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Insane City
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Humor (2013)A dark comic masterpiece—the first solo adult novel in more than a decade from the Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times–bestselling author.
Seth Weinstein knew Tina was way out of his league in pretty much any way you could imagine, which is why it continued to astonish him that he was on the plane now for their destination wedding in Florida. The Groom Posse had already sprung an airport prank on him, and he’d survived it, and if that was the worst of it, everything should be okay. Smooth sailing from now on.
Seth has absolutely no idea what he’s about to get into. In the next several hours, he and his friends will become embroiled with rioters, Russian gangsters, angry strippers, a pimp as big as the Death Star, a very desperate Haitian refugee on the run with her two children from some very bad men, and an eleven-foot albino Burmese python named Blossom. And there’re still two days to go before the wedding.
As it turns out, it’s not smooth sailing, it’s more like a trip on the Titanic. And the water below him is getting deeper every minute. By the end, amid gunfire, high-speed chases, and mayhem of the most unimaginable sort, violent men will fall, heroes will rise, and many lives will change.
Seth’s, not least of all.
Seth Weinstein knew Tina was way out of his league in pretty much any way you could imagine, which is why it continued to astonish him that he was on the plane now for their destination wedding in Florida. The Groom Posse had already sprung an airport prank on him, and he’d survived it, and if that was the worst of it, everything should be okay. Smooth sailing from now on.
Seth has absolutely no idea what he’s about to get into. In the next several hours, he and his friends will become embroiled with rioters, Russian gangsters, angry strippers, a pimp as big as the Death Star, a very desperate Haitian refugee on the run with her two children from some very bad men, and an eleven-foot albino Burmese python named Blossom. And there’re still two days to go before the wedding.
As it turns out, it’s not smooth sailing, it’s more like a trip on the Titanic. And the water below him is getting deeper every minute. By the end, amid gunfire, high-speed chases, and mayhem of the most unimaginable sort, violent men will fall, heroes will rise, and many lives will change.
Seth’s, not least of all.
341 pages, Hardcover
First published January 29, 2013
408 people are currently reading
6021 people want to read
About the author
Dave Barry
153 books2,242 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 1,243 reviews
May 8, 2017
Had me rolling-- it could only happen in Florida!
September 25, 2013
Dave Barry and Carl Hiaasen need to have a love child. I’ll let the medical professionals work out the logistics, and Congress appropriate the funds. But as a lover of satire and humor and all things bright, beautiful, and wonderful in the universe, this needs to happen. Now. INSANE CITY doesn’t even begin to describe the colossal aftermath of this potentially dystopian universe, but that’s the price you pay for greatness. Miami, we’re about to hit the mother lode. And the future never looked brighter, or bleaker, depending on whether or not you think the glass is half-full or half-empty.
Since I look at the glass as half-full, I can’t help smiling ear to ear, laughing manically, tapping my chin, and pounding my desk in triumph, right before I smack my head and knock myself unconscious for about three hours. I’ll come to in a puddle of drool, possibly sucking my thumb, and steadfast in the belief that my name is Sally or Sarah or Roberta or maybe it’s Steve. No matter what happens, though, I’ll have thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
If I were to sum up his first solo novel in more than 10 years, I’d say I’m thoroughly glad Dave Barry didn’t plan my bachelor party. This novel is batshit crazy, and only one step removed from certifiably insane. I laughed uproariously to the point that folks in Arizona probably wondered what the fuck was going on, and Texas citizens probably wanted to top the outstanding noise intrusion.
If you like characters that are better off locked up in jail, shoved in the direction of the guillotine, or slipped the needle with copious amounts of an unidentifiable clear liquid that turns stars into rainbows and dogs into cats, then this book is definitely for you. There’s a douche tweeter, an orangutan who wants to mate with any human female in sight, bedroom divas, pompous assholes, bridal princesses, plastic surgery poster children, a flatulent stripper, a record executive turned spiritual healer who uses religion as a way to get laid, a groom posse, a married man with no ethical code when it comes to humping with the opposite sex, and a Haitian refugee. There’s enough pot to fuel the state of California for an entire year, and more humping songs and picture perfect porn than a dark lit theatre in the middle of the night. In other words, comedy, this is your paradise, and I was thrilled to be along for this wild ride, even if I did end up with whiplash, a broken nose, and a lump on the back of my head the size of a silver dollar.
So if comedy is the elixir of the soul and the key to the fountain of youth, then this novel might add a few years to your life. Or then again, it might not, but either way it was an entertaining experience of which all humor lovers should partake.
By the way, you need to leave sanity at the door and enter at your own risk. And if you want to have the wildest ride imaginable, you should totally have Dave Barry plan your bachelor party. I’m sure he’s more than willing to entertain offers.
Cross-posted at Robert's Reads
Since I look at the glass as half-full, I can’t help smiling ear to ear, laughing manically, tapping my chin, and pounding my desk in triumph, right before I smack my head and knock myself unconscious for about three hours. I’ll come to in a puddle of drool, possibly sucking my thumb, and steadfast in the belief that my name is Sally or Sarah or Roberta or maybe it’s Steve. No matter what happens, though, I’ll have thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
If I were to sum up his first solo novel in more than 10 years, I’d say I’m thoroughly glad Dave Barry didn’t plan my bachelor party. This novel is batshit crazy, and only one step removed from certifiably insane. I laughed uproariously to the point that folks in Arizona probably wondered what the fuck was going on, and Texas citizens probably wanted to top the outstanding noise intrusion.
