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Lunatics
Philip Horkman is a happy man, the owner of a pet store called The Wine Shop, and on Sundays a referee for a local kids’ soccer league. Jeffrey Peckerman is the proud and loving father of a star athlete in the girls’ ten-and-under soccer league, and he’s not exactly happy with the ref.
The two of them are about to collide in a swiftly escalating series of events that will send them running for their lives, pursued by the police, soldiers, subversives, bears, revolutionaries, pirates, and a black ops team that does not exist. Where all that takes them you can’t even begin to guess, but the literary journey there is a masterpiece of inspiration, chaos, and unadulterated, well, lunacy. And they might even learn a lesson or two along the way.
The two of them are about to collide in a swiftly escalating series of events that will send them running for their lives, pursued by the police, soldiers, subversives, bears, revolutionaries, pirates, and a black ops team that does not exist. Where all that takes them you can’t even begin to guess, but the literary journey there is a masterpiece of inspiration, chaos, and unadulterated, well, lunacy. And they might even learn a lesson or two along the way.
338 pages, Trade Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
276 people are currently reading
1895 people want to read
About the author
Dave Barry
154 books2,247 followersDave Barry is a humor writer. For 25 years he was a syndicated columnist whose work appeared in more than 500 newspapers in the United States and abroad. In 1988 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Many people are still trying to figure out how this happened.
Dave has also written many books, virtually none of which contain useful information. Two of his books were used as the basis for the CBS TV sitcom "Dave's World," in which Harry Anderson played a much taller version of Dave.
Dave plays lead guitar in a literary rock band called the Rock Bottom Remainders, whose other members include Stephen King, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson and Mitch Albom. They are not musically skilled, but they are extremely loud. Dave has also made many TV appearances, including one on the David Letterman show where he proved that it is possible to set fire to a pair of men's underpants with a Barbie doll.
In his spare time, Dave is a candidate for president of the United States. If elected, his highest priority will be to seek the death penalty for whoever is responsible for making Americans install low-flow toilets.
Dave lives in Miami, Florida, with his wife, Michelle, a sportswriter. He has a son, Rob, and a daughter, Sophie, neither of whom thinks he's funny.
Dave has also written many books, virtually none of which contain useful information. Two of his books were used as the basis for the CBS TV sitcom "Dave's World," in which Harry Anderson played a much taller version of Dave.
Dave plays lead guitar in a literary rock band called the Rock Bottom Remainders, whose other members include Stephen King, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson and Mitch Albom. They are not musically skilled, but they are extremely loud. Dave has also made many TV appearances, including one on the David Letterman show where he proved that it is possible to set fire to a pair of men's underpants with a Barbie doll.
In his spare time, Dave is a candidate for president of the United States. If elected, his highest priority will be to seek the death penalty for whoever is responsible for making Americans install low-flow toilets.
Dave lives in Miami, Florida, with his wife, Michelle, a sportswriter. He has a son, Rob, and a daughter, Sophie, neither of whom thinks he's funny.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 930 reviews
March 20, 2020
What starts off as a seemingly innocent interaction at a kids' soccer game turns into a hilarious international adventure story! There were times I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard! Only read this if you need a good laugh!
April 29, 2022
ADVISORY Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel have both written books for children. This is definitely not one of them.
A series of misunderstandings between Philip, a pet shop owner and all around good guy, and Jeffery, a forensic plumber and complete asshole, escalate into international terrorism, revolution and the end of Donald Trump's political career.
Just a simple misunderstanding, officer
Looking back, I realize how it must have looked to the cops when they saw me. They’re all tense, they have a guy on the ground they think is Osama bin Whatever, and all of a sudden another guy, who they also don’t know, comes running toward them in the middle of the Henry Hudson Parkway, shouting and waving his arms, and he has what looks like a monkey on his shoulder. It could arouse suspicions, I can see that now.
Please believe me
"The point is, it was all a big mistake. I’m not a terrorist.”
The bartender nodded. “Of course,” he said, “if you are terrorist, you will say you are not terrorist. Terrorists do not say, ‘Hello, I am terrorist.’”
The speed of TV
He waved toward the TV set, which was showing pictures of me and Horkman over a headline that said BRIDGE TO TERROR. There was also a logo, like a silhouette of the GW Bridge with a bomb in front of it. Say what you want about TV news, they move fast. A gas explosion wipes out a preschool, five minutes later they have a logo for it.
Where is a good Samaritan when you need one...?
In Des Moines, if people saw two guys tied up on the sidewalk, they’d stop and help out, but this was New York, so nobody slowed down. Most of them didn’t even look up from texting.
My lawyers...?
“Wait. You’re my lawyers?”
“I would hope so, for your sake,” said Mike. “Because if we weren’t your lawyers, this wouldn’t be a privileged conversation. And if that were the case, we’d have no choice, as citizens, but to turn you in.”
“We’d hate to do that,” said Sharisse.
I stared at them. They were smiling at me, big smiles. Like moray eels, but without the warmth.
Land Ho!
And so we went to Cuba. It took us six hours, with CNN, Fox, and the rest of the news networks covering every second. They were showing aerial shots of our ship, and you could see that there were big U.S. navy vessels surrounding us, just out of sight over the horizon. Also there reportedly were submarines in the area, including some from China and Russia.
