An uproariously funny examination of what one generation can teach to another—or not—from the Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times–bestselling author of You Can Date Boys When You're Forty and Insane City.

During the course of living (mumble, mumble) years, Dave Barry has learned much of wisdom,* (*actual wisdom not guaranteed) and he is eager to pass it on—to the next generation, the generation after that, and to those idiots who make driving to the grocery store in Florida a death-defying experience.

In brilliant, brand-new, never-before-published pieces, Dave passes on home truths to his new grandson and to his daughter Sophie, who will be getting her learner's permit in 2015 ("So you're about to start driving! How exciting! I'm going to kill myself"). He explores the hometown of his youth, where the grown-ups were supposed to be uptight fifties conformists, but seemed to have a lot of un–Mad Men—like fun — unlike Dave's own Baby Boomer generation, which was supposed to be wild and crazy, but somehow turned into neurotic hover-parents. He dives into everything from the inanity of cable news and the benefits of Google Glass ("You will look like a douchebag") to the loneliness of high school nerds ("You will never hear a high school girl say about a boy, in a dreamy voice, 'He's so sarcastic!'"), from the perils of home repair to firsthand accounts of the soccer craziness of Brazil and the just plain crazy craziness of Vladimir Putin's Russia ("He stares at the camera with the expression of a man who relaxes by strangling small furry animals"), and a lot more besides.

By the end, if you do not feel wiser, richer in knowledge, more attuned to the universe . . . we wouldn't be at all surprised. But you'll have had a lot to laugh about!

Praise for the books of Dave Barry

I'll Mature When I'm Dead

"Despite years of medication, Dave Barry is still the funniest damn writer in the whole country. Let's hope he never grows up."—Carl Hiaasen

"Dave Barry is truly the funniest man living in the three-mile 'safe' zone off the shores of America."—Steve Martin

"Fans know what to expect from Dave Barry: joke-packed prose and one-liners—and, yes, it's funny, and often very funny."—Associated Press

You Can Date Boys When You're Forty

"If you were on that clichéd desert island and could follow only one sage's advice, it would have to be Dave Barry's."—Janet Maslin, The New York Times

"Side-splitting . . . brilliantly funny. Parents and non-parents alike will find plenty of laughs in this characteristically hilarious collection."—Publishers Weekly

"Hilarious musings by the Pulitzer Prize–winning humorist."—Booklist

"As a source of mirth and deep insight into male thinking, this is a pristine gem. You Can Date Boys When You're Forty makes you guffaw—hard."—P. J. O'Rourke