Customer Reviews

Danny Wallace and the Centre of the Universe (Quick Reads)

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I am a huge fan of Danny Wallace. Every book of his is an adventure. Unfortunately Danny Wallace and the Centre of the Universe is really more a magazine article expanded into a novella than anything else. I realize that it was written as a "quick read", but it's journal-esque style feels a lot less polished and refined as Wallace's other work. The book is 128 pages using VERY large type and large spacing and photographs. Honestly it would have better been condensed into a feature article for Rolling Stone or as a free online e-book. The book itself is fun and does have its high points, but it just doesn't have the punch or steam of Wallace's other work. Join Me and Yes Man have moments of brilliance and unfortunately Centere of the Universe just doesn't.

Recently I read the sensational book Join Me by Danny Wallace and immediately went out and grabbed a copy of Yes Man which was also a sensational read. Eager for more fun Danny Wallace adventures I came across this short story length tale and decided to check it out. This is another great adventure and those who have become fans of Danny through his other lengthy diary style life adventure books will be thoroughly entertained as Danny explores the Idaho town of Wallace and learns just what the centre of the universe means to everyone, and accumulates a few fair few coins along the way. The only difference other than the obvious one of length is that being short this book doesn't have the self evaluation, motivational aspect to anywhere near the extent that Join Me and Yes Man did. However if time wise his adventure to Idaho had occurred during his Yes Man year it could easily have been one or two chapters in that book and is similar sort reading to his Singapore adventure and other chapters like that.

If you haven't experienced Danny's adventures it would be probably a better idea to read Join Me and Yes Man first (in that order) so that you fully appreciate his personality but like with those books they are all stand alone adventures and don't really give away anything substantial from the other books.

Of the Quick Reads books out there this is easily the best. As someone who works in a library I fully support the Quick Reads experiment (short story books as standalone purchases as an alternative to newspapers and magazines for daily public transport commuters, plane/train travellers etc and also an effort to encourage those who haven't read novels for years or never have, to get into fiction and non fiction books). Unfortunately most other Quick Read books have been pretty average and not representatives of their authors' talent. Danny Wallace and the Centre of the Universe maintains the high quality of literature that he produced with his week long read length books. Good on him for firstly supporting this new initiative and secondly for not just submitting something that has been sitting inside the computer that couldn't get published before.

Can't wait for other Danny Wallace adventures, either in the Quick Reads format or lengthy non fiction novels. If you haven't taken a chance on this great author check him out now!

This little book was a pure delight. Danny Wallace is funny, sensitive and just such a pleasure to read. The city, Wallace, Idaho, is where my husband grew up, so it held a special interest for us. It's such a neat little town, and Danny's descriptions are right on. Hope Danny continues to visit Wallace, now and then.

This was a great book to read. It was quick but still enjoyable. Perfect for a 2-4 hour plane ride.

My name is Greg Marsh and you will meet me in this humorous little book. Eight years ago, I started a website at wallace-id.com to give folks a comprehensive view of my new hometown in Wallace Idaho. Currently I have about 260 pages on the internet devoted to this very unusual and historic mining town that has a population of 960 and is surrounded by a mountain recreation paradise. Last year, Danny Wallace found my website and immediately flew from London to spend one day at "the Center of the Universe."

His account of the town, its philosophy and cast of characters is quite accurate... although I wish he hadn't mentioned my silver shirt experiment. I only spotted two factual mistakes, which is remarkable considering the amount of alcohol he consumed in our various saloons. The 1313 Club and the Smoke House Saloon are on Bank Street, not Cedar Street, and my friend bought the $4500 house in 1988, not 1998 (and he went to the Clerk and Recorder, not the library, to find out that he had actually bought four properties, not just one for that price). All in all, Danny did an amazing job of capturing "the Silver Capital of the World" and giving it to his European audience.

Although Danny presented many of my ideas on the subject, I would like to tell you why I think Wallace is truly the Center of the Universe.

Some have used a sophist argument to say that Wallace is the Center of the Universe because it cannot be proven otherwise. This "if a thing cannot be disproved, it is thereby proven" syllogism is a parody of the logic used to make a recent EPA decision that said, in effect, "if the communities of the Silver Valley cannot absolutely prove themselves to the EPA's satisfaction to be good and healthy places to live, then this is proof that they require the EPA's continued meddling in their affairs."