There were all kinds of Terrorism Experts on TV, and they were going nuts, throwing out theories about what was happening, what our plan was, what the U.S. should do, what would happen next. Everybody agreed that tensions in the Caribbean had not been this high since the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The secret rescuers
“Who are you guys?”
“We’ll ask the questions,” answered my rescuer. He definitely had an American accent. Suddenly it hit me who these guys had to be.
“Jesus,” I said. “Are you Navy SEAL Team 6?”
One of them snorted. “We call Navy SEAL Team 6 the Campfire Girls,” he said.
“So who are you?” I said.
He took a step closer and said, “Did you ever hear of the U.S. Coast Guard Salamander Unit 9?”
“No,” I said.
“Good,” he said. “Because we don’t exist.”
Revolution by virus
When activated, the virus immediately senses and penetrates any nearby networks. Once it gets inside, it quickly replicates itself and mutates as necessary until it has totally taken over. The effects, as we saw in China, are swift, and utterly devastating.
WILLIAMS: Do we have any idea who developed this virus, and how Horkman and Peckerman would have obtained it?
PEARSON: That’s a murky area, Brian. All we really know is that whoever developed it must have extremely advanced programming capabilities. The U.S. is believed to be doing top-secret work in this area, as are Israel, North Korea, Russia, Japan, and no doubt other nations as well. It’s also possible that another kind of sophisticated, extremely powerful and obsessively secretive international entity is behind this whole thing.
WILLIAMS: You don’t mean .
PEARSON: That’s right, Brian: Google.
WILLIAMS: My God.
PEARSON: I’m told Apple may be working on something similar, but with a cleaner design.
A humorous story of how misadventure helped many millions of people and overturned world politics.
Unfortunately the funniest parts should not be retold at your dining table in front of your grandmother and maiden aunts.
Enjoy!
A series of misunderstandings between Philip, a pet shop owner and all around good guy, and Jeffery, a forensic plumber and complete asshole, escalate into international terrorism, revolution and the end of Donald Trump's political career.
Just a simple misunderstanding, officer
Looking back, I realize how it must have looked to the cops when they saw me. They’re all tense, they have a guy on the ground they think is Osama bin Whatever, and all of a sudden another guy, who they also don’t know, comes running toward them in the middle of the Henry Hudson Parkway, shouting and waving his arms, and he has what looks like a monkey on his shoulder. It could arouse suspicions, I can see that now.
Please believe me
"The point is, it was all a big mistake. I’m not a terrorist.”
The bartender nodded. “Of course,” he said, “if you are terrorist, you will say you are not terrorist. Terrorists do not say, ‘Hello, I am terrorist.’”
The speed of TV
He waved toward the TV set, which was showing pictures of me and Horkman over a headline that said BRIDGE TO TERROR. There was also a logo, like a silhouette of the GW Bridge with a bomb in front of it. Say what you want about TV news, they move fast. A gas explosion wipes out a preschool, five minutes later they have a logo for it.
Where is a good Samaritan when you need one...?
In Des Moines, if people saw two guys tied up on the sidewalk, they’d stop and help out, but this was New York, so nobody slowed down. Most of them didn’t even look up from texting.
My lawyers...?
“Wait. You’re my lawyers?”
“I would hope so, for your sake,” said Mike. “Because if we weren’t your lawyers, this wouldn’t be a privileged conversation. And if that were the case, we’d have no choice, as citizens, but to turn you in.”
“We’d hate to do that,” said Sharisse.
I stared at them. They were smiling at me, big smiles. Like moray eels, but without the warmth.
Land Ho!
And so we went to Cuba. It took us six hours, with CNN, Fox, and the rest of the news networks covering every second. They were showing aerial shots of our ship, and you could see that there were big U.S. navy vessels surrounding us, just out of sight over the horizon. Also there reportedly were submarines in the area, including some from China and Russia.
There were all kinds of Terrorism Experts on TV, and they were going nuts, throwing out theories about what was happening, what our plan was, what the U.S. should do, what would happen next. Everybody agreed that tensions in the Caribbean had not been this high since the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The secret rescuers
“Who are you guys?”
“We’ll ask the questions,” answered my rescuer. He definitely had an American accent. Suddenly it hit me who these guys had to be.
“Jesus,” I said. “Are you Navy SEAL Team 6?”
One of them snorted. “We call Navy SEAL Team 6 the Campfire Girls,” he said.
“So who are you?” I said.
He took a step closer and said, “Did you ever hear of the U.S. Coast Guard Salamander Unit 9?”
“No,” I said.
“Good,” he said. “Because we don’t exist.”
Revolution by virus
When activated, the virus immediately senses and penetrates any nearby networks. Once it gets inside, it quickly replicates itself and mutates as necessary until it has totally taken over. The effects, as we saw in China, are swift, and utterly devastating.
WILLIAMS: Do we have any idea who developed this virus, and how Horkman and Peckerman would have obtained it?
