Dave Barry's History of the Millennium
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Average rating4
15
Ratings1
Average rating4
Thucydides, Gibbon, Tuchman, McCullough-to the names of the world's great historians must now be added the name of Dave Barry, who has taken a long, hard look at our new millennium (so far) and, when he stopped hyperventilating, has written it all down, because nobody would believe it otherwise.In November 2000, the skies darken over Florida as hundreds of thousands of lawyers parachute into the state from bombers, while in 2002, the federal budget surplus mysteriously disappears ("Everybody looks high and low for it, but the darned thing is gone!"). In April 2003, no WMD have been found, but investigators do discover three barrels of lard, described by U.S. intelligence analysts as "a heart attack waiting to happen," while in 2004, an already troubled nation receives an even greater blow: the sight of Janet Jackson's exposed nipple. In 2005, Katrina, Cindy, Harriet, Martha, Valerie, Paris, Michael Jackson-women just got crazy that year-while in November 2006 . . . well, something happened; it'll come back to us.Plus, an extra added bonus-Dave Barry's complete history of the millennium so recently (and unlamentedly) gone: Crusaders! Vikings! Peter Minuit's purchase of Manhattan for $24, plus $167,000 a month in maintenance fees! The invention of pizza by Leonardo da Vinci and of the computer by Charles Babbage (who died in 1871 still waiting to talk to somebody from Technical Support)!Liberally illustrated with line drawings, filled with facts and commentary that will amaze your friends and confound your enemies (yes, we mean you, Osama!), this is the book that will finally earn Dave Barry his second Pulitzer Prize. And about darned time, too.
Reviews with the most likes.
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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Back in high school, I worked at a public library (shock, right?), and I kept shelving this book – Dave Barry Slept Here, and eventually succumbed and took it home – several times. I fell in love with Barry's humor, and read him a lot over the next decade – every book, as many columns as I could find, etc., etc. But I eventually stopped, for no good reason that I can think of (it's probably not Harry Anderson's fault) – and have really only read his novels since then.
Still, when I saw this audiobook on the library's site, it was an automatic click – without even reading the description. This is essentially a reprinting of his “Year in Review” columns for the first few years of this millennium and a review of the previous 1,000 years of human history.
It was hilarious. Just that simple. There's nothing more to say, really.
In the beginning Frederic played it straight – which surprised me a bit, but I liked the effect. A serious reading of Barry's goofiness worked remarkably well. Later on, Frederic seemed to loosen up – he even did a couple of decent impressions. I really enjoyed his work on this.
Yeah, the humor's a bit dated, but funny is funny. This is a great look back at the early part of the 21st Century (and before). I laughed a lot, remembered a few things, and generally had a good time with this.
