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Join Me: The True Story of a Man Who Started a Cult by Accident [Paperback]

Danny Wallace
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Book Description

3 Jun 2004

Danny Wallace was bored. Just to see what would happen, he placed a whimsical ad in a local London paper. It said, simply, 'Join Me'. Within a month, he was receiving letters and emails from teachers, mechanics, sales reps, vicars, schoolchildren and pensioners - all pledging allegiance to his cause. But no one knew what his cause was. Soon he was proclaimed Leader. Increasingly obsessed and possibly power-crazed Danny risked losing his sanity and his loyal girlfriend. But who could deny the attraction of a global following of devoted joinees?

A book about dreams, ambition and the responsibility that comes with power, Join Me is the true story of a man who created a cult by accident, and is proof that whilst some men were born to lead, others really haven't got a clue.

(20030513)

Frequently Bought Together

Join Me: The True Story of a Man Who Started a Cult by Accident + Yes Man + Friends Like These
Price For All Three: £17.97

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  • Yes Man £5.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Ebury Press (3 Jun 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0091895820
  • ISBN-13: 978-0091895822
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 2.5 x 19.9 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 20,256 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon Review

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.

His Norwegian radio-producer girlfriend Hanne is bemused and infuriated that this has become more than a transient interest; it takes over his life--and hers. The number of "joinees"--people replying to his ad--escalates as word gets out about this new "happy cult", but without a clue about what he wants to achieve, or do with all his newfound friends, Danny has to think fast as dissent rises in the ranks. Now the reluctant leader of a troop of random hopefuls, he maintains their interest with obscure e-mails and watches as his joinees meet and bond.

Whatever he had created, it was bigger than he had anticipated. From an initially puerile idea, it had grown into something of a social experiment--why were people willing to take the risk? What was lacking in their lives that they thought they might get out of contacting a stranger? Taking risks, no matter how big or small, is the essential crux of the matter here and of course, nothing ventured, nothing gained. --Angela Boodoo --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

One of the funniest stories you will ever read (Daily Mail 20040719)

The hilarious true story of a bunch of strangers being swept up in a bored man's experiment (Heat 20040719)

Hugely funny. (World Magazine )

Join Me is the kind of book I love: effortlessly funny, painfully accurate and entertaining to the very end. Brilliant. (Mike Gayle )

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Join Me is testament to how a crazy idea can bring people together for the good of others. It proves undeniably that the majority of people wish to help each other and sometimes they just need the smallest of excuses to do it. With a cast of odd characters the story goes from a silly idea by an exceptionally bored man to the whole scheme going wildy out of control to the heady heights of appearing on Belgium's top-rated TV show. This is most certainly a book with it's heart in the right place. Every joinee has learnt from the experience. Whether it's that a small, random act of kindness can have a big effect on the recipient, that strangers truly are friends we've not yet met, or perhaps just that it's not a good idea to look at pictures of peoples flats on the internet - and then mention it in casual conversation. Did I mention that the book is very funny? -- and by the way... It's not a cult, it's a collective. Only 2% of the vote? Damn.
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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Murder: Let's nip it in the bud! 2 July 2004
Format:Paperback
It appears I have actually been living in a cave, because the oddly successful Join Me campaign passed me by entirely in 2002 (and onwards). And also, I did read Are You Dave Gorman before this. That book was pointless, yet life-affirming - and it had something important to say about friendship, and being nice to people. Nothing you could quite pin down, though.

Danny Wallace's first solo book, detailing his quest to get 1000 people to "Join him", is hilarious. Like Are You Dave Gorman, it's occasionally a little convenient and hard-to-believe at best. But life imitates art, and strange things really do happen.

Also, unlike said novel, Join Me has a definite message, and Danny's collective isn't a "bored man's experiment" at all. It merely started as one. It's basically a religion, minus all the trappings of sermons and scripture, with just a single aim: make people happy by being nice to them. It's starkly simple stuff, and the sense throughout the novel that Danny truly doesn't see the scale of what he's done is rather humbling. Hundreds join him out of sheer curiosity and trust. Hundreds do good deeds, finally feeling they have the excuse and right to. After reading this, you'll be truly hard-pressed not to sign up.

If anything, the book makes the human race seem a warmer, more lovable breed than before. An absolutely touching, sweet (and more importantly), funny story.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An Absolutely Fantastic Read! 4 July 2003
Format:Paperback
I have been aware of Danny Wallace's existence since the first BBC showing of "Are you Dave Gorman?", I have watched the series again and again, devoured the book many times and watched 'Dave Gorman's Important Astrological Experiment'. So because I found him a)extremely funny and b) really quite sexy I bookmarked his website to follow what he did next. Which is when I came across Join Me.

I came across the idea while I was bored one afternoon and emailed to say I wanted to join him. The responce was to send a passport photo and await instructions. You see this is where I am kicking myself, I never did, after reading 'Are you Dave Gorman'I was I admit, extremely nervous of as to where it might lead.

About a year later I found he was writing a book about the experience, I ordered the book to find out what I had missed, safe in the knowledge that Mr Wallace would have wrote an extremely good book no matter what the outcome of the collective. So let me tell you - I was not wrong. This book is brilliantly funny. It tells of why Danny set up the collective, what happened as he tried to get more people and the way the idea snow balled almost out of his control. The amazing lengths both the Leader and the Joinees have gone to are frankly astounding.

You have to buy this book, it fantastically laugh out loud funny and inspiring all at the same time. So buy, laugh and if you haven't already - Join Him!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational and Funny
I was never much o a reader until I gave this book a try and began it with very low expectations.
Danny Wallace is a talented and funny writer and this book, once started is... Read more
Published 15 days ago by MR J SWIFT
5.0 out of 5 stars Join Me...superb & very funny!
What a lovely book with lots of humour. It can't help but make you stop & think about 'doing something nice' for someone.
Published 2 months ago by J Sheppard
3.0 out of 5 stars Yes Man's little brother
Quite enjoyed this book - classic Danny Wallace. Didn't have the laughs of Yes Man and he admits he's no Bill Bryson but still a fun read.
Published 3 months ago by Romeshopper
5.0 out of 5 stars Love it
Had read loads of positive reviews but wasn't quite ready for just how lovely this book was! Funny, entertaining and life affirming.
Published 4 months ago by Jade Cleaver
5.0 out of 5 stars I will!
After reading this funny funny book I can't wait to join the only cult, I mean collective, I've ever heard of that doesn't end in suicide. Yeah! Read more
Published 4 months ago by Suzanne Payne
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting book.
An amusing writer and an insight into how one individual can influence many people. If you want to be famous, you could try and copy him
Published 4 months ago by Printskill
4.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read
This book was easy to read and quite interesting. The reason I let one star go is because it didn't change my life or make me think.
Published 5 months ago by Roger&Out
1.0 out of 5 stars he just wont stop with his awful books
he just wont stop with his awful books
dear mr wallace you lack any talent what so ever so please please plsease just stop
Published 12 months ago by dregj
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny
The good: funny book, it was somewhat embarrassing because I read it while on public transportation such as trains and air plains and sometimes i LOL'd. Read more
Published 17 months ago by r1ccc
2.0 out of 5 stars On balance I'll not, but thanks for asking
This book left me with a moral quandary. I can't dispute the inherent "rightness" of what the Join Me movement ultimately aspired to: promoting random acts of kindness, first to... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Catananche
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