PEARSON: That’s a murky area, Brian. All we really know is that whoever developed it must have extremely advanced programming capabilities. The U.S. is believed to be doing top-secret work in this area, as are Israel, North Korea, Russia, Japan, and no doubt other nations as well. It’s also possible that another kind of sophisticated, extremely powerful and obsessively secretive international entity is behind this whole thing.
WILLIAMS: You don’t mean .
PEARSON: That’s right, Brian: Google.
WILLIAMS: My God.
PEARSON: I’m told Apple may be working on something similar, but with a cleaner design.
A humorous story of how misadventure helped many millions of people and overturned world politics.
Unfortunately the funniest parts should not be retold at your dining table in front of your grandmother and maiden aunts.
Enjoy!
March 28, 2017
This is the hilarious story of two men on a comedic adventure like the Stooges or Laurel and Hardy. Just one after another madcap happening.
The two men begin as enemies and end as enemies. No character development just fun. And now we know who to blame for the president. Apparently these two lunatics! Lol
The two men begin as enemies and end as enemies. No character development just fun. And now we know who to blame for the president. Apparently these two lunatics! Lol
July 5, 2012
[Note: I had a hard time trying to review this book because I guess I disliked it so much that I blocked it out of my memory and couldn't remember what book I had just returned to the library!] I was so excited to read this when I saw that Dave Barry co-authored. I have read quite a few of his utterly hilarious columns and thought that the book would be of that caliber. Apparently he should stick to column writing. Although there were plenty of comedic moments that had me giggling out loud, 90% of the time I was reading the book because I had started it and felt like I had to finish it. You know that phrase, "couldn't put it down"? This book was one I had a hard time picking up. I even started and finished another book before I finished this one, it was that difficult. Mostly, the problem was the characters. The book switches between two perspectives, but both are so odious. One is a complete milquetoast and the other one is such a raging asshole that even I, a person that tends to appreciate fellow "angry-at-other-humans-for-being-stupid" people, could not sympathize.
Would not really recommend this to anyone.
Would not really recommend this to anyone.
December 27, 2011
I received this book as an ARC giveaway on goodreads.com.
I wanted to like "Lunatics," I really did. The first 60 or so pages were good - Buddy the lemur's antics had me laughing out loud frequently. A lemur with a taser is pretty stinking funny.
Unfortunately, once Buddy made his unceremonious exit from the story line, everything (especially the humor) seemed to go downhill. I had a hard time with the main characters. Peckerman (really???) is intentionally obnoxious, but becomes so over-the-top that I found myself skimming his chapters just because I was tired of his idiotic, racist rants. Horkman takes a 180 on the cruise ship that I didn't feel rang true to his character at all, only for that tangent to drop out of the plot and wrap up in the epilogue in an utterly unbelievable fashion.
The whole scenario required far too much suspension of disbelief and became utterly ridiculous by about halfway through. The last third I rushed through just to finish and move on to something else. Overall, I found "Lunatics" disappointingly unfunny and long.
I wanted to like "Lunatics," I really did. The first 60 or so pages were good - Buddy the lemur's antics had me laughing out loud frequently. A lemur with a taser is pretty stinking funny.
Unfortunately, once Buddy made his unceremonious exit from the story line, everything (especially the humor) seemed to go downhill. I had a hard time with the main characters. Peckerman (really???) is intentionally obnoxious, but becomes so over-the-top that I found myself skimming his chapters just because I was tired of his idiotic, racist rants. Horkman takes a 180 on the cruise ship that I didn't feel rang true to his character at all, only for that tangent to drop out of the plot and wrap up in the epilogue in an utterly unbelievable fashion.
The whole scenario required far too much suspension of disbelief and became utterly ridiculous by about halfway through. The last third I rushed through just to finish and move on to something else. Overall, I found "Lunatics" disappointingly unfunny and long.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 12, 2012
This book comes with an advisory: "Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel have both written books for children. This is definitely not one of them." It's not, but I love that such a nonsensical book was written for adults. The whole plot line is just silly - everything happens by chance, is misinterpreted, and then leads to something else crazy happening. It's delightful. I laughed out loud at least once a chapter, and most chapters were just a couple of pages. If you want to read something fun that will make you think a little and laugh a lot, this is your book. And the laughs aren't limited to the text itself: a blurb on the back reads "Reading Alan Zweibel makes me laugh out loud. And yet it is not a particularly funny name." - Eric Idle; and the page that dedicates the book to the authors' wives, "who, if we had discussed the idea with them ahead of time, would definitely have discouraged us."
August 7, 2020
Lunatics is a work of staggering comic genius and shrewd political insight.
I'm a lifelong Dave Barry fan so your results may vary, but holy cr@p this made me laugh. How could anyone not get a kick out of this crazy story?
Two nerdy Jewish guys from New Jersey get into a feud over a disputed call at their daughters' soccer game, and inadvertently become embroiled in a series of international political events that change the course of world history. Each episode is more absurd than the last. Super fun!
I'm a lifelong Dave Barry fan so your results may vary, but holy cr@p this made me laugh. How could anyone not get a kick out of this crazy story?
Two nerdy Jewish guys from New Jersey get into a feud over a disputed call at their daughters' soccer game, and inadvertently become embroiled in a series of international political events that change the course of world history. Each episode is more absurd than the last. Super fun!
