Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass by Dave Barry - Wait list

Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass

How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up

by Dave Barry
ebook
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 12 weeks
Place a hold Read a sample Read a sample
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 12 weeks
America's most beloved wiseass finally tells his life story with all the humor you'd expect from a man who made a career out of making fun of pretty much everything.
How does the son of a Presbyterian minister wind up winning a Pulitzer Prize for writing a wildly inaccurate newspaper column read by millions of people?

In Class Clown, Dave Barry takes us on a hilarious ride, starting with a childhood largely spent throwing rocks for entertainment—there was no internet—and preparing for nuclear war by hiding under a classroom desk. After literally getting elected class clown in high school, he went to college, where, as an English major, he read snippets of great literature when he was not busy playing in a rock band (it was the sixties).

He began his journalism career at a small-town Pennsylvania newspaper where he learned the most important rule of local journalism: never confuse a goose with a duck. His journey then took a detour into the business world, where as a writing consultant he spent years trying, with limited success, to get corporate folks to, for God's sake, get the point. Somehow from there he wound up as a humor columnist for The Miami Herald, where his boss was a wild man who encouraged him to write about anything that struck him as amusing and to never worry about alienating anyone.

His columns were not popular with everyone: He managed to alienate a vast army of Neil Diamond fans, and the entire state of Indiana. But he also developed a loyal following of readers who alerted him to the threat of exploding toilets, not to mention the fire hazards posed by strawberry pop-tarts and Rollerblade Barbie, which he demonstrated to the nation on the David Letterman show. He led his readers on a crusade against telemarketers that ultimately caused the national telemarketers association to stop answering its own phones because it was getting—irony alert—too many unwanted calls. He has also run for president multiple times, although so far without success.

He became a book author and joined a literary rock band, which was not good at playing music but did once perform with Bruce Springsteen, who sang backup to Dave. As for his literary merits, Dave writes: "I'll never have the critical acclaim of, say, Marcel Proust. But was Marcel Proust ever on Carson? Did he ever steal a hotel sign for Oprah?"

Class Clown isn't just a memoir; it's a vibrant celebration of a life rich with humor, absurdity, joy, and sadness. Dave says the most important wisdom imparted by his Midwestern parents was never to take anything too seriously. This laughter-filled book is proof that he learned that lesson well.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 13, 2025

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781668021804

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781668021804
      • File size: 17840 KB

  • Accessibility

    The publisher provides the following statement about the accessibility of the EPUB file supplied to OverDrive. Experiences may vary across reading systems. After borrowing the book, you may download the EPUB files to read in another reading system.

    Summary

    A moderate complexity publication with images and logos, converted to meet EPUB Accessibility specifications of WCAG-AA level. This book contains various accessibility features such as alternative text for images and logos, long descriptions, table of contents, page-list, landmark, reading order, structural navigation, and semantic structure. Blank pages from print have been removed in this ebook, with related page number spans set on the first following in-spine page. Certain front and back matter pages have been adjusted in the reading order sequence from print, with related page references reordered in the page-list order.

    Ways Of Reading

    • No information about appearance modifiability is available.

    • Not all of the content will be readable as read aloud speech or dynamic braille.

    • Has alternative text descriptions for images.

    Conformance

    • The publication contains a conformance statement that it meets the EPUB Accessibility and WCAG 2 Level AA standard.

    • This publication claims to meet EPUB Accessibility 1.1 WCAG 2.2 Level AA.

    Navigation

    • Table of contents to all chapters of the text via links.

    • Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation.

    Rich Content

    • Information-rich images are described by extended descriptions.

    Additional Information

    • Page breaks included

    • High contrast between text and background

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Booklist

      March 1, 2025
      Well, it's about time. At the age of 77, Pulitzer Prize-winning humor writer and novelist Barry has written a memoir. And it's a hell of a lot of fun. It's got its serious side--the early sections, in which he writes about his family and about his early struggles to figure out who he was, are rather touching--but it's mostly a funny look at the life of a guy who (as he says) writes booger jokes for a living. He talks about some of his most well-known newspaper columns, how it feels to be hated by Neil Diamond's fans, winning a major award (and wondering whether he deserved it), playing in a rock band with Stephen King, and watching an actor playing a guy named "Dave Barry" in a sitcom very loosely based on his life. He seems genuinely humble, genuinely astonished at how he's made an entire career out of writing funny stuff, and genuinely a nice guy. Hilariously funny, too. And we're not making this up.

      COPYRIGHT(2025) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Library Journal

      April 18, 2025

      Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist and novelist Barry (Swamp Story) reflects on his life and literary career in this wise-cracking memoir. Barry explains his early years and how his parents shaped his sense of humor and reluctance never to take things too seriously. He also remembers how one larger-than-life boss at the Miami Herald launched the young man who was voted class clown in high school into a journalism career where humor and amusement always took center stage. Barry's memoir is equal parts CV of his literary career and highlight reel of his most amusing humor columns, plus the funniest of the hate mail he's received, illustrated with excerpts throughout. From local newspapers to campaign trails to The Oprah Winfrey Show, Barry has covered a lot of ground in his decades-long career. Not many people can say they're in a rock band with Stephen King or had Bruce Springsteen sing backup vocals for them, but Barry can. VERDICT Lifelong fans of Barry will enjoy the familiar rhythm of his humorous (and sometimes satirical) storytelling, and first-time readers will enjoy his candid, unpretentious voice and hilarious anecdotes spanning nearly 80 years.--Alana R. Quarles

      Copyright 2025 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading