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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Funny, light, educational, eye-opening
This is a really entertaining book, actually very funny at times - the bit with the alien medium was hilarious. Theroux writes well - in a light and effortless to read style. While it isn't too serious, he does pause to muse on the nature of weirdness, the origins of abnormal beliefs and behaviours in his subjects, and his own motivations for covering them...
Published on 9 Nov 2005 by Normen Maler
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Insight or voyeurism?
There are some great features to Amazon: competitive prices, the chance to browse for a vast selection of books at any hour of the day, generally good service. Here is a bad thing: judging a book by its cover (or the reputation of the author). I bought this because I have enjoyed some of Theroux's TV programmes and it sounded a bit different.
Theroux's plan...
Published 12 months ago by Andrew Walker
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Funny, light, educational, eye-opening, 9 Nov 2005
This is a really entertaining book, actually very funny at times - the bit with the alien medium was hilarious.
Theroux writes well - in a light and effortless to read style.
While it isn't too serious, he does pause to muse on the nature of weirdness, the origins of abnormal beliefs and behaviours in his subjects, and his own motivations for covering them. This is done without pretentious psychobabble.
The people covered are really fascinating and Theroux's interactions with them, as viewers of his TV series will know, are always revealing and amusing.I really recommend this book.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent debut, 17 Oct 2005
The word 'debut' seems a little weird for Louis, after all, most of the people who pick up this book will be long familiar with Louis and his collection of mad hatters from across the pond. Settling down with Louis' journey feels like rekindling some long lost friendships. I was most interested to catch up with Hayley, who I am sure had a bit of a thing for Louis - who wouldn't? Not even Christine Hamilton was impervious. Louis writes as he talks: charming, self efacing and respectful of his interviewees despite them having some horrific views. Ah...with the exception of Marshall Sylver who was a bit of a scumbag anyway. More power to you Louis and don't let anyone call you a poor man's Jon Ronson.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
A funny and fascinating read!, 11 Oct 2005
I'm a bit of a fan of Louis Theroux's TV documentaries, but I came to this book not sure what to expect. Was it a travel book, a study in weirdness, a confessional, quirky, serious? But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it and how quickly I ploughed through it.
The title is a bit mis-leading - "travels through American sub-cultures" - as this isn't really a travel book but a study of ten characters who Louis has met over the course of his journalism.
Louis moves to America and spends almost a year on a kind of road trip seeking out his favourite "weird" subjects. A porn performer, an alien-hunter, a pimp(!), Ike Turner and some scarey racist neo-nazis to name just a few. The chapter I found most fascinating was one about a woman called April. She's a neo-nazi and has two young blonde twins who she trains to sing nazi songs.
Somehow the humanity of even the most reprehensible of these people shines through. And Louis obviously has quite a close, affectionate bond with a lot of these people.
I recommend this to anyone who wants to figure out what compels people to believe outlandish things or to choose bizarre modes of life. Keep an open mind, and you wil love this book as i did!
Am I the first person to read this??? BUY IT!
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Wonderfully funny, entertaining book, 11 Nov 2005
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the Weird Weekends.
If you haven't seen the Weird Weekends-then I suggest that you get the DVDS post haste!In the book, Louis is reunited with some of his favorite, or at least, his weirdest 'subjects'. Some are happy to see him-others are not; some subjects’ lives' have become almost normal and others are as kooky as ever. Louis is-as ever- endearingly naughty and often gives them enough rope to choke on. However, he also seems genuinely fond of some of his subjects, which i found rather touching. I really enjoyed this book and hope that we see more of Louis' work in the future-whether on T.V. or in print.
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
Weird or wonderful?, 17 Oct 2005
Being an avid follower of Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends it seemed a logical to read about Louis' return to 'Weirdsville' in this book. I'd heard Louis was writing a book in 2004 but was, as another reviewer remarks, unsure of what to expect. However, I took a gamble on the hardback when it was released and was pleasantly surprised.
Following a similar format to the TV series, Louis returns to some of his previous subjects to give a greater insight into what drives their weird ways and provide us with an update on their lives. Be warned though, this isn't a comprehensive update on all of Louis' previous subjects, but rather a trawl through some of those he found more fascinating in the American west. This is understandable, as I'm sure updating us on past exploits would be a neverending story - however, it is a little disappointing that other interesting subjects such as the Boers and swingers weren't covered again. Nevertheless, this book does have the added incentive of containing various material that Louis began but got canned for one reason or another, a la Ike Turner.
Overall, I would suggest watching at least some of the Weird Weekend series before reading this book. These will add greater depth to the reading, and it is definitely good to have a picture of Louis, his interviewing style and his subjects in your mind before being brought up to date. Having said that, if you are simply interested in American sub-cultures then this book is well written enough to keep you entertained - my sister read it having seen only a couple of Weird Weekends and it has inspired her to check out the rest of the series. There's no real narrative flow so you can pick the book up, read a chapter, then put it down again. Well, in theory at least... I usually take more time reading books but was so engrossed by this one that it probably took me about 3 days to get through. Likewise for my sister.
So in answer to whether this book is weird or wonderful, I would have to say that it is both in equal measure. And that is why I would recommend it.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Insight or voyeurism?, 24 Jun 2008
There are some great features to Amazon: competitive prices, the chance to browse for a vast selection of books at any hour of the day, generally good service. Here is a bad thing: judging a book by its cover (or the reputation of the author). I bought this because I have enjoyed some of Theroux's TV programmes and it sounded a bit different.