I would like to use a more philosophical argument to say that Wallace is the Center of the Universe because it is the focal point of the human experience. The universal human experience has many dimensions, but may be defined by four forces that bind us all together: money, equilibrium, sex and responsibility. Wallace is at the center of all four universal concepts.

MONEY is the common artifact of human civilization; it is the physical, symbolic representation of value required by human organization. Diverse elements of society may evolve incompatible language paradigms and civil authorities, but all societies have money, and all monies translate arithmetically (given the chance). Indeed, money may be regarded as the only universal concept in civilization. The world economy is currently governed with "fiat" paper money ("It is worth a dollar because we say it is."), but the force of tangible money ("It is worth a dollar because it may be exchanged for a certain amount of gold or silver.") is becoming stronger. Some say a "Silver Revolution" is coming! Wallace is the "Silver Capital of the World" with 1.2 BILLION ounces of .999 fine silver mined from this little valley, five miles wide and twenty miles long, between 1884 and 2004.

EQUILIBRIUM is the defining concept of the physical world. Every chemical reaction and physical change comes to equilibrium. Wild places where the balance has not been tipped totally toward human occupation and consumption are rare and valuable in our inhabited universe. Wallace is the county seat of a 1.7 million acre county that has a population density of 5 people per square mile because 80% of the land is federal or state forest. Thus, humans inhabit this ecological niche, but do not, and cannot dominate it. Wildlife abounds in vast undisturbed regions around small human encampments. The banker on Bank Street only works a couple of miles from the cougar on Placer Creek, yet neither one disturbs the other. The harmony of the current natural situation is a counterpoint to historical contests between human economic survival and wildlife habitat survival. Wallace proves that humans and 400 pound cats can live happily together... until some fool lets their poodle run loose at night anyway.

SEX is the operating system upon which the program of life runs. Since civilization began, humans have been obsessed with it, needing it, loving it, hating it, fearing it. It is said that prostitution is the oldest profession, and that in Wallace it became a respectable art form. Until 1989, the town was famous for its bordellos, and our Madams were respected members of the community. Urban legend has it that they bought the police cars and the high school band uniforms. The so-called "female boarding houses" were taxed three times higher than all other businesses, and locals made good money supplying the colorful establishments with hot food and clean sheets. Some say that the incidence of domestic violence was far lower than it is today. Think about it: a guy works ten hours a mile underground, with temperatures over 100 degrees and death seconds away at all times, and earns $200-300. He stops for "a drink with the boys" at the bordello on the way home. When he gets home, he is happy, hungry and exhausted, and his wife takes the rest of his money. Today we have our Bordello Museum and our famous bumper sticker ("Honestly, I've never been to Wallace, Idaho") for sale, and a very unique perspective on sex.

RESPONSIBILITY for one's actions is a requirement for the citizens of all governments, democratic or tyrannical. The fact that some members of any particular society are excluded or exempted from responsibility does not diminish the need for government, in general, to control the behavior of its citizens. In many cases, government is aided by religion in its quest for behavioral control of its citizens. Many rely on religion to teach the difference between right or wrong, but most rely on government to enforce the distinction. As a result, many bad deeds go unpunished and many good deeds go unnoticed in the big city. However, in the microcosm of Wallace, population 960, enforcement happens on a personal level. The anonymity of the big city is gone: if you treat someone poorly, you cannot escape into the crowd. Everyone knows and has an opinion on your conduct... and the conduct of your kids. If your son causes a problem in school, you hear about it at the bar or church. Likewise, if you are a good person and need help, the community responds in force. Karma rules in a small town.... as it should everywhere in the universe of human experience.

VERY GOOD BOOK. FUN READ. ITS QUITE SMALL BUT FOR THE PRICE IT WAS WORTH IT. THANK>

This is exactly the kind of book you want to read while you're waiting for the dentist. It's fun, it flows nicely, it's funny, it distracts you from the matter at hand, and if you don't finish it while you're waiting it's easy enough to finish it up later.

There's not really a whole book here, in the traditional sense. I'm sure it could have been padded out somehow, but I'm glad they went for this "quick read" idea and charged less than a normal luck.

If you're familiar with the author suffice to say Danny has some adventures that a sensible person would probably pass on. If you're not, as much as I enjoyed the book I would recommend probably starting with a full length book first. As much as I enjoyed it I think the longer form allows a level of crazy that this book never quite hits. Then again, if you have a dentist appointment coming up, perhaps this is perfect.