March 1, 2012
One of the main characters pees on Sarah Palin.
If that doesn't make you want to read the book, it's because you don't like fart jokes, you don't laugh at pratfalls, the 'f' word makes you uncomfortable, and you never enjoyed Dave Barry's stuff.
Barry's Pulitzer Prize articles appeared every Sunday in the Chicago Trib, and gave me something to laugh at whenever the comics page disappointed. And he rarely failed with his exploding cows and alert readers. I was hooked on Dave Barry for years.
Then he turned his remarkable talents to writing fiction with Big Trouble and Tricky Business and if you love wacky stories that will leave you grinning like a monkey in a banana tree, read the books.
Any time two writers collaborate on a single work, it's sometimes difficult to see each writer's efforts. When Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson wrote their Peter Pan YA series it wasn't so hard. If there was a funny part, it was probably Barry. But there weren't enough of those for me.
Not so for Lunatics. I have to admit, I don't know Alan Zweibel, but if he truly wrote any parts of Lunatics, he's in Barry's league (he won the Thurber award, so he probably is). I downloaded a Zweibel book after reading Lunatics.
You can tell they had a blast writing this. And I'm sure I don't even get all of the jokes. Dave Barry's assistant Judy Smith even gets a cameo as an NBC China correspondent. I'm sure there are a lot more inside jokes that went over my head.
Yes, this is a sophomoric book. Yes, there's too much 'naughty' language. But if you want a book that takes lunacy to another level, you won't find a better read.
And Sarah Palin gets peed on.
It doesn't get any better than that.
Norm
http://www.normcowie.com
If that doesn't make you want to read the book, it's because you don't like fart jokes, you don't laugh at pratfalls, the 'f' word makes you uncomfortable, and you never enjoyed Dave Barry's stuff.
Barry's Pulitzer Prize articles appeared every Sunday in the Chicago Trib, and gave me something to laugh at whenever the comics page disappointed. And he rarely failed with his exploding cows and alert readers. I was hooked on Dave Barry for years.
Then he turned his remarkable talents to writing fiction with Big Trouble and Tricky Business and if you love wacky stories that will leave you grinning like a monkey in a banana tree, read the books.
Any time two writers collaborate on a single work, it's sometimes difficult to see each writer's efforts. When Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson wrote their Peter Pan YA series it wasn't so hard. If there was a funny part, it was probably Barry. But there weren't enough of those for me.
Not so for Lunatics. I have to admit, I don't know Alan Zweibel, but if he truly wrote any parts of Lunatics, he's in Barry's league (he won the Thurber award, so he probably is). I downloaded a Zweibel book after reading Lunatics.
You can tell they had a blast writing this. And I'm sure I don't even get all of the jokes. Dave Barry's assistant Judy Smith even gets a cameo as an NBC China correspondent. I'm sure there are a lot more inside jokes that went over my head.
Yes, this is a sophomoric book. Yes, there's too much 'naughty' language. But if you want a book that takes lunacy to another level, you won't find a better read.
And Sarah Palin gets peed on.
It doesn't get any better than that.
Norm
http://www.normcowie.com
did-not-finish
March 4, 2016Nope, nope, nope. DNF’d at 20%.
I was looking for something fun and silly after a run of heavy books and this came recommended, but…. WHAT. THE. HELL?
It was too stupid and juvenile to be funny. Everyone was a total arsehole. The supposed ‘nice guy’ was keeping an endangered lemur in a tiny cage. Said lemur ends up being swung around by its tail during a school dance recital at the 15% mark. The lemur then steals a police gun and shoots upwards, the bullet goes through the bottom of a helicopter and lodges in the pilot's scrotum. I stopped reading at around this point. I just can’t. I know it’s meant to be absurdist and satirical, and maybe it would work OK as a film or sitcom, but for a book to be funny there needs to be some kind of internal consistency, some subtlety, a little bit of comic timing and wryness and the characters need to make sense and play off each other. In this case the protagonists were just two deluded bellends raging around being racist, sexist, homophobic wankers.
I’m not going to rate it because I didn’t finish it. Just going to move onto something that’s actually fun and silly. Better things to do with my time.
I was looking for something fun and silly after a run of heavy books and this came recommended, but…. WHAT. THE. HELL?
It was too stupid and juvenile to be funny. Everyone was a total arsehole. The supposed ‘nice guy’ was keeping an endangered lemur in a tiny cage. Said lemur ends up being swung around by its tail during a school dance recital at the 15% mark. The lemur then steals a police gun and shoots upwards, the bullet goes through the bottom of a helicopter and lodges in the pilot's scrotum. I stopped reading at around this point. I just can’t. I know it’s meant to be absurdist and satirical, and maybe it would work OK as a film or sitcom, but for a book to be funny there needs to be some kind of internal consistency, some subtlety, a little bit of comic timing and wryness and the characters need to make sense and play off each other. In this case the protagonists were just two deluded bellends raging around being racist, sexist, homophobic wankers.
I’m not going to rate it because I didn’t finish it. Just going to move onto something that’s actually fun and silly. Better things to do with my time.
January 3, 2012
Won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
Well, after reading this, I have to agree with my husband, who cautioned me from the start that comic novels are tricky to pull off.
