Join Me Review

Join Me

- Danny Wallace

Publisher: Ebury Press

How could you refuse the polite invitation of begoggled Danny Wallace in Join Me? You don't know what you could be missing out on. It's all about living for the moment in this quirky, seemingly pointless yet addictive narrative. Finding himself with too much time on his hands after quitting his BBC job, Danny revels in "sitting around in his pants" and generally taking a break from the responsibilities of working life. Danny attends the funeral of his great uncle Gallus and finds out that he had set up a commune of like-minded people to escape Swiss small town small-mindedness in the 1940s. Intrigued by this idea, on his return to London Danny places a cryptic advert in the classified ads paper Loot and gets some surprising results.

Join Me is not a fictional story, but a real life story of a bored man who in tribute to an distant relative decides to ask people to join him. He doesn’t tell people why. Just asks them on faith to join him. And the surprising thing is, that people do. They agree to join him and send him a passport photo to join his collective (it’s not a cult!).

Danny Wallace is a very funny man and he tells his story with a lot of wit, self-deprecating humour and a very amusing turn of phrase. There were times when I was spluttering with laughter on the train (and drawing some very odd looks) with just a quick insight or phrase. I don’t as a habit read much non-fiction, but Danny Wallace is an exception and this was one book that made me grin. It’s not all highs though as Danny struggles to understand what to do with these people once they’ve joined him. However, his solution is great – he uses his powers for good! – and an act of random kindness every Friday is born. It certainly makes you think about doing good. And doing good without any reason.

Danny feels like a real person – not a big celebrity. He manages to travel the country and grow his collective in the most bizarre and unusual ways and meets some of the strangest, nicest and downright odd people you can imagine. While there isn’t a larger purpose as such for Danny’s quest, there is a nice journey of discovery as Danny tries to figure out how to use his new-found power and how to lead so many different and disparate people. I laughed and I felt for Danny. Honestly if you want a proper break from all the love triangles, world ending sagas this is a great British diversion for a couple of days.

Recommended for fans of Douglas Adams and Stephen Fry. 8 out of 10

The Fry Chonicles Review

The Fry Chronicles

-      Stephen Fry

Kindle Book

Thirteen years ago, Moab is my Washpot, Stephen Fry’s autobiography of his early years, was published to rave reviews and was a huge bestseller. In those thirteen years since, Stephen Fry has moved into a completely new stratosphere, both as a public figure, and a private man. Now he is not just a multi-award-winning comedian and actor, but also an author, director and presenter. In January 2010, he was awarded the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards. Much loved by the public and his peers, Stephen Fry is one of the most influential cultural forces in the UK. This dazzling memoir promises to be a courageously frank, honest and poignant read. It will detail some of the most turbulent and least well known years of his life with writing that will excite you, make you laugh uproariously, move you, inform you and, above all, surprise you.

This is actually Stephen Fry’s second autobiography. His first, Moab is my Washpot, covered his early childhood and rebellious teens. The Fry Chronicles covers his university years and the first few years of his early career. Now, I’m not usually a reader of biographies and hadn’t intended to read any this year, but I ended up with a copy of this book and thought I’d give a go. (The full story of how and why I ended up with this book can be found here). I’m actually a fan of Stephen Fry – comic, actor, writer and all round entertainer - he always ends up on my dream dinner party guest list! But I know his work rather than his life so I was quite taken aback about how little I actually knew about him.

This book is painfully honest regarding Stephen’s self-opinion and his lack of believe in himself. That Stephen Fry is bi-polar is well known and although it is hardly mentioned here, you can see how even in success this casts a shadow over his achievements. That he had a turbulent time at school was a shock to me – and to be honest the end of book was a big surprise as well – it never fit in my opinion of Stephen Fry as an affable, English gentleman. Which tells you how honest Stephen has been and I guess the reason why biographies sell so well is the ability to get to know a celebrity in raw, honest form.

If you’re after gossip about other celebrities, you won’t find it here. Stephen writes with elegance about what he admires in his contempories and friends but dishes no dirt and bad mouths no-one. I found that quite nice – and if it means the book occasionally reads like a ‘lovie’ name dropping that is only because Stephen does know everyone. The style is intelligent, witty, sometimes philosophical and amusing. It gave me a great deal to think about and I think it actually increased my admiration for Stephen Fry. And hey, The Fry Chronicles beat Tony Blair’s A Journey as best biography at the Galaxy National Book Awards this year!

Recommended for fans of intelligent humour. 8 out of 10