Russell Brand's My Booky Wook & My Booky Wook 2

Some brief thoughts on Rullel Brand's My Booky Wook from when I read it in February 2011:

I was expecting a spastic and hilarious account of Brand's life in line with his stand up - which I love. What this is, however, is an unflinching look at the life of an addict who manages to pull himself out of the depths of drugs and all manner of other abuses.

While I did laugh out loud throughout - Brand knows how to turn a phrase like no other - there were moments of pain and sadness I did not expect. What comes through the most is that Brand is a genuinely thankful for the people that saw him through his worst and that behind the caricature of his stage persona; 

Brand is a smart and driven lunatic.

I'll be reading his follow up and think this is well worth the read.

Now, some (not so brief) thoughts on Russell Brand's My Booky Wook 2 which I just finished:

You ever think you know someone, and then find out through one random conversation that you were totally wrong and really have no idea who they are? That’s a little what this book did to me and my perception of Russell Brand.

I’m all about celebrity gossip. As much as I hate to admit it, and as much as I am loath to be part of the culture that feeds into the paparazzi insanity, I am a regular people.com and perezhilton.com reader and know way (way way) too much about who is dating who and who is in rehab and why this one won’t be in a movie with that one. All this to say that I thought I had a pretty good idea of who Russell Brand was, especially after reading My Booky Wook a few months ago.

But wow. Just… wow. My Booky Wook is an unflinching look at Brand’s life as an addict and aspiring comedian. He lays it all out on the table for you, good, bad, funny and sticky. After reading that book, I knew all about his past drug use and crazy sexual antics. At the end of My Booky Wook Russell has just left rehab for sexual addition. I was left feeling optimistic about his future and development as a human. We all have a friend like him; the guy we love but would never date because he is such a womanizing jackhole. Russell was that guy for me… in my mind…

So I’m not really sure why My Booky Wook 2 felt so much more… shocking. I am not easily shocked. Or disturbed. Or quick to make moral judgments. As long as everyone is a consenting adult, I don’t care what or who you do and what you do it to each other with.

But for some reason, reading My Booky Wook 2 left me feeling a little… icky in some places. He spends a lot of time talking about this thirst and drive to bang the hell out of any female he can get his hands on. (he also spends a lot of time talking about a lot of British tv shows and comedians and some crazy radio incident that got him fired from BBC Radio and what it was like to host the MTV Awards – all interesting stuff)I don’t know if he even knows his “number” anymore. Maybe I just have trouble trying to reconcile the “I love Russell Brand he is so charming and funny” side with the “Holy crap how many women did he nail at that one party?” side of things.

Maybe knowing that he would eventually marry Katy Perry is what made reading My Booky Wook 2 all the more awkward. I read an interview once where she said she stopped reading part way through because she didn’t feel the need to know all he was putting out in the world. Well… I can’t say I blame her. I’m not sure I want to know as much about Russell Brand as I do now. But I do. And I still think he is smart and charming and silly and funny. And a little bit icky too.