Amazon.com (ISBN 0345425782, Paperback)

"Booger." In case you're wondering, that's the title of a winning entry from a parody contest that Dave Barry's flagship paper, the Miami Herald, ran in 1989. There's more to Dave Barry than "boogers," of course--he's the McDonald's of American humor. One, nearly everybody likes him. Two, he's everywhere. Three--and this is the key--when you open one of his books, you know exactly what you're going to get: "Eugene is located in southwest Oregon, approximately 278 billion miles from anything." "If you're looking for a hearty entree that (1) is related to spiders; (2) is descended from a worm; and (3) has mutant baby-poopers walking around on its lips; then you definitely want a lobster." This collection of columns--sure to serve billions and billions--is called Dave Barry Is from Mars and Venus. (Strangely, it isn't a parody of John Gray's series, even though there's nobody better equipped to do one.) Inside you'll find the same genial, absurd fantasies, riffs on clippings that Barry insists he is not making up, and bizarre personal adventures that are his trademark. Do you like hamburgers? Of course--and you'll like this book, too.