If you like characters that are better off locked up in jail, shoved in the direction of the guillotine, or slipped the needle with copious amounts of an unidentifiable clear liquid that turns stars into rainbows and dogs into cats, then this book is definitely for you. There’s a douche tweeter, an orangutan who wants to mate with any human female in sight, bedroom divas, pompous assholes, bridal princesses, plastic surgery poster children, a flatulent stripper, a record executive turned spiritual healer who uses religion as a way to get laid, a groom posse, a married man with no ethical code when it comes to humping with the opposite sex, and a Haitian refugee. There’s enough pot to fuel the state of California for an entire year, and more humping songs and picture perfect porn than a dark lit theatre in the middle of the night. In other words, comedy, this is your paradise, and I was thrilled to be along for this wild ride, even if I did end up with whiplash, a broken nose, and a lump on the back of my head the size of a silver dollar.
So if comedy is the elixir of the soul and the key to the fountain of youth, then this novel might add a few years to your life. Or then again, it might not, but either way it was an entertaining experience of which all humor lovers should partake.
By the way, you need to leave sanity at the door and enter at your own risk. And if you want to have the wildest ride imaginable, you should totally have Dave Barry plan your bachelor party. I’m sure he’s more than willing to entertain offers.
Cross-posted at Robert's Reads
November 27, 2012
I farking ADORE Dave Barry. If he didn't live so far away, and if we weren't both already hitched, I'd certainly marry him. Or at least stalk him.
Insane City is brilliant farce in the tradition of Carl Hiassen, who, I might add, heartily endorses his fellow Floridian comic genius. I believe that this hilarious novel is in reality a ghost-written explication of real-world examples of chaos theory and the butterfly effect, with Barry channeling Ian Malcolm. In other words, nothing is random.
If you like funny, you must read this book.
The book I read and reviewed here was an Advance Review Copy (ARC) provided to me by the publisher via my local Indie bookstore. I did not accept any payment in exchange for a review, and was in no way influenced to provide a positive review. I now consider my ass covered, FTC.
Insane City is brilliant farce in the tradition of Carl Hiassen, who, I might add, heartily endorses his fellow Floridian comic genius. I believe that this hilarious novel is in reality a ghost-written explication of real-world examples of chaos theory and the butterfly effect, with Barry channeling Ian Malcolm. In other words, nothing is random.
If you like funny, you must read this book.
The book I read and reviewed here was an Advance Review Copy (ARC) provided to me by the publisher via my local Indie bookstore. I did not accept any payment in exchange for a review, and was in no way influenced to provide a positive review. I now consider my ass covered, FTC.
October 10, 2025
__________________________
“Before you marry a person, you should first make them use a computer with slow internet to see who they really are.” — Will Ferrell
Seth has hit the jackpot. He has met an extremely beautiful young woman he falls in love with, and she wants to marry him. But the thing is, Seth is a truly nice guy but kind of a loser with a low paying job that could be done by a 10-year-old with access to TikTok. She, on the other hand is a Harvard Law School grad and a renowned international human rights lawyer, and activist—sort of an Amal Clooney (née Alamuddin). She is also the daughter of one of the world’s richest men. Why would she be attracted to Seth? No, he doesn’t understand it either. And it concerns him.
Things start to go hilariously wrong when Seth’s friends throw a bachelor party for him and against his strenuous objections hire a stripper. This leads to the loss of an extremely expensive, custom-made, billionaire’s daughter’s wedding ring that the bride helped design herself. Which leads to wild adventures including an orangutan with criminal tendencies, a bevy of brutal body guards, ICE, undocumented immigrants, a pair of disgraced police officers with murderous intent, a basket full of hash brownies, a titan of industry in a flamingo suit, a shanghaied pirate ship, grievous bodily harm, and a revelation of the bride’s true colors—less ‘something blue’ and more ‘red flag.'
🦩🦩🦩🦩 Flamingo Rating. One of Dave Barry’s best novels. Highly recommended for readers who are obsessed with oversexed orangutans and other less hairy and less civilized primates.
“Before you marry a person, you should first make them use a computer with slow internet to see who they really are.” — Will Ferrell
Seth has hit the jackpot. He has met an extremely beautiful young woman he falls in love with, and she wants to marry him. But the thing is, Seth is a truly nice guy but kind of a loser with a low paying job that could be done by a 10-year-old with access to TikTok. She, on the other hand is a Harvard Law School grad and a renowned international human rights lawyer, and activist—sort of an Amal Clooney (née Alamuddin). She is also the daughter of one of the world’s richest men. Why would she be attracted to Seth? No, he doesn’t understand it either. And it concerns him.
Things start to go hilariously wrong when Seth’s friends throw a bachelor party for him and against his strenuous objections hire a stripper. This leads to the loss of an extremely expensive, custom-made, billionaire’s daughter’s wedding ring that the bride helped design herself. Which leads to wild adventures including an orangutan with criminal tendencies, a bevy of brutal body guards, ICE, undocumented immigrants, a pair of disgraced police officers with murderous intent, a basket full of hash brownies, a titan of industry in a flamingo suit, a shanghaied pirate ship, grievous bodily harm, and a revelation of the bride’s true colors—less ‘something blue’ and more ‘red flag.'
