My Booky Wook and Booky Wook 2

[wwjdd]

Having mentioned these in another thread I thought I'd talk about these 2 books here.

These are 2 autobiographies written by Russell Brand. The complete title of the 2nd book is Booky Wook 2 - This Time it's Personal (which strikes me as wildly funny since his first book was frighteningly personal).

Right up front...these books are not for the faint-hearted. There is extremely raw language, inappropriate humor, sexual situations, depictions of drug abuse, multiple addictions, forced rehabs and other polarizing issues discussed at length in these books.

For those of you who don't know, Russell Brand is a British comedian, television & radio host, journalist and actor. He's less well known in the U.S., but ubiquitous on the "celeb-fests" (E.T., Insider, etc.) because he and Katy Perry are engaged to be married soon. His U.S.-released movies to-date (that I'm aware of) have been Bedtime Stories, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek, Despicable Me (voice-over) and the upcoming The Tempest and a remake of the Dudley Moore movie Arthur.

Hhe's lived more life in his 35 years than most people could in several reincarnations.

These volumes aren't "light reading" since the subject matter can be very grim at times. But then his innate humor comes through and startles a laugh out of you.

He details his working-class childhood in a single-parent home, his inner emotional turmoil (including a barely-mentioned incident of childhood sexual abuse), increasing treble addictions to drugs (pot, coke and heroin, among others), alcohol and sex, his rising stardom in Europe and the self-created pitfalls that came with it, to his involuntary (and so far, successful) rehabs, his blossoming American fame and finally true love.

NOTE - it does help if you're familiar with British slang, or some of his writing will be nonsense to you. He uses the language he grew up with, but that can be confusing for some Americans.

I would recommend that you watch some of his stand-up, which is available on YouTube, or see some of his movies before buying his books. He's very over-the-top and in-your-face. If that offends, or just doesn't sit well, you may not like the books. But they are realistic looks into a fragile personality that managed to come through an incredibly long dark tunnel into a brighter place. And entertain in the process.

[ivycastle]

I'm almost done with this book. Thinking about getting the second one.
Joanie

[wwjdd]

Cool Joanie - so what do you think of it?

I've got so many questions - you're the only other person I know that's read it. How did you find out about Russell? What do you think of the book? Have you seen any of his performances?

I do recommend the 2nd book, but it's much less controversial and more anecdotal, and discusses his bad comedy choices in detail. It deals a lot more with his career, than his personal struggles. But I have to say the last passage in the book made me sigh out a big "awwww". I'd love to hear what your take is if you decide to read it.