Unlike most celebrity autobiographies, Russell Brand’s My Booky Wook doesn’t include a second (or third) author, who (presumably) did all the work. Instead, the tales of debauchery come directly out of his mouth, seemingly unedited.
While Brand didn’t launch onto the American scene until his scene-stealing role in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, he’s been a presence in his native U.K. for years with stand-up shows, television work and a weekly radio show.
The book, which was a No. 1 bestseller in Britain, hasn’t been edited to better suit American audiences; instead, explanatory footnotes have been added. These are especially useful, as Brand frequently references British pop culture, such as TV shows and celebrities, most of which would be lost on American readers.
“Keeley Hazell is a topless model who appears on Page 3 of The Sun newspaper,” Brand wrote. “Page 3 is a crazy concept whereby for no discernible reason a national newspaper prints a photograph of a young woman showing her tits. I’d object, but I’m too enamored with the boobs. … Amusingly, they often attribute a comment on the day’s events to the Page 3 girl of the day, right next to her lovely, naked body.”
He also explains cultural anachronisms, such as Perspex instead of Plexiglass, and the process of Cockney rhyming slang, where rhyming phrases are substituted for words.
It’s clear this work is in Brand’s voice: The wild, crazy and sometimes rambling way he spoke on his radio show, from which he has since resigned over a public dispute, comes through in printed form as entertainingly as it does vocally.
Selected highlights from the roller coaster ride encompassing the life of Brand include: An addiction to drugs, including heroin (kicked), an addiction to sex (partially kicked, if any of the tales of Brand’s current exploits hold true) and a chronic love of the spotlight (clearly not kicked, see the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards).
But his VMA performance, which offended many Americans with his shots at former President George W. Bush and the Jonas Brothers (note to Brand: Don’t get involved with the religious right), wasn’t the first time he’s been in a negative limelight involving America. Brand worked as a video jockey at MTV Britain and decided to appear on the program dressed as Osama Bin Laden. It was Sept. 12, 2001. He was promptly dismissed.
Brand’s conversational manner peppers My Booky Wook, and while it’s largely unconventional, it’s what you’d expect. The book reads as if he’s in the room having a conversation with you, and while the style wouldn’t work for most authors, Brand pulls it off effortlessly.
If you haven’t seen or heard Brand outside of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, My Booky Wook provides a perfect filler between now and 2010’s Get Him to the Greek, when he’ll reprise his role as Aldous Snow.
tripp.laino@yahoo.com
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