🦩🦩🦩🦩 Flamingo Rating. One of Dave Barry’s best novels. Highly recommended for readers who are obsessed with oversexed orangutans and other less hairy and less civilized primates.
November 4, 2022
I'd heard of Dave since he'd written 30 books, received a Pulitzer for a commentary column in the Miami Herald and two of his novels were adapted to screen though this was the first time I'd read his work. And as I made my way through this over the top story, I couldn't help but think of the movie "Rat Race" which was equally zany!
We meet Seth, an underachieving yet attractive guy who's about to marry Tina, the hot daughter of a billionaire. As Seth joins a Groom Posse at the airport lead by Marty, a wannabe attorney and two morons, we soon discover that trouble lies ahead once they land in Miami. Barry crafts a story filled with twists that begin once the groom party begins. Parallel to the wedding plot is the illegal arrival on a Miami beach of a Haitian family that include Laurette and two children. Drunk and disoriented Seth happens upon them and decides to harbor them in his Ritz Carlton room paid for my Tina's father.
Meanwhile drunken debauchery leads to more trouble when Seth is separated from the posse and finds himself with Cyndi a hot girl he'd met at one of the bars. The posse manages to loose his luggage where the the wedding ring is stored. When he discovers it was dropped off outside an orangutan cage and a distant zoo, the fun begins!
So say the plot thickens is an understatement due to pot laced brownies swallowed by billionaires, hilarious hijinks, chase scenes with the orangutan, efforts to dispose of the Haitians, pirate ships, oddball wedding advisors and more. If I included every scene, it would spoil the experience for the reader no less make this review too long.
This is the kind of book that has you laugh out loud and would translate to screen with ease. Since humor is a favorite genre, this has been added to my Top Ten Best Humor stories and I plan to read a couple of his others.
We meet Seth, an underachieving yet attractive guy who's about to marry Tina, the hot daughter of a billionaire. As Seth joins a Groom Posse at the airport lead by Marty, a wannabe attorney and two morons, we soon discover that trouble lies ahead once they land in Miami. Barry crafts a story filled with twists that begin once the groom party begins. Parallel to the wedding plot is the illegal arrival on a Miami beach of a Haitian family that include Laurette and two children. Drunk and disoriented Seth happens upon them and decides to harbor them in his Ritz Carlton room paid for my Tina's father.
Meanwhile drunken debauchery leads to more trouble when Seth is separated from the posse and finds himself with Cyndi a hot girl he'd met at one of the bars. The posse manages to loose his luggage where the the wedding ring is stored. When he discovers it was dropped off outside an orangutan cage and a distant zoo, the fun begins!
So say the plot thickens is an understatement due to pot laced brownies swallowed by billionaires, hilarious hijinks, chase scenes with the orangutan, efforts to dispose of the Haitians, pirate ships, oddball wedding advisors and more. If I included every scene, it would spoil the experience for the reader no less make this review too long.
This is the kind of book that has you laugh out loud and would translate to screen with ease. Since humor is a favorite genre, this has been added to my Top Ten Best Humor stories and I plan to read a couple of his others.
September 6, 2022
Insane, indeed. And very funny.
March 18, 2013
So here's the weird thing--I love Dave Barry. Read all his non-fiction funny-books, in the 1980s, and can still quote verbatim from his book about having babies ("Babies and Other Hazards of Sex") But this take-off on The Hangover? Weak sauce.
First--it's essentially a script. The dialogue between the Groom Posse is shovel-ready. The gags are in place. The character descriptions almost specify exactly which A-list comedy actors will fill the bill. (Vince Vaughn as Big Steve? Cameo role for Shaq as Wesley?) And really-- do you need to have an orangutan to make the plot complete?
Yeah--there are funny bits, and great lines. But you have to wade through a whole lot overdone zaniness to get to them. Disappointing.
First--it's essentially a script. The dialogue between the Groom Posse is shovel-ready. The gags are in place. The character descriptions almost specify exactly which A-list comedy actors will fill the bill. (Vince Vaughn as Big Steve? Cameo role for Shaq as Wesley?) And really-- do you need to have an orangutan to make the plot complete?
Yeah--there are funny bits, and great lines. But you have to wade through a whole lot overdone zaniness to get to them. Disappointing.
December 22, 2022
Note to all if you are teetering on a reading slump, switch genres it will kick start the bibliophile in you! This wasn't my sort of book but I was reading a fellow reviewer and they commented on the humor of Dave Barry books so... there I was!
If the movie The Hangover, Why Him and Zola had a baby this book could be the screenplay... at times ludicrous other times hilarious it was definitely entertaining. I listened to it on audiobook and I was in between books.
Takes place in Miami filled with all things that any pre-wedding, bachelor party antics you would expect plus a plethora of just everything-but-the-kitchen-sink thrown in that could happen to an individual. I don't want to give away to much as it sometimes best to read without knowing what is coming up. Just know it's a giggle or two with a dash of OMG!-hand on forehead, roll of eyes goodread.
Respectfully Reviewed.
If the movie The Hangover, Why Him and Zola had a baby this book could be the screenplay... at times ludicrous other times hilarious it was definitely entertaining. I listened to it on audiobook and I was in between books.
