Join Me! [Paperback]

Danny Wallace (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 24, 2004

On a lark, journalist Danny Wallace placed an ad in a small London paper that offered two simple words: "join me." What followed was astounding. From all over the world, thousands of replies poured in, effectively "joining" Danny-but in what, he had no idea. When "Joinees" began referring to him as "The Leader," Danny quickly understood one thing-he had just created a cult.

Join Me quickly became a phenomenon. With the help of a few trusted Joinees and the crackpot leader of a well-established cult, Danny promulgates his uncle's dreams of a Utopian society, struggles to keep his girlfriend, manages to stay humble amidst the newfound celebrity, and remarkably provides a sense of purpose and belonging to Joinees everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

One day, not too long ago, the author, a journalist and television producer, placed an ad in a small London newspaper. "Join Me!" it said, and asked people to send him a photograph. That was it, pretty much: no explanation of what people you would be joining. It was an odd thing to do, but what is even odder is that people responded. Just a couple, at first, but when Wallace took his Join Me! campaign to the Internet, the trickle became a flood. Soon he had become something of a celebrity, and his--well, what was it? A commune? Cult? Collective?--project grew until it was an international phenomenon, and he had hundreds of people doing his bidding. Go forth, he bade them, and do good things. Random acts of kindness. This is the story of a bright young man who, without any real plan in mind, gathered a following that spanned the globe and who discovered it really is possible to make the world a little bit nicer. It's funny, educational, and, yes, more than a little bizarre. Lots of fun. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Plume (February 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452285011
• ISBN-13: 978-0452285019
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #748,504 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Want to Change the World?, January 27, 2006

By 

Timothy Kearney (Haverhill, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Join Me! (Paperback)

If you've ever wondered why people join a group, the answer could be for no apparent reason. If you think this sounds ludicrous, just read Danny Wallace's JOIN ME! and you'll discover that it can be true. This book, which is a serious story told in an amusing way, tells of an offbeat journalist who puts an ad in a newspaper with just the words "join me" and information of where he could be contacted. Before long, people responded much to Wallace's surprise. When he decided he has to figure out a purpose for the group, he comes up with an idea that sounds good based on the thoughts of one of his eccentric uncles who wanted to start a utopian society in Switzerland.

The charm of the book comes not from its clever idea, but from Wallace himself. We discover he's a goofball of sorts, lovable and quirky, yet intelligent and serious enough to capture our interest. We read about the way he lives his life, the interactions he has with the "joinees" who are a varied lot at best, and we meet his beleaguered girlfriend Hanne, who more often than not does not know what to do with he eccentric boyfriend, but she's not the static girlfriend with the weight of the world on her shoulders. While readers understand her frustration, they also tend to like Wallace, and there are times we want to say get rid of her. Readers of his latest book YES MAN learn what could have been predicted after reading the book-the relationship does not survive.

At the core of the book it's not a silly story. Rather it shows the goodness of people, a desire to belong, and a belief that belonging to some group--any group, can be positive and at times life changing. It's a feel good book and an enjoyable read, though I will have to admit, it can at times be repetitious so it might have been a "feel better book" if it had been a few pages thinner.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars When a bloke bet gets out of hand, September 28, 2004

By 

Sirin (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Join Me! (Paperback)

There is a certain species of twentysomething male (frequently British and living in London) who spends a substantial amount of his time playing video games, watching movies, engaging in spurious debates with his flatmates over cans of lager and embarking on pointless bets for entertainment. Anyone familiar with the 'Men Behaving Badly' comedy series will understand. Sadly the majority of attempts to turn such Stella fuelled ravings into readable material fall sadly flat.
'Join Me' is rather refreshing however. It chronicles the extraordinary but true story of the 'Collective' that Danny Wallace spawns as a result of placing a simple advert in 'Loot Magazine'. The way this collective (Wallace is eager for it not to be called a cult) takes on a life of its own as its increasingly bewildered leader tries to formulate a purpose for his creation leads to encounters with characters from the more derivative sides of British life - witness a Metallica obsessed vicar from Inverness.
Wallace tells his story in a witty, engaging and light hearted manner that really brings out the element of 'good blokeness in him'. The story rattles along well, with several improbable coincidences happening to Danny to ensure his project does not become tedious such as his discovery that the first person his joinees helped on his 'Make an old man happy' mission was a convicted con man. And the reader really feels for Hanne, Danny's long suffering girlfriend who is kept in the dark about his harebrained scheme for so long.
The book could have been a rather sad depiction of a bloke bet that went a bit far, but Wallace is funny and intelligent enough to avoid slipping into that mode. The end is a little flat compared to the end of the book, one half expects the joinee collective to turn into something really remarkable. But it is an enjoyable romp through the semi lunatic antics of one personable and funny young Londoner.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent, funny, and easy read, December 19, 2004

By 

Derek J. Archambault "Pop Culture Gangster" (Barre, VT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Join Me! (Paperback)

This is a great light-hearted novel that will make you laugh out loud and maybe even make you think about how we all interact with each other in our daily lives. A great story that is easy to read and leaves you feeling inspired, as well as a little bit happier, but at no point is the book saccharine. The humor is clever, dry, and witty, making it one of the best light reading books I've read in a very long time.