My Booky Wook - Russell Brand

...great stories under his belt. My favourite anecdote is where he was kicked of a comedy cruise with Steve Coogan (Alan Partridge), Rob Brydon (Gavin & Stacey) and David Walliams (Little Britain) for his overbearing alcoholism, lack of effort with regards to work and his overzealous efforts to sample as many ladies in as many ports as he could. It reall shows how uncontrollable he was at one stage and his behaviour gets to the point where it is simply ... more

I must admit that I now really like Russell Brand and have taken to catching up on his older work but it did take a while for his style and personality to grow on me. As in daily life, the more times you try to like something, the easier it becomes and the same is definitely true for Russell Brand.

Russell's 'Booky Wook' is a very candid and comprehensive of the entertainer's life history up to very recently. The book is split into four sections which span through the major stages of his life. many people who release autobiographies tend to have some input but draft a 'ghost writer' to write the most part of the book. In this case though, it is clear that Russell has almost single-handedly churned this out. The language, sentiments and humour are very characteristic of him and his delivery.

For those of you that have never heard of Russell; he is a tight-trousered lothario with a reputation for the ladies who hails from Grays in Essex, England. He achieved notoriety as the host of E4's 'Efourum' and 'Big Brother's Big Mouth' which are side shows to the world-plaguing Big Brother enterprise. I must admit, I was never originally a fan of either of these shows due to lack of enthusiasm regarding the subject matter. As a consequence, Russell has also gained many fans as a radio host on Radio 2 and Radio 6 Music, both BBC radio stations and also via his now budding stand-up comedy career. He started of as Fat Sam in his school's rendition of 'Bugsy Malone,' moved on to become a host for a couple of MTV shows and after a tough and tumultuous period in his life blighted by addiction, got his career back on track to the point it now stands where he is a high-profile member of the media circus we know as 'celebrity.'

The Book

Part I

The first portion of the book covers Russell's early memories and mainly focuses on childhood. although, the first chapter jumps to a time he spent in a clinic which dealt with sex addiction, which is also the point where the book finishes.

Russell uses this section to outline his trouble with gaining any real kind of acceptance and laments his lack of ability at football. he seems to eternally be in trouble for pointlessly ignoring the advice he is given, but he tempers this very nicely with a childish justification of his motives. In this part of the book, he almost regresses back to his youth as he recalls his fondness for entertaining others by eating ants and drawing smiley faces on a part of his anatomy. There is an illustrative insert with a few pictures of Russ as a young boy. This helps the reader to gain a visualisation of what he talks about and aside from a slight eccentricity and an overbearing yearning for popularity he comes accross as what would have been quite a nice young boy who just loved his football team (West Ham United) and his Mum.

In this part of the book it details his first foray into thespianism as 'Fat Sam' and paves the way for the second satge of the book in which he tries to realise his dream of stardom...

Part II

This part of the book is where Russell joins drama school and his behaviour really starts to get entertaining, if a little attrocious. He seems to be almost permanently drunk and stoned once he becomes comfortable and chases a never-ending list of women, most of who were able to resist his feeble attempts at seduction. although he does say he came close to daring two members of girl-group 'Eternal' from the 1990's. Both of these investments failed to mature so it remains a mere anecdote.

These chapters explain Russell's motivation and journey through drama school to early stand up gigs and constant substance abuse. his relationships with his family fluctuate but he always maintains his love for his Mum. This stage of the book in a very honest and detailed summary of his adolescence and endears Russell to reader if he hasn't already done so himself.

Part III

The book draws closer to the present here and covers his media career, or at least its beginnings and near failures. From his exploits confusing spaced out clubbers with banal and paradoxical questions in Ibiza on MTV's 'Dancefloor Chart' to his short-lived and apparently understaed show on UK Play called RE:Brand. In RE:Brand the television is very experimental and some examples of episodes consist of Russell living, bathing and going out with a homeless man, a camera-captured experiment at homosexuality and living with a prostitute and her husband. From the clips I have seen of these shows and what I can tell from the book, they are truly interesting and inspirational programming which captures the natural environments which never really grace our screens. This stage of his career is where he also introduces his professional cohorts such as Matt Morgan, Trevor Lock and poet Mr Gee.

Admittedly Russell is out of control in this stage of his life and the latter stages of this part of the book see him forced into rehab to cope with excessive heroin abuse. He deals with the issue in a condemnatory but jovial manner and manages to make his actions seem understandable and at the same time, just as lamentable.

Part IV

In this, the final part of the current saga, Russell has left rehab and remains clean up to the present day. It follows the resurrection of his career after a torrent of sackings in the previous chapters and details his journey to the present day although it is know his womanising that lands him and addictive personality back under rehab rules.

he details how he now manages to enjoy his life just as much without drugs and alcohol and also curtailing his exploits which once earned him the dubious award of 'Shagger of the Year.' he gives a very frank and gritty nsight into his struggle in overcoming his addictions and offers some valuable experience to anybody who may be suffering similar afflictions. His story is one of success now and this book charts the series of peaks and troughs which led him there.

Summary

The book really makes it easy to side with Russell and his brilliant arsenal of language serves him well throughout. The detail and embarassing honesty make this a very admirable and personal account of Russell's life and makes it much easier to understand his unorthodox and sometimes eccentric behaviour. He seems to be a very unique and energetic individual with some great stories under his belt. My favourite anecdote is where he was kicked of a comedy cruise with Steve Coogan (Alan Partridge), Rob Brydon (Gavin & Stacey) and David Walliams (Little Britain) for his overbearing alcoholism, lack of effort with regards to work and his overzealous efforts to sample as many ladies in as many ports as he could. It reall shows how uncontrollable he was at one stage and his behaviour gets to the point where it is simply hysterical. Plenty of times this book made me smile and personally I really enjoyed reading it. I would definitely recommend it. 

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