Takes place in Miami filled with all things that any pre-wedding, bachelor party antics you would expect plus a plethora of just everything-but-the-kitchen-sink thrown in that could happen to an individual. I don't want to give away to much as it sometimes best to read without knowing what is coming up. Just know it's a giggle or two with a dash of OMG!-hand on forehead, roll of eyes goodread.
Respectfully Reviewed.
January 2, 2022
Wow Dave Barry can really write comedic stories. Insane City is insaneeee. A new favourite!
May 23, 2023
Dave Barry is a very funny Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, which sounds like it should be an oxymoron, but even more oxymoronic is the fact that he is a smart guy living in Florida. To be more specifically oxymoronic, he is a literate person living in Miami.
Okay, so it may not be politically-correct to make fun of Floridians anymore (probably about as PC as it is to make fun of Clevelanders), but Barry has been doing it for decades, and he’s made a pretty lucrative career out of it.
Having a sense of humor is the best defense against living in a state in which one of the state’s largest employers is a mouse and the current governor of that state is waging a war against said mouse. When your local news story sounds like a weird politically-charged “Tom & Jerry” cartoon, about the only thing one can do is laugh.
Miami is one of those cities, like Vegas, that I have never had any desire to visit, because I have never yearned to have an STD. Miami is a city where the Cuban population will violently berate you for wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt while they simultaneously vote for people like Trump or DeSantis. Miami probably has more canes, walkers and wheelchairs than any other city in the country combined.
Miami is, according to Barry, an “Insane City”, which happens to be the title of his 2013 novel.
I won’t bother with the story, which is the kind of madcap slap-stick humor that Barry does wonderfully. The novel is, basically, “Bringing up Baby” for a contemporary audience. It is laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly sweet. It is weirdly apolitical considering a major element of the plot involves immigration reform.
It is vintage Barry.
I “read” this as an audiobook on CD, read by the author.
Okay, so it may not be politically-correct to make fun of Floridians anymore (probably about as PC as it is to make fun of Clevelanders), but Barry has been doing it for decades, and he’s made a pretty lucrative career out of it.
Having a sense of humor is the best defense against living in a state in which one of the state’s largest employers is a mouse and the current governor of that state is waging a war against said mouse. When your local news story sounds like a weird politically-charged “Tom & Jerry” cartoon, about the only thing one can do is laugh.
Miami is one of those cities, like Vegas, that I have never had any desire to visit, because I have never yearned to have an STD. Miami is a city where the Cuban population will violently berate you for wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt while they simultaneously vote for people like Trump or DeSantis. Miami probably has more canes, walkers and wheelchairs than any other city in the country combined.
Miami is, according to Barry, an “Insane City”, which happens to be the title of his 2013 novel.
I won’t bother with the story, which is the kind of madcap slap-stick humor that Barry does wonderfully. The novel is, basically, “Bringing up Baby” for a contemporary audience. It is laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly sweet. It is weirdly apolitical considering a major element of the plot involves immigration reform.
It is vintage Barry.
I “read” this as an audiobook on CD, read by the author.
July 5, 2013
If you've read Dave Barry, you know to expect absolutely anything to turn up in his stories. Here we have Seth on the weekend of his wedding, getting into one mishap after another with his less-than-successful group of of friends "the groom posse". Miami is a great setting for a story as it's another character, an eccentric one, one where you shake your head while smiling about that crazy place. (I've only been once and I'm kind of embarrassed with how tame my visit was.)
This reminded me of a poor man's P.G. Wodehouse. While the writing is no where as sharp as Wodehouse (and whose is?), you have your clueless screw up of a main character, getting himself into all kinds of impossible situations, surrounded by his sincere but bumbling cast of friends. There's the maybe-not-such-a-good-idea impending wedding looming. There's the uptight, upright super-rich snobby snoots, who just don't get, and definitely don't appreciate, Seth. Sadly there is no Jeeves. Our hero has to muddle his way through the mess that is his life on his own. Kind of. I know this isn't Wodehouse who was cleverly skewering the upperclass with his farcical tales. It's Dave Barry,who just wants to have a good time. There are pimps and strippers, an albino python, marijuana filled brownies, an amorous orangutan, and a pirate ship. Who doesn't love a pirate ship, matey? Loads of fun.
This reminded me of a poor man's P.G. Wodehouse. While the writing is no where as sharp as Wodehouse (and whose is?), you have your clueless screw up of a main character, getting himself into all kinds of impossible situations, surrounded by his sincere but bumbling cast of friends. There's the maybe-not-such-a-good-idea impending wedding looming. There's the uptight, upright super-rich snobby snoots, who just don't get, and definitely don't appreciate, Seth. Sadly there is no Jeeves. Our hero has to muddle his way through the mess that is his life on his own. Kind of. I know this isn't Wodehouse who was cleverly skewering the upperclass with his farcical tales. It's Dave Barry,who just wants to have a good time. There are pimps and strippers, an albino python, marijuana filled brownies, an amorous orangutan, and a pirate ship. Who doesn't love a pirate ship, matey? Loads of fun.
April 28, 2025
Fun read! The Hangover Miami edition 🤣
July 22, 2018
If one has never seen the movie The Hangover they might enjoy this book more than I did. I just kept thinking about that movie as I read this. Book starts off real good and keeps interest until the ending. I thought the author just kind of gave up at the end and wrapped things up all nice and tidy like. Ok read but not great
March 23, 2017
This is the kind of book that would make a good movie. The kind of romcom I would love to watch. So much better than 'Hangover.'
