How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

Author: Toby Young

(I'm starting with my least favorite memoir I've ever read so be warned)

Sub-Genre: Narative - I'm going to call it a "star fucker" memoir

How many Pages: 329

What does it say about itself: "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People is Toby Young' hilarious and best selling account of the five years he spent looking for love in all the wrong places and steadily working his way down the New York food chain, from glossy magazine editor to crash-test dummy for interactive sex toys. A seditious attack on the culture of celebrity from inside the belly of the best..."

My thoughts: This is the most needless and masturbatory piece of writing I have ever read. At no point in this book does one feel a connection to Toby as a fellow human being. He is self indulgent and narcissistic. This was made into a movie (why? I don't know) which I will never see because I hated the book so much. The excessive length is a major detriment because the reader keeps expecting it to be better, and it never delivers. If you like books about unlikable people being highly successful and then falling (not very far I mean the guy is/was on top chef as a judge) this is one to read... but don't.

Grade: (all scores out of 5)
Quality of Writing: meh 2.
Entertainment Value: 1
Compelling: 1
Total score: 4/15 - 27% F