Most of the book was funny enough to make me smirk. There were some parts that made me laugh out loud, though -- I am ashamed to say, those parts were largely poop-based humor... So, although I generally think of myself as a somewhat cultured person, the authors got me there. When it came down to it, a funny passage on diarrhea had me giggling. Bravo.
Unlike other people who have reviewed this, I think it's totally unfair to harp on how the plot is unbelievable. That was kind of the whole point. I get that the authors were not shooting for realism (or insight, for that matter), but for a modern day absurdist comedy of errors. And I enjoyed it well enough, especially the second half or so when the high jinks involve politics around the globe.
But, in the end, even taking into consideration what type of book this was supposed to be, I thought - I gave "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" and "In Cold Blood" 3-star ratings... I can't really justify giving this light-hearted romp 3 stars, in comparison... Therein lies the dilemma of the comic novel, I suppose. It must have to be really, really funny to make the same impact as 'serious literature'. I'm sure they are out there, but this book was just OK.
Well, after reading this, I have to agree with my husband, who cautioned me from the start that comic novels are tricky to pull off.
Most of the book was funny enough to make me smirk. There were some parts that made me laugh out loud, though -- I am ashamed to say, those parts were largely poop-based humor... So, although I generally think of myself as a somewhat cultured person, the authors got me there. When it came down to it, a funny passage on diarrhea had me giggling. Bravo.
Unlike other people who have reviewed this, I think it's totally unfair to harp on how the plot is unbelievable. That was kind of the whole point. I get that the authors were not shooting for realism (or insight, for that matter), but for a modern day absurdist comedy of errors. And I enjoyed it well enough, especially the second half or so when the high jinks involve politics around the globe.
But, in the end, even taking into consideration what type of book this was supposed to be, I thought - I gave "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" and "In Cold Blood" 3-star ratings... I can't really justify giving this light-hearted romp 3 stars, in comparison... Therein lies the dilemma of the comic novel, I suppose. It must have to be really, really funny to make the same impact as 'serious literature'. I'm sure they are out there, but this book was just OK.
May 27, 2013
Absolutely hilarious! Not my usual kind of read - but it was so silly it had me laughing out loud. Quick and easy read - perfect summer fun. Loved it!
September 7, 2016
Early in the book, there is a note that Barry and Zweibel have both written books for children, but that this is not one of them.
I'll say.
I couldn't stomach this book. Its two main characters alternate chapters (though they sound pretty much alike after the first few). One is a Prius-driving pet shop owner; the other a profane "forensic plumber." They meet up first at a soccer game, where the pet shop owner is refereeing calls the plumber's ten-year-old daughter offside, and he has a fit. Things deteriorate from there. I left after the car chase and shoot-out where they accidentally brought a police helicopter pilot down by shooting him in the scrotum. Flipping through the rest of the book, I also noted a nudist cruise and someone urinating on Sarah Palin.
This reads as if Barry and Zweibel egged each other on to see who could write the grossest and most ridiculous plot points. I would suspect alcohol was involved, though that would not explain its getting as far as being published.
Too bad.
I'll say.
I couldn't stomach this book. Its two main characters alternate chapters (though they sound pretty much alike after the first few). One is a Prius-driving pet shop owner; the other a profane "forensic plumber." They meet up first at a soccer game, where the pet shop owner is refereeing calls the plumber's ten-year-old daughter offside, and he has a fit. Things deteriorate from there. I left after the car chase and shoot-out where they accidentally brought a police helicopter pilot down by shooting him in the scrotum. Flipping through the rest of the book, I also noted a nudist cruise and someone urinating on Sarah Palin.
This reads as if Barry and Zweibel egged each other on to see who could write the grossest and most ridiculous plot points. I would suspect alcohol was involved, though that would not explain its getting as far as being published.
Too bad.
January 19, 2012
I received a free ARC through Goodreads - sorry guys.
This book is called Lunatics which implies a level of sophistication that the book does not have. It should have been called A**holes, and if you think that's a funnier title - this book might be for you. This is about 2 guys who go on a Forrest Gumpian trip through modern-day conflicts. One is supposed to be nicer, but the real difference is that one swears more.
I wanted this book to be hilarious, but it's just mean-spirited. Sometimes being non-PC, really is just racist and misogynistic. Is it really funny to make fun of your own children? (This is off-topic, but: The only thing that made me laugh was 3 sentences about how NBA players can't make a basket without traveling. So true.)
Sorry, my advice is to give this one a pass.
This book is called Lunatics which implies a level of sophistication that the book does not have. It should have been called A**holes, and if you think that's a funnier title - this book might be for you. This is about 2 guys who go on a Forrest Gumpian trip through modern-day conflicts. One is supposed to be nicer, but the real difference is that one swears more.
I wanted this book to be hilarious, but it's just mean-spirited. Sometimes being non-PC, really is just racist and misogynistic. Is it really funny to make fun of your own children? (This is off-topic, but: The only thing that made me laugh was 3 sentences about how NBA players can't make a basket without traveling. So true.)
Sorry, my advice is to give this one a pass.
