Title: Gotta Get Theroux This
Author: Louis Theroux
Category: Non-Fiction
Page Count: 406
Rating: 4/5
This is Louis Theroux’s second book and his first of autobiography, and it’s also the first of his books that I’ve read, although I do plan to keep my eyes peeled for the other one. I’ve been a Louis Theroux fan for a while and so it was nice to be able to go behind the scenes a little bit and to see more of Theroux as a person. For example, I had no idea that he was such a stoner.
I somehow also didn’t know that he’d worked so closely with Michael Moore, despite the fact that I’ve actually seen the show that he had a segment on. In fact, I guess it turns out that I knew a lot less about Louis Theroux than I thought I knew, but that meant that it was a more interesting read because I didn’t know what was coming up at any given point.
Of course, there’s not going to be much here for you if you’re not a Louis Theroux fan, although he did still lead a reasonably interesting life. It can also occasionally be a little bit much on the whole old boys’ network thing thanks to Theroux going to a public school and even waking Nick Clegg, the former lib deb leader, up in the mornings.
So there are times at which he comes across as a little annoying, but in some ways I think that’s a good thing, because it’s human. And besides, we’re all a little bit annoying from time to time. Theroux is keen on showing the human side of things in everything he does, and his book is no different.
There’s some great stuff in here about his approach to storytelling that you might find useful if you’re a creator yourself, but it also makes for a pretty compelling read in general. Theroux has always come across to me as an interesting, likeable guy, and I’d say that’s mostly the vibe you get from reading this.
I do think I was also expecting something a little bit more though. I guess it’s because Theroux is a journalist by trade, and so in some ways I hold him to a higher standard than other celebrity authors. But overall? Yeah, it’s definitely still worth reading, especially if you’re a Theroux fan.
