Dave Barry's network of Alert Readers know a wacky story when they see one--and a good humorist when they read one. For 20 years, as a writer for The Miami Herald, Barry has stared human existence straight in the face and found, well, weirdness and lunacy. In columns syndicated to 500 newspapers and in 24 books, Barry has found goofiness all around--in our aging bodies, in the overconfident babble of financial experts and the terrorist threat posed by 87-year-old women at airports, and in kangaroo flatulence and bridal-bouquet-eating iguanas. He won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1988, but seems prouder of playing guitar in a literary band that includes Stephen King and Amy Tan and is otherwise noteworthy only for its extreme volume. In his latest novel, Tricky Business, he shows a sure touch in choreographing mayhem aboard a gambling vessel during a tropical storm. Two of Barry's books were the basis for the CBS sitcom Dave's World. Barry, 55, lives in Miami with his wife, Michelle, and has a son, 22, and daughter, 3, both of whom, he reports, have virtually identical sleeping patterns.