January 20, 2012
Barry and Zweibel wrote this in competitive, out-grossing, unfunny chapters from the first person narratives of Jeffrey, a racist, homophobic jerk who’s a foulmouthed forensic plumber. Philip is a pet-store owner, a nebbish, who drives a Prius. Each man and each author wants to top the other in this plotless mess. As a five minute improv, this might have been fun; as a novel, for me,
no
.
December 2, 2018
A work of comedic genius!
Phillip Horkman is a nice guy. He owns a pet store called The Wine Shop. He referees youth soccer games.
Jeffrey Peckerman thinks he's the only sane person in a world full of douchebags.
What begins as Phillip calling Jeffrey's daughter off sides at a 10-year-old and under soccer match turns into the two men being the subjects of a worldwide manhunt as sexually-deviant terrorists!
Laugh out loud hilarious hi-jinks!
Phillip Horkman is a nice guy. He owns a pet store called The Wine Shop. He referees youth soccer games.
Jeffrey Peckerman thinks he's the only sane person in a world full of douchebags.
What begins as Phillip calling Jeffrey's daughter off sides at a 10-year-old and under soccer match turns into the two men being the subjects of a worldwide manhunt as sexually-deviant terrorists!
Laugh out loud hilarious hi-jinks!
July 6, 2021
Dave Barry predicted the future.
February 17, 2012
Having read most of Dave Barry's books over the years, I had a pretty good idea what I would be getting into. Not, perhaps, one of his better novels (alone or with a partner) but even at the best of times, Barry's novels don't tend to walk a fine line - they leap over any line of taste and wallow- and that is the hallmark here. With all the flatulence and gastric mishaps, and there are more than several (leading one to think that Peckerman's wife would have been thrilled to have him gone), one has to assume that the "guy" in Dave Barry overpowered and possibly suffocated what spindly "man" might have been hiding inside (Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys).
Flatulence and other unpleasantness aside, the ridiculous meter just kept rising on this one, presumably to see how far they could push it. There wasn't really any effort to make the story even semi-believable. The calm and accepting demeanor of those characters the narrators met were even more unbelievable in that, since nearly all of them had guns, one of these people didn't simply shoot one or both of the narrators.
I laughed out loud in many of the chapters, none of it particularly memorable but ludicrous, nonsensical, silly. That the book got written at all I suspect must be a bit of a miracle as, based on the book, I would think that together the authors would have spent much of their time making armpit farts and belching the alphabet, as opposed to writing.
Flatulence and other unpleasantness aside, the ridiculous meter just kept rising on this one, presumably to see how far they could push it. There wasn't really any effort to make the story even semi-believable. The calm and accepting demeanor of those characters the narrators met were even more unbelievable in that, since nearly all of them had guns, one of these people didn't simply shoot one or both of the narrators.
I laughed out loud in many of the chapters, none of it particularly memorable but ludicrous, nonsensical, silly. That the book got written at all I suspect must be a bit of a miracle as, based on the book, I would think that together the authors would have spent much of their time making armpit farts and belching the alphabet, as opposed to writing.
August 23, 2015
Great fun! I am a fan of Dave Barry, but this collaboration with Alan Zweibel (whom I had not known before) and read by booth authors with a few actors was just terrific! Even my husband, with whom we have very different tastes, loved it. We listened to it on a 7 hours car trip, after I had already listened to it on my own, and I hardly ever read or listen to books twice. Wow! What a trip (in this book)! NJ to NYC to Cuba to China to Egypt to .... Oh wow! You get to meet Somali pirates, Cuban underground and Donald Trump! I also thought that "news reports" inserted in the latter part of the book were so much fun, and wish there were such inserts throughout the book. Highly recommend even if you had never read either of the two humorists before.
April 22, 2013
So my husband was embarrassing himself. Laughing out loud at a private resort in the SVI...I was appalled and I told him so. Then, I ran out of books to read on the trip so I started this one on the way back...and I LAUGHED OUT LOUD on the many airplanes that we took to get home. I finished it by touchdown and have since apologized. For a comedy book...it is incredibly well done. Far fetched and far reaching and crazy good. And of course we picked who should play which character in the movie. LOVED IT. The language was rough...but hey...becoming internationally wanted terrorists can't be that easy.
July 7, 2012
Lunatics must've been a whole lot of fun to write, and just as fun to read--if you like fart jokes and forensic plumbing. It's the unexpected adventure of two douchebags, one more than the other, who meet at an AYSO girls soccer match and end up tangled in a mess that involves Donald Trump, a terrorist in a Chuck E. Cheese suit, being naked on cruise ship, eating quesadilla de harina de yuca rellena con camarones y queso (I looked it up on Google, it looks delectable despite its extremely long name), and peeing on Sarah Palin. And there are also bears--two of them. And yes, it's as ridiculous as it sounds. A fun read for anyone who loves Jackass, The Hangover, or a douchebags doing ridiculous things. Who cares about unlikable characters (you don't know what's a douchebag until you've met Jeffery Peckerman) and plot when you are too busy laughing?
