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Review: Humorist Dave Barry writes a funny valentine to wacky Florida in 'Best. State. Ever.' | TribLIVE.com
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Review: Humorist Dave Barry writes a funny valentine to wacky Florida in 'Best. State. Ever.'

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Syndicated columnist and comedian Dave Barry performs as apart of the South Beach Comedy Festival at the Colony Theater in Miami Beach, Fla., Thursday Jan. 22, 2009.

Humorist Dave Barry has made a career of writing about the wackier aspects of life, and especially many off-beat aspects of living in Florida.

His latest book is a step toward repaying that debt after a career of feasting off the absurdities of life in the Sunshine State.

As Barry puts it: “If states were characters on ‘Seinfeld,' Florida would be Kramer: Every time it appears, the audience automatically laughs, knowing it's going to do some idiot thing.”

Barry's theory on when Florida became a national laughingstock (developed with no research whatsoever, according to Barry) is that it came at the time of the 2000 presidential election, which remained in limbo for weeks as the lead changed hands between George W. Bush and Al Gore during a recount under a relentless media spotlight.

As Barry describes it: “This gruesomely unflattering coverage ran nonstop, day after hellish day. It finally ended when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in a 7-2 decision, that Florida should be given back to Spain.”

Chances are certain that a more thorough examination of Florida's history of zany behavior would show it goes back much further.

But the popularity of nonstop cable news and now social media has made it much easier to keep track of Florida's nutty antics. Barry notes the popular Twitter account “Florida Man, which consists entirely of links to news items about Florida men doing stupid things.”

He offers the theory on why there are “so many stupid people in Florida” — a state surrounded on three sides by water. “People come down here all the time. Most of them, sooner or later, decide to leave, but the stupid ones can't figure out how to do this. So they remain, and in time are issued ballots,” he writes.

Barry chronicles a series of laugh-out-loud examples of Florida insanity, then shifts to a distinctly different mood, sentimental and almost melancholy — taking a longer look at various locations that offer a glimpse of the unique flavors of Florida.

Those stops include classic Florida roadside tourist attractions like Weeki Wachee, the City of Mermaids, as well as Spongeorama and the ghost town of Cassadaga, nicknamed the “Psychic Capital of the World.” Barry provides history and introduces colorful characters from each. He includes a section on Key West, “the most flamboyant, decadent, debauched and pungent place in Florida.”

As Barry was driving back along the spectacular Overseas Highway from his “research” trip to Key West, he reflected on how he feels about the state that helped feed a steady stream of material for his successful career as a humorist:

“I love this crazy state,” he writes.

Will Lester is an Associated Press editor and former political writer.