Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway: A Vicious and Unprovoked Attack on Our Most Cherished Political Institutions

by Dave Barry

Book Overview

Just in time, Dave Barry supplies the wholly original, much needed history and guide to the new American politics and its three capitals, Washington, D.C., Austin, and South Florida. No surprise: it's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 037550219X
• ISBN13: 9780375502194
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 180 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Laugh out loud funny!

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.

What happens when you mix a Libertarian and Satire?

What happens when you mix a true Libertarian with generous helpings of Satire? You get an extremely entertaining book that uses great wit to lampoon the anointed elite known as "our leaders". Dave Barry understands Government better than most of the politicians do and certainly better than the general public (most folks don't actually understand the line "I'm from the Government and I'm here to help" as being funny). The best part of this book is that although he uses satire, there is no exaggeration on his part regarding the inner workings of the Beltway. I'm glad that Dave Barry is a Libertarian and his sense of the absurd is fantastic. Nothing combats evil and pompous people better than humor. Groucho Marx made a career of it. Dave Barry takes it to the next level. I was surprised that the last line of this book wasn't "I'm not making this up". Enjoy the book; it's one of the best since P. J. O'Rourke's "Parliament of Whores".

Hilarity wins the election

There are no dangling, pregnant, or dimpled chads -- Dave Barry's "Hits Below the Beltway" has won the election. After many years of pokes and prods at our ripe-for-ridicule government, Barry strikes out with an all-new and very funny book.After an amusing dedication to his kids -- because they will someday pay his Social Security -- Dave launches into his giant-zucchini-ridden explanation of government, how it originated in ancient times. Then he goes on to the early United States ("Whereas in the course of human events it behooves us, the people, not to ask, What can our country do for us anyway? but rather, whether we have anything to fear but fear itself, so that a government of the people, by the people, and for the people may be one nation under God, who art in heaven...") and a heavily edited version of the Constitution ("Congress shall make no law regulating the capacity of toilets").Then he switches to the present, where he explains things like the Republicans and Democrats and why they are radically different, the different departments like the Department of Education (which goes up in size as human stupidity grows), and then to Washington itself; he goes over its history, Capitol Hill, the pointiest thing in Washington (the Washington Monument), the White House, and the Mall. Then Dave proceeds to what everyone wants to hear about: Presidential elections. He examines the different ways of trying to get a candidate elected, such as nominating a loser; and then he examines several political figures, such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, John F. Kennedy, John Glenn, and so forth. He also proposes some risky yet satisfying measures, such as giving candidates doses of sodium pentothal and forcing them to wear donor logos. And what book on modern politics would be complete without coverage of the farcical 2000 presidential election? Dave revels in the idiocy of the situation before proposing that Florida be ejected from the United States. There is a bit of a subject deviation at that point, where he spends many pages describing the diverse and insane anti-paradise known as Florida. And then it's back to the 2000 election, and the very rainy inauguration of George W. Bush.Readers may be inclined to hesitate when they see that this is a book about the government and politics, but there is no reason to be. If Dave Barry has any political preferences, they aren't evident in this book. He has a certain bipartisan manner of writing, in that he spoofs both major parties and small ones as well. Though the giant zucchini joke may get old fast, his writing is hilarious as ever; few of his jokes have been featured in columns or previous books.Dave Barry is as funny as ever, every bit as able to amuse and entertain. If you laughed at the commentators during the 2000 elections and wondered why it is the Department of Education doesn't accomplish anything, then this book is very much for you...

Dave at his best

I've read just about everything Dave Barry has ever published. Creepy? Yeah, pretty much. But let me tell you: this is some of his greatest material ever. He combines his classic wit with the already-humorous institution known as American politics, and the result is abundant laughter. I especially loved his 2 whole chapters on the Election of 2000; they're classic Dave Barry!

vintage Dave

Okay, I admit that I'm one of the hardy few who has read EVERY Dave Barry book. Even his weaker books are funny. This happens to be one of the classics. I read it straight through while sitting at a local bookstore. Although almost every page had something that made me laugh; by far the funniest section was his re-writing of our Constitution complete with fake amendments (number 8 was intentionally left blank). This is Barry at his comic best. He also has some funny bits on the Clintons (referring to the boring White House tour he points out tha that you only see the furniture -- oh, what furniture since Hillary and Bill took everything with them). This pseudo history and hilarious send up of Washington is a winner from start to finish. And Dave Barry is not making some of this up. And I'm not his fan just because I happened to have attended the very same middle school Barry did in Armonk, New York.