However, the humor didn't work for me. I found the excessive farting (and pooping) just disgusting. I admit to smiling a few times near the end of the novel, but not as funny as I hoped it would be. It's just not my kind of humor. You have to be prepared for a lot of swearing, racist jokes--and pure stupidity. I was wincing at the poor, racist jokes when the characters were in China, perhaps because I'm Chinese. It felt like it was the kind of joke where drunk people tell and immediately start laughing like a mentally-challenged seal while I sit dumbfounded with a look that says "how..how in the world is that even funny?" I personally don't mind racist jokes, but vulgar language isn't my thing. Adding swearing to every sentence isn't the magic formula to making stuff funny, I need a bit of wit throw in. Or maybe I just don't get it. There was also no "plot," just a story of two guys getting whisked off to one adventure after another with their extraordinary good luck. And maybe that's what makes Lunatics special; it's a product from two humorists with a funny imagination, writing as their twisted muse guides them without the need to get analytical. I had no problem finishing the book, but I doubt I will remember the story after a week.
However, the humor didn't work for me. I found the excessive farting (and pooping) just disgusting. I admit to smiling a few times near the end of the novel, but not as funny as I hoped it would be. It's just not my kind of humor. You have to be prepared for a lot of swearing, racist jokes--and pure stupidity. I was wincing at the poor, racist jokes when the characters were in China, perhaps because I'm Chinese. It felt like it was the kind of joke where drunk people tell and immediately start laughing like a mentally-challenged seal while I sit dumbfounded with a look that says "how..how in the world is that even funny?" I personally don't mind racist jokes, but vulgar language isn't my thing. Adding swearing to every sentence isn't the magic formula to making stuff funny, I need a bit of wit throw in. Or maybe I just don't get it. There was also no "plot," just a story of two guys getting whisked off to one adventure after another with their extraordinary good luck. And maybe that's what makes Lunatics special; it's a product from two humorists with a funny imagination, writing as their twisted muse guides them without the need to get analytical. I had no problem finishing the book, but I doubt I will remember the story after a week.
January 7, 2017
Rarely do I laugh out loud at books that others find hilarious (ex., any Janet Evanovich numbers novel.) I’ve been amused, and appreciative, and have done mental fist bumps to an author, but I don’t generally make audible happy sounds while reading. “Lunatics” made me laugh, chortle, snort and blurt (too bad that “laughter” doesn’t have prettier synonyms.) Authored by master humorist Dave Barry and the equally talented, although not as prolific Alan Zweibel (who I have admired since the early days of SNL), this book is a zipline through a snowballing series of unfortunate events which bring together an unlikely pair of suburban family men. Philip Horkman is a mild-mannered pet shop owner, civic volunteer, liberal-minded, part-time soccer referee, and Jeffrey Peckerman is a self-described “forensic plumber” who is also a hot-headed racist, obnoxious, and thoroughly unlikeable soccer-dad. A rather smallish disagreement on the field escalates into a global event, one incredible action leading to another until the characters are forced to form an alliance in order to escape international terrorism charges. Normally this kind of screwball high jinks bothers me, but these amazing writers manage to pull off the incredulity into a believable narrative that had me laughing, chortling, snorting, blurting, and avoiding reading it in public because of said noises.
Downside: I was disappointed when the authors slid into bathroom humor about three-quarters of the way through (and decided to stick with that) but they ultimately redeemed themselves with an eerily prescient look into today’s current events (remarkable, considering the book was published in 2012.)
Downside: I was disappointed when the authors slid into bathroom humor about three-quarters of the way through (and decided to stick with that) but they ultimately redeemed themselves with an eerily prescient look into today’s current events (remarkable, considering the book was published in 2012.)
January 20, 2012
“Lunatics” by Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel, published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
Category – Comedy
This book is hilarious, entertaining, unconventional, and irreverent.
Philip Horkman owns a pet store named “The Wine Shop” and referees girl’s youth soccer.
Jeffrey Peckerman is a Forensic Plumber whose daughter plays soccer.
These two “gentlemen” come together on the playing field with disastrous results.
The two become involved in a slow speed chase with police and are accused of being terrorists. They cause havoc on an ocean liner that leads them to overthrowing the Cuban government. They inadvertently change the politics of several countries and wind-up running against each other for the Presidency of the United States.
This novel is the funniest book I have read in quite some time, in fact, I was laughing so hard sometimes that I was actually crying. In his hard to say who the “Lunatics” are, the people in the book or the people writing the book. There is some strong language used in the book and nothing is considered off-limits for their comedy.
Category – Comedy
This book is hilarious, entertaining, unconventional, and irreverent.
Philip Horkman owns a pet store named “The Wine Shop” and referees girl’s youth soccer.
Jeffrey Peckerman is a Forensic Plumber whose daughter plays soccer.
These two “gentlemen” come together on the playing field with disastrous results.
The two become involved in a slow speed chase with police and are accused of being terrorists. They cause havoc on an ocean liner that leads them to overthrowing the Cuban government. They inadvertently change the politics of several countries and wind-up running against each other for the Presidency of the United States.
This novel is the funniest book I have read in quite some time, in fact, I was laughing so hard sometimes that I was actually crying. In his hard to say who the “Lunatics” are, the people in the book or the people writing the book. There is some strong language used in the book and nothing is considered off-limits for their comedy.
