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Insane City

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Insane City

By: Dave Barry
Narrated by: Dave Barry
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About this listen

 Seth Weinstein always knew Tina was way, way, way out of his league. Which is why he’s still astonished that he’s on a plane heading for their wedding in Florida. The Groom Posse has already pulled an airport prank on him—and he’s survived! It should be easy going from now on.

But Seth has absolutely no idea what he’s about to get into. A simple drink or two with the boys sparks a series of events that will pit Seth and his friends against everything and everyone imaginable, from his very powerful, very disapproving soon-to-be father-in-law to the federal government to a love-struck orangutan.

Seth’s hope for smooth sailing is turning into a trip on the Titanic. And the water is getting deeper by the minute… Action & Adventure Literature & Fiction Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Psychological Suspense Thriller & Suspense Aviation Comedy Fiction Humour Thriller

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Critic reviews

Praise for INSANE CITY

“Picture The Hangover with a splash of Miami Vice, and you get Dave Barry's Insane City. . . This is a quick, fun (and laugh-out-loud funny) read, and the action never slows.”—Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"[A] very funny new novel . . . [Barry's] sly observations, well-delineated characters, and intricate plotting mesh perfectly."—Publishers Weekly

Praise for Dave Barry

“Dave Barry remains one of the funniest writers alive.”—Carl Hiaasen

“While reading Dave Barry’s Big Trouble, I laughed so loud I fell out of a chair. Luckily, there’s a rug, so I didn’t hurt myself.” —Stephen King
All stars
Most relevant
Dave Barry is a comedy genius. I love 'Big Trouble'; and 'Tricky Business' was a worthy successor. So it pains me to say that this one really is no better than 1 - 1,5 stars.

What happened here?

1) Astonishing predictability. Inexcusable in almost any genre (maybe childrens' books aside), but in this type of comedy, it ruins the fun.
2) Lazy plotting. Instead of achieving an apparently effortless snowballing effect (comedy gold) like in his previous two novels, the plotting is forced and well ... predictable. (I'll omit examples because they might spoil the already thinly spread moments of suspense.)
3) Social justice preaching. This novel is as preachy-preachy as it gets. Sure, inserting social justice topics in general comedy can work very well. Barry's previous novels are perfect examples. In 'Big Trouble, he managed to weave the issue of 'undocumented aliens' into the fabric of the story in a way that felt natural. Here, he takes the same topic and unceremoniously clubs his readers over the head with it. Cave-men style.
4) Why do some authors insist on reading their own novels? The first two novels were professionally narrated by Dick Hill and that added immensely to the fun. Here, Barry opts for narrating himself, including awkward (audible) air-sucking when he's out of breath and the total absence of any variation in voices. I doubt Hill could have saved this audiobook, but Barry did himself no favors by doing it himself this time.

Conclusion: After two brilliant novels/audiobooks, this is one big letdown. Hopefully just a one-off.

1 - 1,5 stars

Has its moments, but overall very underwhelming

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