Big Trouble by Dave Barry

Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States is one of my favorite books.  I just love his non-sequitor stream of conciousness style.

This is a real novel, with an actual plot and everything.  It hangs together very well.  Not that I know much about mystery novels.

But it's still Dave Barry.  He uses many of his usual stereotypes.  Dogs with the intellect of celery, and teenagers with a strong aversion to common sense and no respect for their parents.  Some of the other characters are total idiots, while a few are actually competent.

This is another one of those that's hard to talk about without giving away any of the fun bits.  Even some of the early stuff is revealed in fun ways.

It's a mystery novel.  One of the good things about it is that a lot of normal people are caught up in a bizarre situation.  That fish out of water context adds a lot to the humor.

I just have to point out one minor technical gaffe near the end of the book.  He has an F-16 take off with rocket assist.  The US Air Force doesn't use rocket assisted takeoff with F-16s.  He also messed up the timing at the end.  Neither are a big deal to the story, but they grated on my nerves.

It works and it's fun.  On Mighty's Total Book Value Scale, Paperback.

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