bit about finding a pediatric group after moving. There is one piece of advice in here that I might actually follow when we finally are ready to move again: "Set fire to your household goods...and just walk away."


Rating:
Summary: Great before owning a house, a riot after...
Review: Look, how can you not love Dave Barry. The man is one of the touchstones of the '80s and '90s, standing among such comedic giants as PJ O'Rourke and holding his own.

This book cracked me up when I first read it as a non-homeowner, and cracked me up even more after I'd bought a house. While Dave has slown down slightly with success, this and his other early books (Babies and other Hazards of Sex, and Dave Barry's Guide to Marriage and/or Sex) are still uproarious.

Look, you need something to read on the john. This should be in the can at the Library of Congress.

Rating:
Summary: Dave Barry Home Again
Review: This is one of Dave's funniest books, and, as always, it's well worth the money. Read it. Because where else could you find an auther who writes about plumbing and gorilla nests in the same book??!