Book Review: The Absurd, Incomprehensible, and Ridiculous Exposed

Edmund X. DeJesus

Dave Barry in Cyberspace by Dave Barry; Random House; ISBN 0-517-595753; $22

Read Dave Barry in Cyberspace , and not just because it mentions Jerry Pournelle's BYTE column on page 4. In this book, Dave Barry, the Pulitzer prize-winning, nationally syndicated humor columnist, comes out of the closet and admits that he is, in fact, a complete computer geek. Known for his keen appreciation of the absurd and ludicr ous in human life, Barry now turns his wit to the world of computers. Naturally, he strikes gold, the computer world holding one of the largest deposits of absurdity known.

In this volume, Barr y exposes, with naive charm, such features of the ridiculous as incomprehensible manuals (and alleged technical assistance), Web pages devoted to Captain & Tennille, and the C:> prompt.

Besides being very funny, the book contains some real insights about the computer technology underlying Barry's observations. An example: Why are computers so absurdly difficult to use? Simple: Most geeks would rather diddle with computers than do anything productive with them (which I nominate as "Barry's Law"). And why is that? Because computers are largely by and for men (proof: the most popular games involve killing anything that moves, and the most popular use of the Internet is to distribute dirty pictures), and men love to tinker endlessly with inanimate objects.

Some mild profanity and sexual references might cause you to keep this book out of the hands of young children. Otherwise, read, enjoy, and laugh knowingly at this fun-house-mirror view of the world of computers.