I bought the book "How to lose friends & alienate people" because I like the cover. I know that it says don't judge a book by it's cover and they are right with saying this. I hestitated with buying and finally was convinced by the sticker on it saying that the book is now a major film starring Simon Pegg ("Star Trek", "Shaun of the Dead", "The World's End") and Kirsten Dunst ("Spider Man", "Melancholia") whom I both like, so I thought the book wouldn't be that bad.
It actually isn't, however it isn't really good either.
Story:
The story is about what happened to Toby Young when he came from London to New York to work for Vanity Fair.
It shows how he managed his way in the world of the rich and famous, the stylish fashion world of America.
And he fails more than he passes, in his job as in his personal life. So the autobiographical elements are worked out in this piece of work, with background information too and many footnotes. :)
There is no real story in the book, it's more a collection of anecdotes and (dirty) informations about the glossy New Yorkers and VIP's Young met.
I'm happy to know I'm not part of all of this, it seems to be really filthy out there. Good to know that now, the book was quite informing in this.
I have to say, I liked the idea and the quotes on the cover seemed interesting to me. But more than the half the book was really boring. Filled with explanations and stories that might be interesting if you know the people, the milieu and the New York fashion department, but for someone with just a little knowledge about all this and with no real interest in fashion it just wasn't the best book to read. It is nice to know some general things about this whole fashion magazine thing and all, but if it goes in a too detailed way, I'm out.
Writing:
I liked the writing style, Toby Young made it funny sometimes and didn't hestitate to make a fool out of himself.
Nevertheless, I don't like him much, or better said the person he describes in his book. He isn't pleasant to me with his bad behaviour and his obsession of VIP's.
I just saw a picture of him on the web, because I wanted to know how he look, and was surprised that he looked likeable in it, so I don't know if he really is the way I thought he is after reading the book.
I may not enjoyed it that much, but in the end it got better and I finished it and was glad I did. I'm thinking about watching the movie, but I'm not that exhausted to see it, so I maybe will do when the time comes to do so.
I give 3 of 5 tickets for this books, and I earned them all by myself, without phoning someone to get me into it (a big party to meet all the celebrities) ;) So check it out if you like.
The world of the rich and famous by the sight of a poor