Title: Bringing Nothing to the Party
Author: Paul Carr
Type: Non-Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 280
Rating: 4*/5
Paul Carr – Bringing Nothing to the Party
This book is a lot of fun, and even though it’s approaching the tenth anniversary since its publication date, it’s still timely and relevant, and a hell of a lot of fun to boot. In fact, it’s rare for a non-fiction book to be this much fun, and it reminded me a little bit of Tony Hawk, Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace. It’s just one man writing about his life, getting up to all sorts of trouble without really meaning to and telling stories about the unexpected consequences.
In a nutshell, it follows the true story of what happened when Paul Carr decided to become an internet entrepreneur in the early days of the social networking boom. He spends a lot of time getting drunk along the way, or accidentally offending venture capitalists and other powerful men who could make or break his business. And yet, in many ways, it’s endearing – even when he treats a woman so badly that she starts a blog about him, effectively annihilating his online reputation, it’s easy to empathise with his predicament.
The interesting thing here is that Carr’s writing style – like a latter-day Jonathon Swift, a recurring joke in the book – makes it easy for the reader to get absorbed into the story. And once you get into it, you’ll find it hard to put down, and whatever you think about the man’s personality, you’ll probably find yourself rooting for him to come out on top. And it’s even a little inspirational, too. Definitely worth spending time on.
Paul Carr
