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Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States (1989)

by Dave Barry

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1,1432117,539 (3.9)17
"What caused the American Revolution? This is indeed a rhetorical question that for many years historians have begun chapters with. As well they should. For the American Revolution is without a doubt the single most important historical event to occur in this nation except of course for Super Bowl III (Jets 16. Colts 7. This historian won $35)." So goes the skewed sensibility, the muddied mind, the bent pen of one of America's funniest writers, Dave Barry. This time his subject is U.S. history, the way it's never been told before. Every single momentous event and crucial moment is covered, including . . .  * The Birthing Contractions of a Nation * Kicking Some British Butt * Barging Westward * The Forging of a Large, Wasteful Bureaucracy * Deep Economic Doo-doo * The Fifties: Peace, Prosperity, Brain Death . . . and right up through the scintillating Reagan-Bush years, during which, Mr. Barry notes, America is steadfastly Napping Toward Glory. If you love to laugh, if you love your country, if you are unaware that "the Sixth Amendment states that if you are accused of a crime, you have a right to a trial before a jury of people too stupid to get out of jury duty," Dave Barry Slept Here is the book you've been waiting for since 1776. Or at least since Super Bowl III. Praise for Dave Barry Slept Here "A dazzling performance . . . Barry is brilliant."--The Washington Post Book World "[Dave] Barry turns his formidable wit to the subject of American history, with a result reminiscent of the Reduced Shakespeare Company: The better you know the original, the funnier it gets."--Los Angeles Times "I fear that Mr. Barry's dream of making millions of dollars through mass sales of his book to a captive audience of innocent schoolchildren will not be realized, and he will have to be content with making readers laugh a lot, as this one did."--The New York Times Book Review… (more)
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» See also 17 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 21 (next | show all)
Dave Barry is a genius. However I take some objection to 1/2 of his jokes, as well as most of his expletives. Also, I'm a little thin-skinned where some of history's characters are concerned. Guaranteed laughs though. . . ( )
  OutOfTheBestBooks | Sep 24, 2021 |
This very old book was at the Little Free Library aka LFL. I have always enjoyed stuff by Dave Barry, so I picked it up based solely on the author's name.
The first half of the book covers the parts of US history that I slept through in school. The second half covers the remaining parts, those I lived through. (Maybe I should have slept through those as well.)
As a history, the book gets in quite a few one-liners. The footnotes are sometimes the best part.
Under the heading of prescience, the last chapter mentions Donald Trump three times. I think that represents a tie with mentions of Geraldo Rivera.

I enjoyed the book as a light-hearted change of pace. Will take it back to the LFL, I don't think I would ever bother to read it again. ( )
  CarolJMO | Dec 12, 2016 |
Dear Dave,

What happened here then?

Last time we met - in Hobbs, NM, if I remember right - you made me laugh so hard, I could hardly breathe. So what's with the half-hearted attempt at an alternative history?

I get that there are episodes that are left out of the US history books, but why did you need to write about the ones that were left out because they just aren't interesting. Could you not have chosen to present the ones that have an air of controversy about them?

What happened to Dave, the journalist who once braved a backlash of criticism when he supported the illegal importation of Canadian bathroom technology?

I am writing this burying my head in my hands and hoping that we have not grown apart since that fateful day you signed my copy of your Greatest Hits. Hoping that Greatest Hits would some day be followed up with a Greatest Hits, Vol. 2.

Yours,

BT


Review first posted on BookLikes: http://brokentune.booklikes.com/post/1040536/dave-barry-slept-here ( )
  BrokenTune | Aug 21, 2016 |
Love, love, love Dave Barry!! ( )
  darcy36 | Jul 8, 2014 |
This is a funny book, and the more you know "traditional" U.S. history, the funnier you'll find Dave Barry's take. His premise is that the history books taught in schools are boring--full of dates, trivial references, and supposedly important events that nobody really cares about--and he sets out to write a more readable version of America's past. He changes all important dates to October 8th, skips over things that sound boring (the Smoot-Hawley Tariff) or unpleasant (almost every war), and spices up the footnotes and end-of-chapter discussion questions. Barry's goofy, straight to the point, frequently jumbled, factually questionable, undeniably entertaining accounts of history are fairly similar to FunnyOrDie.com's Drunk History series, so I'd suggest checking those out if you want a comparative preview.

There's not much else to say about this thing. It won't change your life. You won't learn much. You'll just enjoy yourself. ( )
  Reed21 | Jul 6, 2014 |
Showing 1-5 of 21 (next | show all)
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"What caused the American Revolution? This is indeed a rhetorical question that for many years historians have begun chapters with. As well they should. For the American Revolution is without a doubt the single most important historical event to occur in this nation except of course for Super Bowl III (Jets 16. Colts 7. This historian won $35)." So goes the skewed sensibility, the muddied mind, the bent pen of one of America's funniest writers, Dave Barry. This time his subject is U.S. history, the way it's never been told before. Every single momentous event and crucial moment is covered, including . . .  * The Birthing Contractions of a Nation * Kicking Some British Butt * Barging Westward * The Forging of a Large, Wasteful Bureaucracy * Deep Economic Doo-doo * The Fifties: Peace, Prosperity, Brain Death . . . and right up through the scintillating Reagan-Bush years, during which, Mr. Barry notes, America is steadfastly Napping Toward Glory. If you love to laugh, if you love your country, if you are unaware that "the Sixth Amendment states that if you are accused of a crime, you have a right to a trial before a jury of people too stupid to get out of jury duty," Dave Barry Slept Here is the book you've been waiting for since 1776. Or at least since Super Bowl III. Praise for Dave Barry Slept Here "A dazzling performance . . . Barry is brilliant."--The Washington Post Book World "[Dave] Barry turns his formidable wit to the subject of American history, with a result reminiscent of the Reduced Shakespeare Company: The better you know the original, the funnier it gets."--Los Angeles Times "I fear that Mr. Barry's dream of making millions of dollars through mass sales of his book to a captive audience of innocent schoolchildren will not be realized, and he will have to be content with making readers laugh a lot, as this one did."--The New York Times Book Review

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