Join Me!

by Danny Wallace

Overview

Danny Wallace was bored. Just to see what would happen, he placed a whimsical ad in a local London paper. It said, simply, “Join Me.” Within a month, he was receiving letters and emails from teachers, mechanics, sales reps, vicars, schoolchildren and pensioners—all pledging allegiance to his cause. But no one knew what his cause was. Soon he was proclaimed Leader. Increasingly obsessed and possibly power-crazed, Danny risked losing his sanity and his loyal girlfriend. But who could deny the attraction of a global following of devoted joinees?

A book about dreams, ambition, and the responsibility that comes with power, Join Me is the true story of a man who created a cult by accident, and is proof that whilst some men were born to lead, others really haven't got a clue.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780452285019
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/24/2004
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Danny Wallace is an award-winning comedy producer and journalist who was recently appointed head of new comedy development for the BBC.

Editorial Reviews

In between jobs as a comedy producer for the BBC, 20-something Wallace would "sit around for hours in my pants" in his London apartment. After a great-uncle's funeral, he was struck by a story about his relative's failed effort to start a 100-member commune. Inspired to start his own group, but not sure what he wanted to do with it, he set up an ambiguous Web site requesting others to "join me." As the chapter headings maintain a running tally of his confused but mostly eager followers, Wallace recounts his misadventures scurrying across Europe while trying to keep the project hidden from his girlfriend, who he knows will think the idea is crazy. As he gradually elects to have his collective devote itself to making others happy, a certain degree of clich creeps in, but never without a weird undercurrent (e.g., advice about "following the little voice inside" comes from Wallace's e-mail buddy, the "President of the Galactic Government"). The story's pretty silly, and Wallace's plan is strongly reminiscent of the theme of Pay It Forward (which he acknowledges), so he lets readers in on the joke right away, dragging them into his confidence. As Wallace recounts awkward encounters with "Joinees," his bemused tone won't completely distract readers from wondering why he doesn't just ditch his girlfriend if he can't even remember what food she likes, but his mission is entertaining nonetheless. Wallace's decidedly British sensibility might be a barrier to some, but fans of BBC America programming or other Britcoms will probably follow up by rushing to Wallace's site, aimed at recruiting more U.S. members to his offbeat cause. Photos. (Mar.) Forecast: Wallace's book was published in the U.K. earlier this year, after the author gained a fair amount of media coverage for his campaign. Whether his crusade will gain momentum in the U.S. remains to be seen. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Idiosyncratic memoir of a London journalist's experiences forming a "karma army." In 2002, Wallace placed a small ad in a London paper exhorting readers to "Join Me!" by sending him a passport-sized photo, but giving no other details about his reasons or intentions. He was inspired to this eccentric project by boredom and a great-uncle's death; at the funeral, he learned that the uncle had been much mocked in youth for attempting to form a farming commune and impulsively decided to revive the project. Wallace was so pleased to meet the first iconoclasts who joined-each of these early meetings is recreated in exhaustive detail-that he began to obsessively propagate Join Me, spreading the word online and with flyers, still without divulging any specifics. While this alienated some, resulting in a bit of hate mail, a surprising number of high-spirited nonconformists continued to join this collective (or "cult," as many wags dubbed it), leading its instigator to set a thousand joinees as an ostensible goal. The organization's purpose amounted to vaguely defined minor philanthropy: "They wanted to do good," Wallace enthuses about his joinees, "they just never had enough of an excuse before." Yet the "good" seems limited to random acts of kindness directed toward elderly pensioners, while the rambling narrative becomes increasingly subordinate to the ego-demands of its author's exhibitionistic and hectoring personality. (Even his shabbily treated, long-suffering girlfriend finally wises up and dumps him.) For a sense of movement, the joke-heavy prose relies principally on disingenuous false surprise and wisecracks that refer back to the preceding paragraph, tactics that quickly become tiresome.By the time we reach the minor-key denouement-Wallace intends to relinquish Join Me, but is voted the collective's "Leader"-only the most guileless readers will think the journey worthwhile. An odd tale, reflecting the motivations of contemporary group-think, but otherwise skippable. Agent: Daniel Greenberg

Kirkus Reviews