- Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States
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Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States is a 1989 book by humor columnist Dave Barry. In a style typical of the humorist, yet also reminiscent of the English classic 1066 and All That, Barry satirizes, mangles, and, when necessary, just plain makes up famous events in United States history. One running joke through the entire book is, in an effort to simplify history, all important dates are set to October 8. For example, the birth of the nation is given as October 8, 1776 (not July 4).
Many of the events and places in the book have been exaggerated to a drastic extent, such as when Barry mentions thousands of troops landing on the island of Grenada, "despite the very real danger that they might sink it." He also skips over sections such as the Treaty of Ghent because they seem "Pretty boring" and, at one point, seems to obsess over the Hawley-Smoot Tariff while never actually explaining it. On multiple occasions he makes fun of maps through certain sections such as when he mentions the decision to "Make Alaska smaller and put it in a little box next to Hawaii."
See also
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