Product Description

Dave Barry makes his fiction debut with a ferociously funny novel of love and mayhem in south Florida.

In his career, Dave Barry has done just about everything--written bestselling nonfiction, won a Pulitzer Prize, seen his life turned into a television series. And now, at last, he has joined the long list of literary figures from Jane Austen to Tolstoy who have made the transition from humor columnist to novelist...and done it with a style and inventiveness that establishes that, yes, he is very good at that, too.

In the city of Coconut Grove, Florida, these things happen: A struggling adman named Eliot Arnold drives home from a meeting with the Client From Hell. His teenage son, Matt, fills a Squirtmaster 9000 for his turn at a high school game called Killer. Matt's intended victim, Jenny Herk, sits down in front of the TV with her mom for what she hopes will be a peaceful evening for once. Jenny's alcoholic and secretly embezzling stepfather, Arthur, emerges from the maid's room, angry at being rebuffed. Henry and Leonard, two hit men from New Jersey, pull up to the Herks' house for a real game of Killer, Arthur's embezzlement apparently not having been quite so secret to his employers after all. And a homeless man named Puggy settles down for the night in a treehouse just inside the Herks' yard.

In a few minutes, a chain of events that will change the lives of each and every one of them will begin, and will leave some of them wiser, some of them deader, and some of them definitely looking for a new line of work. With a wicked wit, razor-sharp observations, rich characters, and a plot with more twists than the Inland Waterway, Dave Barry makes his debut a complete and utter triumph.

"The funniest book I've read in fifty years."--Elmore Leonard

"Despite wealth, fame and a tendency to undermedicate himself, Dave Barry remains one of the funniest writers alive. Big Trouble is outrageously warped, cheerfully depraved--and harrowingly close to true life in Florida. This book will do for our tourism industry what Dennis Rodman did for bridal wear."--Carl Hiaasen

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #715594 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01-01
• Released on: 2001-01-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 336 pages

Amazon.com Review
Dave Barry, the only newsman to win a Pulitzer for exemplary use of words like booger, will please humor and crime-fiction fans alike with this racy debut novel. The scene is Miami. In ritzy Coconut Grove, the teen son of Eliot, a newsman turned adman, sneaks up to spritz a cute girl with a Squirtmaster 9000 to win a high school game called Killer. Meanwhile, two hit men sneak up to kill the girl's abusive stepdad, Arthur. Arthur cheated his bosses at corrupt Penultimate, Inc., which equipped a Florida jail with automatic garage-opener gates that accidentally freed prisoners in a lightning storm.

Farcical confusion ensues, witnessed by a saintly bum named Puggy, camped in a tree in Arthur's yard. Puggy works at the Jolly Jackal Bar & Grill, which has no grill and actually sells guns and bombs to an offshoot of the Crips and Bloods called the Cruds, and to Penultimate (which plans to conquer Cuba). But when dim thugs Eddie and Snake rob the Jolly Jackal and Arthur tells them it's a Russian mob front selling bombs, the proprietor snorts, "Bombs, pfft! No bombs! Is bar."

Can Snake and Eddie spirit a suitcase nuke through Miami, "where most motorists obeyed the traffic and customs of their individual countries of origin"? Can Eliot and cop Monica Rodriguez save the day? And how do the 300-pound hallucinogenic Enemy Toad, the 13-foot-long python Daphne, highway goats, and the Denture Adventure seniors' theme park fit in? Everything fits perfectly, including a few dark passages new to Barry's work. But one warning: if you read this book while drinking milk, at some point it will spurt out of your nostrils. --Tim Appelo

