Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel

Barry Trotter #2

by Michael Gerber

Here it is, just what the 100,000 fans who bought Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody have been waiting for: the inevitable and thoroughly hilarious sequel to the bestselling spoof of the Potter phenomenon.
Not wild about Harry? Or just had enough of the hype? Try Barry, who, having saved the Hogwash School of Wizards from the unwelcome attention of Hollywood, is now ready to move on. He has married Ermine Cringer and they now have two relatively delightful children. The eldest is a skilled magician, but the youngest just seems to lack that conjurer's touch. Have Barry and Ermine given birth to...a MUDDLE?
Michael Gerber, a writer whose work has appeared in the New Yorker, Playboy, The Wall Street Journal, and on Saturday Night Live, once again produces a parody that will have readers--regardless of their views on Harry Potter--laughing uproariously.

Genres: Fantasy, Humor, Fiction, Comedy, Harry Potter, Young Adult, Adult

328 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Parodist, author of Barry Trotter series, parodies of Harry Potter books. Also known as Mike Gerber or Michael Allen Gerber.

For the business author, see Michael E. Gerber.

Reviews

[[ J o ] · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think "unnecessary" is spot-on here. Yes, the first one was vaguely humorous and was a nice insight in to the adult way of looking at a very popular children's book, but it kind of got out of hand and as a result we have killed more trees than is strictly necessary. Good for a few laughs, but otherwise I don't think so.

[Mikayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not saying this was terrible (despite being more pointless than book one), but think book one was a lot better, even though I only gave it three stars.

I found this one to be slower and more boring compared to the first book. I guess I just enjoyed the randomness of book one.

I can only hope that book three is better and more random than book two.

[Mike Marsbergen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another hilarious Barry Trotter book. If you don't have a sense of humour, steer clear. If you've got a stick permanently wedged so far deep up your derriere—and it's not one of your kinks—steer clear. If you like to laugh and have a wacky sense of humour, Barry Trotter's your baby.

[April Helms · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sequel (duh!) to the first Barry Trotter book. Here, Barry and Ermine are married, with two children. Funny, although a bit more sophomoric.

[Mari]

Will not finish!
I realised I have completely lost interest in this series when I started reading this book. I will unhaul both book 1 and 2.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this when I was 12 so five stars.

[Elizabeth]

DNF.
This was absolutely terrible.

[Nicolesbookworld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Der 2. Band der Parodie und ich kann nur sagen, es lohnt sich sehr es zu lesen.
Barry Trotter ist inzwischen, verheiratet und hat zwei Kinder, besser kann es ihm nicht gehen. Dann bekommt er noch zusammen mit seiner Frau die Stelle als Schuldirektor, aber irgendjemandem passt dies nicht und dieser jemanden verflucht Barry. Nach und nach wird er immer Jünger und keiner weiß warum oder wie sie es aufhalten können.
Die Geschichte ist sehr gut geschrieben und es gibt auch wieder einige Stellen, wo man lachen tut (liegt an gewissen Wörtern).
Was ich gut fand ist, dass man bei einigen Wörtern eine sehr gute Beschreibung bekommen tut. Man findet hinter dem Wort ein * und unten auf der Seite wird es in einer kleineren Schrift erklärt.
Die Harmonie zwischen Berry und Hermeline, hat der Autor Michael Gerber sehr gut rüber gebracht, in seinen Sätzen, da vergeht einem nie die Lust mit dem lesen aufzuhören, eher das Gegenteil, nämlich es weiter zu lesen.
Im Großen und Ganzen, dass Buch war wirklich klasse.

[Joe Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read. Another helping of enjoyable nonesense. As with the first in the series, I appreciate that this doesn't just parody a plotline we already know but develops an obscene and twisted version of the Harry Potter world. I think this book has a better and more focused plot than the first instalment which helps it immensely, even if parts of the plot or writing are otherwise less than stellar which was something which also plagued Shameless Parody. Much like the first book, just go in expecting a bit of daft fun with bizarre antihero versions of the characters we know and love and enjoy the ride. Don't take it too seriously; not all literature needs to have the weightiness and existential philosophy of a Russian novel.

[Amyiw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up in the airport book store years ago when it came out. Read it on my trip and thought it was a laugh. Bought the first in the series but haven't got to it 15 years later. Finally starting it and can not remember this one much at this point other than it was good enough that I order the first book. This was the one released at the time and in the Hudson books, I believe. I'm guessing 4 stars, as I ordered another.

[René · Rating 1 out of 5]

It does actually have a story. That's pretty much the best to be said about this.

Stay away.

