By Dave Barry

Three Word Review: Wild Miami wedding

Rating: 3/5

Dave Barry is the funniest human being alive.

It’s not a possibility or an opinion; it’s a fact. But the fact is that Insane City falls well short of this high standard.

The plot details the destination wedding of an average guy to the strong, beautiful daughter of a billionaire.

Of course, nothing goes to plan and the wedding is eventually derailed by the appearance of a Haitian refuge, a stubborn stripper and a curious orangutan.

Despite the claims of the title, this book does less to show how zany Miami is than most of the other novels by Barry and his compatriot, Carl Hiaasen.

Most of these other books artistically weave together dozens of minor subplots that only get more interesting as they grow more intricate and entangled with one another.

Another typical hallmark of this Miami-genre are the outlandish characters. This installment makes an attempt in the same vein, but pales in comparison.

Many of the characters are underdeveloped and bland. The usual twists and turns were in place, but they were slightly too predicable.

The best part of the novel, as with many of Barry’s works, was the witty banter. It was well-paced and on point.

In short, every great writer’s great works stand out among their average ones. For the normally hysterical Dave Barry, Insane City is a sub-par effort.