From Publishers Weekly
In writing a comic thriller set in South Florida, the Pulitzer-winning Miami Herald columnist and author of 20 books of satirical nonfiction (most recently, Dave Barry Turns 50) risks the inevitable comparison to Carl Hiaasen. The good news is that he acquits himself well in this slapstick caper. Barry's cast of familiar South Florida oddballs populate what might best be described as a Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury) sendup of the hard-boiled crime novels of Elmore Leonard. Featuring a homeless drifter who sleeps in a tree and tends bar for two illegal arms-dealing Russian hoods, a pair of two-bit losers who hustle tourists at parking meters, an ex-journalist (now a failing ad-man), a pretty illegal alien, a boozy embezzler and his ill-used wife and daughter, a teen with a water pistol playing a game of Killer, a retarded dog, a psychedelic South American toad, two klutzy New Jersey hit men and a virtual army of local and Federal law enforcement, the novel's quirky players bounce off each other like popcorn in a microwave, chasing after a mysterious suitcase containing a nuclear bomb in an unlikely race against certain death. The zany plot has more twists than the I-95 Miami airport interchange and more pratfalls than a Three Stooges comedy. Despite an occasional stiffness and tendency to strain for one-liners, the narrative moves at a breezy pace. Barry is indisputably one of the funniest humorists writing today, and his fiction debut will not disappoint a legion of fans. Agent, Al Hart. 150,000 first printing; $150,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild featured alternate; 12-city author tour. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Those who admire the comic gifts of humorist Barry will find their appreciation rewarded with his first venture into fiction writing. He has concocted an utterly screw-wacky farce set in Miami that involves a homeless man who takes up residence in an abandoned tree house; a foul-mouthed, spouse-abusing embezzler; a dumb-cluck advertising man; two plug-ugly hitmen; and a passel of assorted psychotics. It would be virtually impossible to try to outline the complex twists and turns of the plot, and the reader has to be pretty sharp not to get confused while Barry puts his characters through their several paces. But it becomes obvious that his hand is firmly on the throttle when the action slips into high gear. To reveal the climax would be unpardonable, but the novel ends with a bang. As usual with Barry, the narrative is shot through with keen, ironic humor and subtle mockery. Highly recommended.
-AA.J. Anderson, GSLIS, Simmons Coll., Boston
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

A good trial run, but Dave's way out of his league
The unimaginatively titled "Big Trouble" is an acceptable "practice run" novel for Dave Barry. He shows potential to be a good humor/suspense novelist: the characters are quirky and believable (in a cartoonish fashion), the pacing was done well, and for the most part, it was a really funny book. Unlike some critics, I didn't find the humor to be interfering with the story -- it seemed to come out of the situations naturally, and, well, it worked.

On the other hand, the "plot" left much to be desired. Sure, we ain't expecting Shakespeare here, but the story reads like fragments of an Elmore Leonard novel assembled at random and with no real logical progression; it's like a plot constructed by a 16 year old Leonard fan who's just messing around. But like I said, it's a practice run; his next one will likely be better.

The only thing I really dislike about the book is the use of profanity and the sexual assault scene. Dave seems to have been infected with a case of Tarantino-itis, believing that no dialogue can be "realistic" unless it contains multiple f-words. Similarly, the scene with the creep ripping open the woman's blouse was gratuitous and inappropriate for this kind of novel. What purpose did it serve? If Barry felt like he had to add a titillating scene, why couldn't he have done it in a comedic manner, instead of a disturbing rape-fantasy? Barry's been a successful writer without this kind of stuff before, so why does he think he needs it now?

Overall: a funny, light read that has its problems but shows potential. Just as long as he doesn't quit writing humor columns! In that area, Dave reigns supreme.

A great laugh
Dave Barry certainly knows what buttons to push to get a laugh...from the goats on the highway to Elizabeth Dole trying to steal Arthur's soul, his humor ranges from low to high brow and stays funny all the way through. True, the flavor of some of the humor is unique but that's always been Dave Barry's signature. I enjoyed it, plain and simple. But I will say don't start this book thinking you're going to read a piece of literature to ponder about...read it with a bag of popcorn and a soda (well, scratch the soda - it might end up going through your nose).

"H" is For Hilarious. Thanks, Dave!
This book serves two very important functions: First, from a reader's standpoint, it makes you laugh, laugh some more, and then stop to wipe the tears of laughter from your eyes, so the pages aren't blurry anymore and you can go on reading. (Repeat sequence as required.) Second, it sends a message to mystery genre writers who take themselves seriously - DONT! This book pokes fun at just about every cliche used in the genre, and does it remarkably well. If you are a Dave Barry fan (and either you are, or you're taking *yourself* too seriously!) rush out and get a copy of this book and just enjoy. Oh, and watch out for goats on the road, snakes in the airport, and above all - enemy toads!