Guy knows she's out of his league, but she agrees to marry him anyway. The question is, "why?" As the answer is uncovered the story gets funnier and funnier.
Warning: if you are like me and like to listen to books while you do yoga, be careful. The downward dog does not go well when you're laughing your ass off. ; )
Guy knows she's out of his league, but she agrees to marry him anyway. The question is, "why?" As the answer is uncovered the story gets funnier and funnier.
Warning: if you are like me and like to listen to books while you do yoga, be careful. The downward dog does not go well when you're laughing your ass off. ; )
February 10, 2013
Many laugh out loud moments, especially in the first half. The first third or so definitely felt like a re-write of The Hangover crossed with the first episode of The Life and Times of Tim, but still, funny. Little too over the top during much of the second half and not nearly as many laugh out loud bits. First-half: comedy (albeit not original); second-half: action movie.
April 7, 2013
“I know it sounds crazy.”
I’ve been a fan of Mr. Barry’s for decades. He has elicited from me embarrassing snorts of laughter on too many occasions to count. Therefore, and new novel is always an occasion to be looked forward to.
The insane city of the novel’s title is Miami, Florida, soon to be the site of the Weinstein-Clark wedding. At the heart of the tale is groom Seth Weinstein, and the novel’s first few chapters could be the opening of The Hangover III. It’s bachelor party night, and while amusing, I did think to myself, “If this is 300 pages of Boys Behaving Badly, I’m not sure I can take it.” Happily, that is not the case. Well, there is a lot of bad behavior from boys, girls, and, uh, various other creatures, but the bachelor hijinks soon pave the way for a far more absurd and entertaining tale. It’s goofy as all get out, but has both substance and heart at its very core. I could try to summarize the novel’s plot, but I think it would be a lot more fun to share a few brief quotes:
“This isn’t what it looks like.”
“So, you’re NOT bleeding from the head and hanging out with a Beyoncé look-alike and a Jerry Springer bouncer carrying a large snake?”
“He had to stop being an idiot.”
“Wait, he SHOT A JET SKI? Even in Miami, that has to be against the law.”
“I know it sounds crazy.”
“Eventually these people decided that this was just another one of those strange things that seem to happen in Miami.”
“Nothing I hate more than an orangutan shooter.”
“If you’re just joining us this morning, we’re following one of those weird stories that makes you shake your head and say, ‘Only in Miami.’”
“It’s complicated.”
“Even by Miami standards, this was a weird group making its way through the Bayside crowd.”
“Any man fleeing from the police with three women, two children, and an orangutan is a friend of mine.”
Oh, yes, it’s novels like this that make me wonder why I’m considering relocating to Miami. Dave Barry can still make me laugh out loud after all these years. And while no one will ever mistake his work for literary fiction, he did once win a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. He knows how to write a proper sentence. Furthermore, he did a nice job of creating characters who, over the course of the novel, manage to reveal their true natures.
Don’t come to this one looking for sophistication or subtlety, but if you’ve had a bad day and are seeking a little screwball comedy, look no further. Insane City is guaranteed to lift your spirits.
I’ve been a fan of Mr. Barry’s for decades. He has elicited from me embarrassing snorts of laughter on too many occasions to count. Therefore, and new novel is always an occasion to be looked forward to.
The insane city of the novel’s title is Miami, Florida, soon to be the site of the Weinstein-Clark wedding. At the heart of the tale is groom Seth Weinstein, and the novel’s first few chapters could be the opening of The Hangover III. It’s bachelor party night, and while amusing, I did think to myself, “If this is 300 pages of Boys Behaving Badly, I’m not sure I can take it.” Happily, that is not the case. Well, there is a lot of bad behavior from boys, girls, and, uh, various other creatures, but the bachelor hijinks soon pave the way for a far more absurd and entertaining tale. It’s goofy as all get out, but has both substance and heart at its very core. I could try to summarize the novel’s plot, but I think it would be a lot more fun to share a few brief quotes:
“This isn’t what it looks like.”
“So, you’re NOT bleeding from the head and hanging out with a Beyoncé look-alike and a Jerry Springer bouncer carrying a large snake?”
“He had to stop being an idiot.”
“Wait, he SHOT A JET SKI? Even in Miami, that has to be against the law.”
“I know it sounds crazy.”
“Eventually these people decided that this was just another one of those strange things that seem to happen in Miami.”
“Nothing I hate more than an orangutan shooter.”
“If you’re just joining us this morning, we’re following one of those weird stories that makes you shake your head and say, ‘Only in Miami.’”
“It’s complicated.”
“Even by Miami standards, this was a weird group making its way through the Bayside crowd.”
“Any man fleeing from the police with three women, two children, and an orangutan is a friend of mine.”
Oh, yes, it’s novels like this that make me wonder why I’m considering relocating to Miami. Dave Barry can still make me laugh out loud after all these years. And while no one will ever mistake his work for literary fiction, he did once win a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. He knows how to write a proper sentence. Furthermore, he did a nice job of creating characters who, over the course of the novel, manage to reveal their true natures.
Don’t come to this one looking for sophistication or subtlety, but if you’ve had a bad day and are seeking a little screwball comedy, look no further. Insane City is guaranteed to lift your spirits.
