Rupert Dreyfus's Reviews > Revolution

DNF.

When Brand first went all Guevara, most people I knew with a background in activism were rolling their eyes and telling him to fuck off. I held back and hoped to show some solidarity because even though once upon a time he was part of the matrix, presenting Big Brother and waggling his '70s glam rocker penis around Hollywood Boulevard, he wasn't a particularly bad guy. For what it's worth, I still think he isn't a particularly bad guy. Call me naive but what I read (about 70 pages' worth), he came across like he does straight up care about people and the environment, and is now using his fame to bring attention to some important causes which is more than what most A-listers are doing.

That said, this book is shit. It's not even a good starting point for apolitical people to get familiar with politics and activism. In fact it'll probably put most people off. You're essentially listening to Brand wank off into a tissue just because he can.

I wish A-listers stuck to whatever they're actually supposed to be good at rather than making a movie here, recording an album over there, publishing a book in New York, releasing a brand of mascara in Paris, releasing a sex tape when the tabloid headlines abandon you... it's cold enough out here without having celebrities taking advantage of their status and cluttering up the landscape with more consumer shit just because they can.

As for Brand's revolution: the essence of it is that this spiritual revolution is going to happen. I sympathise, but the day Theresa May wakes up fully subscribed to Taoism is the day I get Russell Brand's face tattooed over my own face. It's not a plausible strategy; it's just bollocks and a massive cop out.

Finally; it's not poorly written but I clashed with Brand's authorship. One example is using polysyllabic words when a normal one will do. It just comes across a bit dickish to me. It doesn't come across dickish when it's natural for that person to use polysyllabic words (in fact I love it when people do it properly); but it does come across a bit dickish when it's forced. I just could not get along with it.

I feel a bit of a cunt because I hoped that I'd have liked this book enough to give it a favourable review but I just couldn't go through with it. I gave it an extra star purely because at least the money raised went to some project helping vulnerable people. But this wasn't enough to get on board.

Considering Brand is supposed to be preaching peace and love, I've never felt so cold.

Read serious commentators and theorists instead because if this is your introduction to radical politics then you'll just think it's a load of wank.