Theroux's plan is to revisit subjects he had met during the making of a TV series on weird Americans and see how they have changed in the intervening few years. The problem is that it doesn't quite work and I think Theroux realises that quite quickly. The writing is engaging and honest but it's partly a story of tracking the people down and partly a story about what they said when he found them. Neither story is terribly interesting.
The story of finding the subjects again is fairly tedious, to be honest. Theroux tracks them through the internet, phone calls and visits to likely hangouts but there's no great detective work or suspense, just description. And this is ok - Theroux comes across as likeable and decent, you'd actually like to meet him, but there are limits to how interesting the story of him tracking people down can be.
Then there's the times when he finds his subject and draws them out. Again, it's hard to get very involved. Another reviewer calls the interviewees dreary and some of them are. Some are sad, as well, and neither feature makes for very gripping reading. You could wander into your local psychiatric out-patient clinic and have the same sort of chat, I suspect.
Louis Theroux is a talented journalist and author and his best work is ahead of him. You wish his weird subjects would grow up and get on with their lives (some of them have) and you wish Theroux would stop hanging around with them and get on to something that really matters. The Victorians used to visit asylums to gawp at the lunatics and this feels a bit like the same voyeuristic serving up of human frailty.
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10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Downbeat, 4 Jan 2006
By A Customer
Like his TV programmes, Theroux's style in this book is dry and gentle - affectionate even. He never puts his subjects on the spot, rather he lets them open up and expose the nonsense of their own fantasys. Thus in this book, Theroux revisits many of those people he met in his "Wierd Weekends" series to see how they have changed. Unsurprisingly, they haven't really changed - some have updated their fantasies, some have moved to new fantasies, and some have moved to a semblance of the real world, but they are all still fantasists. Theroux himself seems to realise this and admits to becoming impatient with his subjects, and the overall tone of the book is downbeat. These people are not wierd as the title suggests - they are dreary. Dreary people who choose fantasy and self-delusion to make themselves feel important. Much as I like Louis Theroux, these people don't deserve the oxygen of publication, and I hope he now feels able to move onto more interesting subjects.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
If you were a fan of the TV series,,,, 21 Jan 2007
If you were a fan of the TV series, and you are interested in what happened to the people who he interviewed, then by all means this book is for you.
For me, however, this book was a little disappointing. While it does explore the gaps between Louis' previous meetings with these characters and their recent meetings, there is little character exploration or in-depth discussion about these people and what makes them who they are. There are brief summaries of their previous meetings and why Louis was drawn to them, but at the end of the book this leaves you with little. Unfortunately, it also results in these catch-ups becoming trite and somewhat grating. While in the TV series these aspects would have been neccesary, Louis seems to feel that because of the nature of this book their ommision is no problem. I disagree.
Even for fans of the TV series, there is probably little new ground here. This might not be a problem for some, but it leaves the book somewhat lacking in a genre where books regarding the examination of gonzo characters are now in abundance. For newcomers to Theroux like myself, my advice would be to buy the DVD instead.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
An Addictive, quirky and thought provoking insight into sub-cultures., 26 Jan 2009
As a Louis Theroux fan, I will try my best to give a honest non-biased opinion on this book.
Although before buying any book, I normally only read the negative reviews as I'm more interested in what is NOT good about a book I'm considering reading, I did gave this book 5 stars. I am an extremely picky reader who has a hard time finding a book decent enough to hold my attention - as well as this, it should be noted that the theme of the book is something i already have great interested in, so obviously that helped. If you're not interested in social insights, sub-cultures, even travel - then there probably isn't any point buying this book to be fair. Now, for those that are looking for this kind of book;
I found the book extremely easy to read, and highly addictive due to its segmented nature. Clear chapters on specific individuals representing a role model of a specific sub-culture; each of these chapters divided up into clear introduction/background, current progress and after thought sections. He writes in a well educated manner that not only makes reading it enjoyable, but also really helps the mind paint mental pictures of various scenes, people and places with great detail.
While traveling the USA to meet his topic characters, we have an insight into the surrounding society of various locations; towns, cities and states. The book echoes the travel writing style once popularized so well by Louis father.
As well as these sides to the book, I found it interesting in an almost autobiographical sense. Not in the sense that we find out much of Louis' life, but compared to the likes of the television series, we find out a lot more about his own thoughts, his aims and goals and his own concerns about not meeting them or not being the serious journalist he thinks he aught to.
Louis embarks on a journey not only through America, its subcultures, society, human psychology but also his own personality - almost trying to discover through these 'weirdos' who he is, and what makes him different more than what makes THEM different. I believe that's the crux of this book.
It's perhaps because of this that you will probably enjoy the book irrespective of your interests, but will take an even deeper joy in reading it if your a fan of the covered topics or indeed Louis Theroux as a journalist. The book can be deep and thought provoking, disturbing and troubling as much as it can be light hearted, funny and entertaining.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Hit and miss, 12 April 2008
Louis Theroux's television persona and subject matter are always engaging, warm and interesting. He comes across as a thoroughly nice chap and treats his weird and wonderful subjects with dignity and respect. His book, a contituation of the meetings he had continues in this vein and very readable it is. However he doesn't really delve as well as you had hoped and and you are left wondering "Is that all I get".
Probably best as an introduction to Louis' weird world. If you have seen the TV shows you may end up disappointed.
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