June 5, 2013
This is another comic crime caper by Dave Barry. It's about a nice guy who's otherwise not much of a catch, traveling down to Florida to marry a hot blonde who's also the daughter of a multi-millionaire. In a span of mere hours things go fantastically wrong and the wedding is in two days. Will he make it? In a bazillion very short chapters the many things than can go wrong do and they pile up fast -- it was a bit of a struggle to care since so many of the (two-dimensional) characters aren't all that likable. And the ones who are more likeable aren't all that smart. But it reads so fast, I went all the way through this extremely unlikely tale that also includes an occasionaly violent, love-sick orangutan named Trevor. So that happened.
(FYI: My wife gave me this. It was a preview copy that she found in someone's trash.)
(FYI: My wife gave me this. It was a preview copy that she found in someone's trash.)
January 29, 2013
“Insane City” by Dave Barry, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
Category – Comedy
If you are looking for a break in your serious reading this book will provide it.
“Any man fleeing from the police with three women, two children, and an orangutan is a friend of mine”. By the way, none of the three women are his betrothed.
Seth Weinstein is getting married to the most beautiful girl in the world and he can’t figure out why. She is a big time lawyer and her father is one of the richest men in the country. He just can’t figure out why she would want to marry him, he is in a nowhere job and still living with his mother and father.
The wedding is set for Miami and the honeymoon antics start early as his best men (the groom posse) pull a prank on him at the airport as he goes through security. Seth knowing this may only be the beginning begs them not to hire a stripper for his bachelor party.
The groom posse and Seth arrive in Miami and waste no time in getting wasted. Seth who winds up under the bar is separated from his best men and the fun really begins.
Seth gets got up in with the inevitable stripper and her friend/lover who is as big as a house, another beautiful woman (Cyndi) and her friend Duane who has a snake wrapped around his neck, a Haitian refugee who has two young children who almost drown trying to get to America, and an orangutan named Trevor.
The book is an easy read that is both entertaining and funny. The book does contain adult language.
Category – Comedy
If you are looking for a break in your serious reading this book will provide it.
“Any man fleeing from the police with three women, two children, and an orangutan is a friend of mine”. By the way, none of the three women are his betrothed.
Seth Weinstein is getting married to the most beautiful girl in the world and he can’t figure out why. She is a big time lawyer and her father is one of the richest men in the country. He just can’t figure out why she would want to marry him, he is in a nowhere job and still living with his mother and father.
The wedding is set for Miami and the honeymoon antics start early as his best men (the groom posse) pull a prank on him at the airport as he goes through security. Seth knowing this may only be the beginning begs them not to hire a stripper for his bachelor party.
The groom posse and Seth arrive in Miami and waste no time in getting wasted. Seth who winds up under the bar is separated from his best men and the fun really begins.
Seth gets got up in with the inevitable stripper and her friend/lover who is as big as a house, another beautiful woman (Cyndi) and her friend Duane who has a snake wrapped around his neck, a Haitian refugee who has two young children who almost drown trying to get to America, and an orangutan named Trevor.
The book is an easy read that is both entertaining and funny. The book does contain adult language.
February 15, 2013
What do a 250-pound orangutang, two billionaires, four young men at a wedding (The Groom Posse), a very large Anaconda, a Haitian refugee with children, a very large black stripper with pimp, a gorgeous and uptight bride with a pothead sister, the local police, a faux guru wedding official, a very pretty blond blue-eyed Cuban in a postage stamp dress, and the city of Miami have in common? The only answer can be--Dave Barry.
Barry's humor is infamous, and here he brings it together into a tale of a wedding gone awry in which Tina (the bride) finds that her go-nowhere fiance (Seth) can go with the flow much better than she can, and her billionaire father learns that he can't control everything. There are not as many spontaneous guffaws as in Barry's short pieces--the humor is intravenously administered, drop by drop in a steady flow.
If you are feeling tense and under pressure, book a flight to Miami, buy this book at the airport kiosk, and sit at the beach at South Beach for a day, soaking up the sun and Dave Barry's elixir of life.
Barry's humor is infamous, and here he brings it together into a tale of a wedding gone awry in which Tina (the bride) finds that her go-nowhere fiance (Seth) can go with the flow much better than she can, and her billionaire father learns that he can't control everything. There are not as many spontaneous guffaws as in Barry's short pieces--the humor is intravenously administered, drop by drop in a steady flow.
If you are feeling tense and under pressure, book a flight to Miami, buy this book at the airport kiosk, and sit at the beach at South Beach for a day, soaking up the sun and Dave Barry's elixir of life.
March 24, 2013
I'm a big fan of Dave Barry's humor columns, so I knew I had to read his latest novel. While the book starts off kind of slow, the ending is as madcap as anything you'll see in any screwball comedy. If you're fan of Carl Hiaasen and Dave Barry, definitely put this on your must read list. I went through it in about 2 days!
August 7, 2022
I really needed a laugh and this book did it for me! Quirky characters, an entitled-rich bride's family, a caring main character, and nothing going right!
I'll check out more of his books.
I'll check out more of his books.
June 23, 2024
A schlub is marrying into money. The whole wedding party flies into Miami (Florida, not Ohio) to have the bachelor and bachelorette party, and get married.
Things quickly go south. The groom encounters a family of Haitian illegal immigrants, and lets them stay in his hotel room. The bride turns into a Bridezilla. The wedding ring disappears. Certain brownies are ingested. an orangutang gets involved.
