Review of Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up

More About Class Clown

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.

More about Dave Barry

Dave Barry is the author of more bestsellers than you can count on two hands, including Swamp Story, Lessons from Lucy, Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys, Dave Barry Turns Forty, and Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up. A wildly popular syndicated columnist best known for his booger jokes, Barry won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. He lives in Miami.

Thoughts About Class Clown

I remember Dave Barry being in the Sunday issue of our local paper. I mostly thought he was funny so when I got the opportunity to read his memoir (thanks, Edelweiss) I grabbed it. I've always been in awe of humor writers. How do they do it? How do they know what's funny or what's going to land with the audience?

Dave Barry reveals no secrets about humor writing. Turns out he didn't always know what was funny or what would land with his audience and spent 30 years agonizing over it (that and deadlines). This book was a fun opportunity to get some more detailed stories from the person you thought you know because you read his syndicated column. Although it focuses mainly on his writing career and the people, places and events tied up in it, there was also plenty of new information that made this book worth the read. Really, he did that? Really, that's what his family was like? Really, that's what he did before falling into life as a columnist?

This book was only eight chapters, pretty long chapters for a 256 page book. Thankfully, they are broken up with a variety of formats: conversations, lists, excerpts from columns, photographs, etc. And don't skip the footnotes. They're just as funny as the main text! This book is a light hearted attempt to flesh out the Dave Barry we all think we know from his columns. If you're looking for a fun read, try Class Clown.

A Little Extra

Dave Barry does funny. But he does it in many forms. Check out his nonfiction books, fiction books and Middle School/Young Adult books.