(Additional fun fact: the story of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, released over a decade after this, bears striking similarities)

[Gabby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I literally have no idea how this entertained me (loose term) for so long because literally nothing happened. Way dumber than the last one and completely unnecessary, as the title suggests.

Ah, what the hell, I’m off to read the next one.

[Edward Pan · Rating 2 out of 5]

shit book

[Monteiro · Rating 1 out of 5]

Que c'était nul.

[Gary Stamp · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn’t really get on with this and did not make it to the end. What I did read I didn’t find particularly funny. Was expecting so much more as had been recommended by a friend.

[Johana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this one better than the first one. It had somewhat of a plot and mostly it's really wild book. Not for everyone for sure. I liked it as a chill reading tho.

[Matthew Harwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun and whacky parody to the best selling book series of all time. This book is filled with humour and enjoyable content which is a good book to quickly read.

[Carolin Cullmann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hat meinen Humor nicht so ganz getroffen.

[Renn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes place in a time after J. G. Rollins (J.K. Rowling) writes the Barry Trotter series which is really loosely based on Barry Trotter's life. Because of the series muddles (muggles) now know of the wizarding world. Barry and Ermine return to Hogwarts for a class reunion with their son Nigel, who identifies with muggles and is entirely non magical. Soon after arriving at Hogwash the headmaster Dorco (Draco) falls perilously to his death. Ermine wants to solve the case of Dorco's murder, so does Barry, but only so he can send the murderer "one hell of a fruit basket." That's really as far as that plotline goes.

This book is interesting in that it has shows how the wizarding world has evolved to include things like cell-owls, which were "much more portable but easier to lose."

It was a book that made fun of itself, which was quite hilarious, I've never come across a book that did.
Sometimes though I wasn't sure whether to be offended or laugh. But most of the time it was really funny.

I'm glad that the author mostly stayed true to the characters. Ermine is mostly very much like Hermione, though sometimes she was more interested in sex than the goodwill of the students, who frequently died in this book, mostly from Quiddit or exploring and pretending to be Harry, Ron, and Hermione. But some of the things Ermine did Hermione totally should have done in the Harry Potter books, like hiding out in the library so she could study all night. Barry wasn't like Harry at all, he was more like an immature James Potter which was amusing.

This book is the closest best thing to an epilogue I have, thanks to J.K. Rowling who refuses to write another Harry Potter book, which isn't saying much. However, some of it was an accurate representation of what Harry and Hermione's life with their kids would be like, in the modern wizarding world.

[PurplyCookie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Warning: You must be a fan of Harry Potter to enjoy this book or you won't get half the references.

Harry/Barry after having saved the Hogwash School of Wizards from the unwelcome attention of Hollywood, is now ready to move on. He has married Hermione/Ermine Cringer and they now have two relatively delightful children. The eldest is a skilled magician, but the youngest just seems to lack that conjurer's touch. Have Barry and Ermine given birth to (gasp) a Muddle?

Names and so on are sometimes funny ("Girlrboy Rockhard" for the swishy Gilderoy Lockhart) and sometimes just plain dull ("Lon Measly" for Ron Weasley).

We come to know Barry for being the hero of a series of books which exposed the wizarding world to Muggle eyes, ending centuries of separation. This play-within-a-play theme is cute, and allows for a lot of funny bits.

In Gerber's madhouse-mirror of the Potterverse, wizards "conjure" things by stealing them from Muggles: the item disappears from a Muggle and reappears for the wizard. Likewise, castles and such are drafty, cold, and without toilets; the wizard village of Hogsmeade/Hogsbleed is a slum of casinos and brothels.

At one point near the middle of the story the plot (if you can hope to discern one) noticeably changes from simple random comedic parody to an independent commentary on prejudice and society.

Overall, not that much of an attempt to authentically parodize the Harry Potter book series, but at least you know there exists an alternative.


Book Details:

Title Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel: The Book Nobody Has Been Waiting For
Author Michael Gerber
Reviewed By Purplycookie

[Geert Daelemans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than the first

Barry Trotter, now 37 years old, has a wife called Ermine and a son called Nigel. Their son, who is terribly unmagical, is about to start his first year at Hogwash School for Wizardry and Witchcrap when Dorco Malfeasance, the Headmister of the reputable school, suddenly dies. Of course, this is a golden opportunity for Ermine and Barry to create some mayhem as the new heads of their beloved school. It does indeed not take long before Barry gets cursed by a spell that makes him younger every day. Now he get help his son get acquainted with the school, while Ermine searches for something that might lift her husband's curse.