This is really a big city adventure, a subgenre that was pretty popular in the 1980's, but has since ebbed somewhat. It probably would have been a successful movie back then, but they couldn't make something like this now.
Things quickly go south. The groom encounters a family of Haitian illegal immigrants, and lets them stay in his hotel room. The bride turns into a Bridezilla. The wedding ring disappears. Certain brownies are ingested. an orangutang gets involved.
This is really a big city adventure, a subgenre that was pretty popular in the 1980's, but has since ebbed somewhat. It probably would have been a successful movie back then, but they couldn't make something like this now.
May 3, 2013
I think "Insane City" was just too frenetic of a pace for me. So much going on at the same time and Barry working so hard to prove that Miami is, indeed, a city full of lunatics, even if a great deal of them were from out of town.
I don't want to suggest that Barry doesn't have some great ideas for humor, that's why he gained so much fame as a humor columnist. For example, the scene in the drugstore with the elderly woman and the coupons was a but gusting moment and one I have experienced myself. I could feel the clerk's frustration and the pain of the fellow standing in line behind her. It was funny.
And there were GLORIOUS moments in this novel. But the pacing kept me quite off balance and prevented me from fully enjoying this one. Those moments made it worth reading.
If you want to read some decent Dave Barry.. read BIG TROUBLE.. now that one really worked well for me. I even enjoyed the Tim Allen movie version, even though it didn't really do well at the box office.
I don't want to suggest that Barry doesn't have some great ideas for humor, that's why he gained so much fame as a humor columnist. For example, the scene in the drugstore with the elderly woman and the coupons was a but gusting moment and one I have experienced myself. I could feel the clerk's frustration and the pain of the fellow standing in line behind her. It was funny.
And there were GLORIOUS moments in this novel. But the pacing kept me quite off balance and prevented me from fully enjoying this one. Those moments made it worth reading.
If you want to read some decent Dave Barry.. read BIG TROUBLE.. now that one really worked well for me. I even enjoyed the Tim Allen movie version, even though it didn't really do well at the box office.
February 8, 2013
I gave up on this book after about fifty pages. I didn't find it funny at all. Barry is trying to write the sort of book that Carl Hiassen would pen, but he's not up to it. He has none of the sense of the absurd that is necessary to write a good black comedy, and his characterization is lacking. For example, the four men in the "groom posse" are pretty much interchangeable personalities. He overuses dialog, and displays no understanding for how it should be used.
January 18, 2015
Maybe a gender thing but like watching the Three Stooges.
August 23, 2017
I guess I have outgrown this type of slapstick humor.
July 13, 2023
3 stars sounds too harsh given the fact that I enjoyed the book, but I think it wasn’t good.
The worst thing for a comedy book is having things which are obviously jokes that are not funny. This book had plenty. Most jokes in this book felt recycled and corny. The book was like The Hangover meets Florida Man jokes. I think I probably didn’t laugh until more than halfway through the book. An example joke is “because she was Cuban her immediate family would be somewhere around two hundred people.” I understand the joke, but I’ve heard this same thing said in a million different ways over the years so it’s overdone. This was the case with a lot of the humor, especially the humor based around Miami and the crazy things that happen here. Giving the author the benefit of the doubt, I’m reading this 10 years after publishing so maybe these jokes were a lot fresher and funnier back then.
When I started the book, I very much disliked it because it wasn’t funny and seemed like it would be like every other comedy based around bachelor parties. It starts with the groom saying he doesn’t want a stripper and his groomsmen clearly plotting against him to hire a stripper. Then they get into a bunch of hijinks and mishaps that make you wonder if he’ll make it back to the wedding or not (this isn’t a spoiler, it’s just how all these stories go).
In the end, the plot did differ a bit from the classic storylines and I actually enjoyed it. Although I did not think it was funny, I did find it entertaining.
The worst thing for a comedy book is having things which are obviously jokes that are not funny. This book had plenty. Most jokes in this book felt recycled and corny. The book was like The Hangover meets Florida Man jokes. I think I probably didn’t laugh until more than halfway through the book. An example joke is “because she was Cuban her immediate family would be somewhere around two hundred people.” I understand the joke, but I’ve heard this same thing said in a million different ways over the years so it’s overdone. This was the case with a lot of the humor, especially the humor based around Miami and the crazy things that happen here. Giving the author the benefit of the doubt, I’m reading this 10 years after publishing so maybe these jokes were a lot fresher and funnier back then.
When I started the book, I very much disliked it because it wasn’t funny and seemed like it would be like every other comedy based around bachelor parties. It starts with the groom saying he doesn’t want a stripper and his groomsmen clearly plotting against him to hire a stripper. Then they get into a bunch of hijinks and mishaps that make you wonder if he’ll make it back to the wedding or not (this isn’t a spoiler, it’s just how all these stories go).
In the end, the plot did differ a bit from the classic storylines and I actually enjoyed it. Although I did not think it was funny, I did find it entertaining.
May 31, 2015
Okay, look, here's the deal: I adore mysteries, thrillers, legal dramas and, well, more or less dark or intense stuff. I even have three of my own police procedural mysteries out there. But now and then I need a break from reality and Dave Berry's Insane City, meaning Miami, is absolutely perfect because there aren't many, if any, fiction writers better suited to provide a belly laugh about Florida's most mesmerizing city than this award-winning writer. Hand-to-my-heart truth.
