Title: The Call of the Weird
Author: Louis Theroux
Type: Non-Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 292
Rating: 4/5
This is Louis Theroux’s first book, but you wouldn’t know it from reading it. He’s a talented writer, no doubt due to his history in journalism, and he does a great job of allowing his personality to come through in the words that he writes.
He also does a great job of sharing the personalities of his subjects, for lack of a better word. He actually talks at one point about how there are no good words for him to use to refer to the people that he meets.
The idea here is that he goes on a reunion tour of sorts, returning to America to speak to some of the people that he filmed with for Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends. I’ve seen the show, but not for a long time, and so it was almost like rediscovering old friends and occasionally even like meeting them for the first time.
If you’re a Louis Theroux fan or you find other people interesting, you’re going to enjoy reading this one. There’s a little something there for everyone, from Theroux’s wry humour to fascinating insights into why people do porn or believe in UFOs and alien abductions.
And so when it comes to the question of whether or not I’d recommend this one, it’s a no-brainer. It’s also helped by the fact that I picked this up going cheap in HMV, where it’s part of their two books for £8 offer. I was playing a gig in-store at the time, and so the book has a certain sentimental value for me because of that, too. Go read it!