Contrary to its predecessor -Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody- this book has a plot that is worth following. Michael Gerber clearly realized that just adding joke upon joke does not necessarily make a good parody. Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel is still filled with plenty of jokes and silly situations but is achieves much more momentum. The jokes themselves become more subtle and less of a rude insult contest. The interaction between the characters makes more sense an leads to some outrageously funny situations. Certainly Barry's new take on the Quiddit game leads to some hilarious settings... and an occasional exploding student.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

To date, one of the funniest books I have ever read. Any time I'm feeling down, I just pick up "Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel" and open it to any page, and read a few sentences. This book has a great combination of hilarious narration style, dirty jokes, and good old-fashioned slapstick.

Re-reading it start to finish however always brings back new/old laughs from hilarious parts I'd forgotten.

Strangely enough, although this is such a screwball comedy, I get almost as invested in Michael Gerber's characters and wizarding world as J.K.'s.

There is far less gross-out humor in this book than the first, but there are still a few parts that I wish weren't in there. But for the most part, the gross subjects in this one were handled with great humor, and a couple are among my favorite scenes.

It's also packed with potentially offensive material. One sexual-assault joke near the end of the book really offends me, but I must admit that I had no problem laughing at the constant violent deaths of tweens throughout the book, so I'm being a massive hypocrite here.

On the whole, this book is a riot. I recommend it to anyone who loved "Bored of the Rings," the first "Barry Trotter" book, or the "Scary Movie 3."

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a feeling - no I'm pretty sure - that it really was the unnecessary sequel. While I liked the other two parodies with Barry... this one is missing 'that something'. I didn't laugh that much as with previous ones... actually I could count funny parts only on one hand's fingers. Besides, the author is not explaining made-up words or names of objects anymore, I'm a fan of Harry Potter but I don't remember every little detail, especially if it's called differently and the use of it is not the same either. A lot of mess in the plot, skipping parts or jumping suddenly without any connection from one to the other didn't make me reading this book easy. It seems that only Michael Gerber had fun of this book - yeah, writing it could be a lot of fun but the result is not what I've expected. Some lines were clearly created with intention or even suggestion that we should be laughing now. Well... I did not.

Only for people who like coarse jokes and have a specific sense of humour. And only for those who know Harry Potter books.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's amazing how some of the things in this parody came so close to the real story of Harry Potter in books that came out after this one. Such as the links between "Alpo Bumblemore" and "Grundlemumble" - how he is still alive and that they used to be friends!

There were a few other bits that seemed quite close to the real story, but I cannot think of them from the top of my head.

I like how ridiculous this book is and how it is constantly referencing itself, the way the characters have been portrayed, but it's a shame that it's not really that funny. It's ridiculous and I guess that is the point of it, but it would have been nice if it was a book that could make you laugh. A few sniggers here and there aren't really enough.


I can't compare it to the first book however, as I haven't read it yet! It's in the post though, so I shall see how it compares soon. Now, to read The Dead Horse...

[Ellen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Riktigt dålig bok! Skrattade inte en enda gång, och detta är ändå en parodi. Jag älskar verkligen Harry Potter, den här boken var inte ens värdig att vara en parodi på dessa underbara böcker. Michael har misslyckats fullständigt, karaktärerna var bara överdrivna och intetsägande, miljön blev löjlig och det kändes helt enkelt tråkigt att läsa. Egentligen borde det bara ta ett par dagar att läsa ut boken, texten är relativt stor, formatet på boken är litet och det är inte så många sidor ändå tog det mycket längre tid än jag tänkt mig. Baksidestexten var helt enkelt bättre än boken.

[Soňa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sligthly better than the other book about Barry Trotter.... but still wondering where people find it funny. Honestly completely missed point of parody:(

Giving credit to author for putting together the story which to my opinion is not parody but story itself loosely based on adventures of Harry Potter and therefore it should be evaluated on it's own. Structure and wording are good (wish author would avoid so many 'punch lines' connected to sex) but overall it's ok.

Still if this should be parody, I should laugh somewhere during a book. This didn't happened so 2 stars only.

[Nikka · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book is a bit funny but I love Harry Potter and I hate the authors for making fun of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't like it at all, stupid parody!

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

45th book of 2009!

Take some parody and some fanfiction and you've got this book. I picked it up from the library, attracted by it's compact size. It is not an actualy parody of the second harry potter book, it's a parody of the series. Barry Trotter is 38 and his son Nigel has enrolled in Hogwash school for wizards.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love those Harry Potter books? Read this one with an open mind. This book is a silly, nonsense epilogue based off of our favorite trio of Hogwarts heroes. You will rethink your knowledge of the magical world during this book. Not appropriate for children, but will provide a laugh to those with a mature mind.

[Jordan picko]

barry trotter and the unnecessary seuel is one of the funyist books i have ever raad in my whole life and who ever is between the age of 10 to 18 years old will love this book for life and there gut will be so sure after reading this book