But a diversion: Because an orangutan ultimately becomes a central character in this knee-slapping novel, I have to share a story. (Sorry, Dave Barry; not trying to steal your thunder, as if that were possible.) Once upon a time, I was city editor for a now-extinct daily evening newspaper called The Evening Times. True! We had three editions every day, which meant three deadlines every day. The pressure was hideous. The hours were hideous. But ONE day, the reporter then covering the police beat excitedly told me at about 5 a.m. that the police were trying to capture a destructive Caravella monkey, which was wreaking havoc throughout Palm Beach County. My blood surged at the thought. The headlines! The story! The excitement! I could hear the reporter talking to a cop source and I watched her scribble details. I pounded her for details. I pushed her to the limits. I called for photos! I rushed into the morning meeting to report what was going on and how we'd have a major scoop. I couldn't WAIT for the first edition to come out.
Well: I was the unwitting target of an elaborate ploy, which is common among journalists, and I fell for it all the way. Mind you, this goes back to the '80s, prior to online search and all of that good stuff. So, when the first edition landed on my desk I quickly flipped through pages of the newspaper, looking for the story of the day THAT NO ONE ELSE HAD.
Uh huh. Hysterical reporters, not to mention the managing editor, photographers, and even some cops, were all in on the prank. I was the brunt of a joke that to this day remains an occasional topic of hilarity among those of us who have kept in touch. You'd think I'd be smarter; my own journalism career began as a police reporter.
The point? My five-star review may be influenced by that true-to-life prank. But that monkeys — or in Berry's case, an orangutan — can create chaos in a ridiculous fashion that only Berry could somehow make almost believable, is good enough reason to pick up the novel and read it. Seriously, and I'm not always serious.
Oh? By the way? There is no such thing as a Caravella monkey. But again, there was no Google back in the day. And back in the day was a lot more fun. Read Berry's book. Do it now.
But a diversion: Because an orangutan ultimately becomes a central character in this knee-slapping novel, I have to share a story. (Sorry, Dave Barry; not trying to steal your thunder, as if that were possible.) Once upon a time, I was city editor for a now-extinct daily evening newspaper called The Evening Times. True! We had three editions every day, which meant three deadlines every day. The pressure was hideous. The hours were hideous. But ONE day, the reporter then covering the police beat excitedly told me at about 5 a.m. that the police were trying to capture a destructive Caravella monkey, which was wreaking havoc throughout Palm Beach County. My blood surged at the thought. The headlines! The story! The excitement! I could hear the reporter talking to a cop source and I watched her scribble details. I pounded her for details. I pushed her to the limits. I called for photos! I rushed into the morning meeting to report what was going on and how we'd have a major scoop. I couldn't WAIT for the first edition to come out.
Well: I was the unwitting target of an elaborate ploy, which is common among journalists, and I fell for it all the way. Mind you, this goes back to the '80s, prior to online search and all of that good stuff. So, when the first edition landed on my desk I quickly flipped through pages of the newspaper, looking for the story of the day THAT NO ONE ELSE HAD.
Uh huh. Hysterical reporters, not to mention the managing editor, photographers, and even some cops, were all in on the prank. I was the brunt of a joke that to this day remains an occasional topic of hilarity among those of us who have kept in touch. You'd think I'd be smarter; my own journalism career began as a police reporter.
The point? My five-star review may be influenced by that true-to-life prank. But that monkeys — or in Berry's case, an orangutan — can create chaos in a ridiculous fashion that only Berry could somehow make almost believable, is good enough reason to pick up the novel and read it. Seriously, and I'm not always serious.
Oh? By the way? There is no such thing as a Caravella monkey. But again, there was no Google back in the day. And back in the day was a lot more fun. Read Berry's book. Do it now.
February 24, 2013
This book did not start off to my liking at all as it seemed one giant guys before the big wedding day cliche. I wondered when and where Dave Barry had lost his "funny." I hadn't read anything written by him in a while but had thoroughly enjoyed several of his books in the past. Luckily, after about the fiftieth page, the story took off and almost never faltered again. There were several truly laugh until your sides hurt scenes, especially the hilarious one of the rehearsal dinner. To enjoy a novel, I have to be invested in the main characters and in this book, our somewhat hapless hero turned out to be quite likeable and one in whom I happily invested myself for the day or so it took to read this novel. The book's ending made sense and was kind of sweet without being syrupy. If you like funny stories, this might be one you would want to try, just don't expect the hilarity to begin until around page 52 or so.
January 30, 2013
My first impression is that this reads more like a movie instead of a book, given the way that the dialog is written and the scenes described. In fact, this would probably make a great summer movie for people who enjoy films such as Bridesmaids and The Hangover. There are so many wacky things taking place throughout the book and the plot moves constantly. Throughout the book Dave put his characters in some hilarious, not to mention embarrassing, situations.
While some of the general plot is predictable, most of the specific (and often bizarre) situations are not and the book is full of one liners that will make you laugh out loud. While this isn’t great literature or a book with thought provoking insights, it continues to do what Dave Barry does best: makes you laugh.
While some of the general plot is predictable, most of the specific (and often bizarre) situations are not and the book is full of one liners that will make you laugh out loud. While this isn’t great literature or a book with thought provoking insights, it continues to do what Dave Barry does best: makes you laugh.
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