August 19, 2016
This is the funniest book I have read in years. It is the story of two middle-aged Jewish men living in New Jersey. Phillip and Jeffrey meet at a kids' soccer game and instantly hate each other. Several hours later, they separately drive across the George Washington Bridge and both get involved in an incident that the NYPD interprets as an attempted terrorist attack to blow up the bridge. The two escape and slink around northern Manhattan while their photos are broadcast non-stop on TV. They are captured by a real terrorist cell whose leader is terribly angry because Phillip and Jeffery didn't give him a curtesy call to tip him off about the attack. He plans to teach them some respect using the Bronx Zoo and a pair of large brown bears.
Phillip and Jeffery manage to escape from Manhattan, despite all the roadblocks and travel to Cuba, Somalia, Yemen, China and the Republican National Convention. At the convention Donald Trump and Sarah Palin make guest appearances.
If you like humor, read this book.
June 14, 2012
First, a board member went into hysterics over this book. Then a member of upper management. Then I did. Lunchtime in the staff room was unbearable for all the ineffectively suppressed snorts of laughter. And now every time it’s back on our shelves, I face it out with a staff recommendation label, and it gets snatched up. Everything that happens in Lunatics is stupid. That a lemur figures so prominently in a caper that begins with two Jewish men in New York City who loathe each other but somehow always end up in each others’ bubbles that flit from one continent to another with ridiculous rapidity and no true point other than digging themselves deeper into the hole they dug themselves at the beginning with said lemur, may give you some idea of the absurd romp you are in for. Or not. There’s no good way to explain the plot of such of a book. You just have to experience it. If you have a taste for the absurd (and a tolerance for profanity) — and perhaps enjoyed Mark Helprin’s Frederick and Fredericka — you won’t make it half a page without embarrassing yourself in public.
April 18, 2022
What a wild ride.
The story starts slow enough, but when the action kicks in, hold on.
The two main characters, Philip Horkman and Jeffery Peckerman couldn't be more different.
Philip owns a pet store called, "The Wine Shop". His in-laws loaned him the money to open a pet store with one rule, name the store after them.
Jeffery is a forensic plumber. He gives expert opinions in court cases.
Philip is soft-spoken loves all animals and referees the local soccer game in South FL. Jeffery is loud and an asshole throughout the story.
Their lives intertwine after Philip calls Jeffery's daughter Taylor, offside with the winning goal.
Their lives take such a twisted mess that find themselves hunted as international terrorists.
And so the story takes off.
The story starts slow enough, but when the action kicks in, hold on.
The two main characters, Philip Horkman and Jeffery Peckerman couldn't be more different.
Philip owns a pet store called, "The Wine Shop". His in-laws loaned him the money to open a pet store with one rule, name the store after them.
Jeffery is a forensic plumber. He gives expert opinions in court cases.
Philip is soft-spoken loves all animals and referees the local soccer game in South FL. Jeffery is loud and an asshole throughout the story.
Their lives intertwine after Philip calls Jeffery's daughter Taylor, offside with the winning goal.
Their lives take such a twisted mess that find themselves hunted as international terrorists.
And so the story takes off.
March 30, 2024
Lunatics (2012) by Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel is an amusing tale of two men who embark on an inadvertent adventure.
Phillip Horkman is referring a junior girls soccer game and is yelled at by Jeffry Peckerman. The two loathe each other but wind up with their fates intertwined as they are misidentified as international terrorists.
It’s all very crazy and quite a bit of it is really funny. The story does outlive it’s welcome though, it’s funniest the first few times they get thrown around into their crazy adventures.
Phillip Horkman is referring a junior girls soccer game and is yelled at by Jeffry Peckerman. The two loathe each other but wind up with their fates intertwined as they are misidentified as international terrorists.
It’s all very crazy and quite a bit of it is really funny. The story does outlive it’s welcome though, it’s funniest the first few times they get thrown around into their crazy adventures.
June 7, 2012
This is quite possibly the funniest book I've read in the past 10 years.
Having Alan Zweibel to tame Dave Barry is just the right recipe for a hilarious book. Not once was there an anagram or stupid band name. It's crude, slapstick and wholly unbelievable, but it's FUNNY! You don't even need to know what the story is about; just read it and laugh.
I cracked up more times in the first 17 pages than I did for the entire catalog of David & Amy Sedaris' work.
Having Alan Zweibel to tame Dave Barry is just the right recipe for a hilarious book. Not once was there an anagram or stupid band name. It's crude, slapstick and wholly unbelievable, but it's FUNNY! You don't even need to know what the story is about; just read it and laugh.
I cracked up more times in the first 17 pages than I did for the entire catalog of David & Amy Sedaris' work.
July 22, 2012
Man, was this funny. Dave Barry's adult novels are great farces, and this pairing is great as well. This book isn't as brutal as the other two. I frequently laughed out loud. This book is written from alternating points of view of two people who collided at the wrong time, and the escalation from there. At 1/3 of the way through the book, you will believe that it can't escalate any further. You will be wrong.
February 26, 2012
Pretty dumb. Tons of racist, sexist and homophobic stereotyping, mixed with an abundance of farts and diarrhea.
April 19, 2015
The adventures of Philip and Jeffrey. It ranged from silly, funny and absurd.
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