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Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'
Gotta Get Theroux This: My Life and Strange Times in Television by Louis Theroux
3 reviews
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Theroux cops in the afterword that this was originally a Saville-only book. As the other reviews attest it's pretty bad. It's clear that he feels either immense guilt or embarrassment (depending on how charitable you're feeling) that the interview that saved his career also missed the news story of the century, so Theroux just keeps coming back to it. Not only is it diminishing returns, but he does himself no favours trying to rationalise it.
Even when he's talking about himself it's not always great. The first third in particular was almost a DNF. Straight, white and privately educated Theroux had an extremely privileged upbringing. His attempts to downplay this where increasingly grating. Instead, Gotta get Theroux this is at it's best when he's talking about his experiences filming or his relationships. They seem to be the most honest and introspective. This might be because he comes across as clueless in the former, neglectful in the latter and actually acknowledges it.
I think I just prefer Theroux as a documentarian rather than a writer.
Even when he's talking about himself it's not always great. The first third in particular was almost a DNF. Straight, white and privately educated Theroux had an extremely privileged upbringing. His attempts to downplay this where increasingly grating. Instead, Gotta get Theroux this is at it's best when he's talking about his experiences filming or his relationships. They seem to be the most honest and introspective. This might be because he comes across as clueless in the former, neglectful in the latter and actually acknowledges it.
I think I just prefer Theroux as a documentarian rather than a writer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Xenophobia
informative
slow-paced
This felt more like a disjointed collection of stories about Jimmy Saville, where the author randomly goes on tangents about themselves, rather than a cohesive memoir about Louis Theroux.
I considered DNFing multiple times. I feel like it doesn't make sense to write a memoir and then have it be almost entirely about other people. It gives the impression that Theroux himself just isn't that interesting, so even when you do happen to get an opinion or emotion from him, you're disinclined to give a fuck.
Also, why can men actually not write a memoir without talking about their genitals? I thought this memoir's saving grace was that Theroux managed to break the curse, then right near the end there's a random and highly irrelevant story about the time he got an infection in his balls.
This was a hard one to get through, and I'd never have bothered if I knew what I was getting into beforehand.
I considered DNFing multiple times. I feel like it doesn't make sense to write a memoir and then have it be almost entirely about other people. It gives the impression that Theroux himself just isn't that interesting, so even when you do happen to get an opinion or emotion from him, you're disinclined to give a fuck.
Also, why can men actually not write a memoir without talking about their genitals? I thought this memoir's saving grace was that Theroux managed to break the curse, then right near the end there's a random and highly irrelevant story about the time he got an infection in his balls.
This was a hard one to get through, and I'd never have bothered if I knew what I was getting into beforehand.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Antisemitism
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Sexual harassment