My Booky Wook - Russell Brand

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I absolutely loved My Booky Wook. It's packed with really funny anecdotes and is intelligently written. The narrative is such that it’s as if he were talking to you or telling his story to an audience which is great, especially if you’re a fan of his and enjoy his stand up performances. Russell invites us into his past to see the way that he grew up and his struggle for stardom, shown by experiences in his life that are both tragic and touching. I loved Russell's stand up comedy before reading this so I thought I'd enjoy it and I was certainly not disappointed. However, I think that My Booky Wook can be enjoyed regardless of whether you are a fan of his stand up or not. I’d never have guessed that his experiences up until he became famous were like they were. This is one reason why I think everyone should give it a read. The underlying emotional story, such as his relationship with his father, stepfather and drugs, just makes you want to wrap him up in cotton wool and give him a big hug and I think this might surprise some. He's a highly intelligent man with an extraordinary Booky Wook.

Russell begins at the sexual addiction treatment centre Keystone, in the suburbs of Philadelphia where he is interned. This is just an indication of how honest and open the rest of the book is, as this is only the beginning of the interesting story that is Russell’s life. There are no barriers, no hidden secrets and no bits that have been missed out to improve his image, as so many biographies are guilty of. It’s all here, laid bare. What he talks of here is interesting because it’s a facility that so little of us hear about. The censoring of anything remotely sexual (even of Venus de Milo), slowing becoming institutionalised and being in center with men who were there because otherwise they’d be facing life sentences or execution are all things that Russell found hard to deal with. But he approached them with an analytical mind and also told the story around them humorously. Infact, I’ll just say it now, the whole book is bloody funny. He has a way of showing the dark side of things, explaining how he gets himself into these situations and then makes them hilarious for the reader. I do admire how he tells all in My Booky Wook as it can’t be easy to relive all of these memories, and even less easy to construct this book to tell us all about them.

He then moved on to describe his childhood and teenage years (the latter going some way to explaining his being at Keystone). As he says in the book “In the words of Morrissey - I can smile about it now, but at the time it was terrible.” And he’s right, divorced but still arguing parents, an uninterested and neglectful dad and trouble at school don’t make for the happiest of childhoods. That’s just the beginning though, as Russell goes on to tell us about his mum’s constant battle with cancer, the anger of his stepdad and other events in his life. The description of his matriarchal upbringing, by his mum and her family and friends is heartwarming and insightful as it shows us the basis for some of Russell’s behavior and instincts now.

His experiences at school, his want for attention and love for performing and drama productions are described in detail as they show an important part of Russell’s life and how he came to be in the profession that he’s in now. But when I say ‘detail’ it’s not like some biographies that I’ve read, where we’re put through the boredom of hearing every tiny little incident, who did what on September 12th 1985, what they did, how they did it and who their accomplices were.... It’s a really interesting collection of anecdotes and stories that will make you laugh and compel you to read on.

If you do so you’ll read about his time at Italia Conti drama school, his first production (Bugsy Malone) and eventually his decent into the world of drugs, drinking and addiction to sex. The narrative stays upbeat and funny but really its a heartbreaking tale of isolation and self neglect. It’s fascinating and should most definitely be read even if for this bit alone. After leaving school early and moving out, discovering drugs and plenty of people who did them he starts work. Russell finds jobs such as teaching English at Callan Language school, small roles on TV such as a performance in The Bill and eventually when his career takes off from stand up and places him on a regular MTV show, then Big Brother and onto the comedy empire that he has created. He genuinely deserves the success that he’s had in recent years. He’s certainly struggled for it and sacrificed a LOT for fame....I wont mention it here but the incident with the homeless man says enough!

Eventually his drug addiction peaks and his manager and friends book him into rehabilitation. Previous attempts to clean up had failed, but thankfully this time he succeeded. This part of the book really hammers home the experiences that people have when coming and staying clean. It’s bleak, but it’s honest and insightful. It makes you all the more glad that he’d achieved giving up and breaking free from his addictions, in order to write this book.

My Booky Wook is packed with brilliant stories and hilarious tales, of which there are too many to list. Some moments really stuck in my head, probably because they’re so funny but also because the way that Russell writes really brings past events to life. The book isn’t strictly in chronological order, it does follow him growing up, but there are moments of reflection and anecdotes injected into certain areas that break up the order. It’s very well put together and really showcases (not intentionally) Russell’s intelligence. His use of language and extensive (yet understandable) vocabulary is admirable and certainly makes reading this a different experience to reading books written by comedians. Personally I think that Russell dominates the intelligent comedy scene and this book is certainly an example of how humor does not have to be simple, traditionally told, or about subjects that we all have experience in - such as the usual topics like the difference between men and women or political leaders and their antics. This really is funny all the way through and is certainly the first thing that I’ve come across that can lift the humor out of terrible experiences and have you laughing out loud but leave you understanding them clearer and appreciating the difficulty of actually experiencing them.