Gotta Get Theroux This: My Life and Strange Times in Television

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Theroux sips her coffee and waits for my question. How did it feel revisiting her divorce as a couples counsellor? “Yes, as I was editing it, I did wonder, how could we have done this better? I don’t think there is a perfect way. You should aim to be kind, and dignified. But as you’re a human being, and unlikely to be feeling kind and dignified at the point when your relationship’s ending, it’s almost inevitable that it will be messier than that. That some of the more… primitive feelings come out.” Rereading her diaries she saw reflections of her clients’ relationships. “We couldn’t bear to say, ‘That’s it. The end.’” I am in no position to object to Anne’s book, or her version of events, even though my memories differ Paul Theroux The closing chapter was particularly insightful and a great way to finish. Besides that, some of my favourites were the chapters dealing with certain documentary subjects: Alcoholism, Dementia, San Quentin (even though they basically read like transcripts from the episodes).

A lot of this book recounts scenes from his documentaries, some of which I've seen many times already.. I was interested in behind-the-scenes moments or details about abandoned projects. Cheuse, Alan (June 4, 1989). "A worldly education Paul Theroux imagines a much-traveled writer's active erotic life". Chicago Tribune. Having said that, not all of these people are still in the same line of work (so to put it), infact, only a few are follow the same path as Theroux's last meeting. But those are all still sort of undertones. The book itself is pretty good, and Louis knows how to keep a flow and hold your interest. The topics are also very interesting, and he has great and accurate information for each group. He also likes to ask some hard questions, which is very good. I enjoyed this but I preferred his first book, " The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures "In a 2009 interview, he stated that he now has "the disposition of a hobbit," and had become more optimistic than in his youth. He further commented that he "need[s] happiness to write well." [11] He describes a lot of his doubts about his work and the extent of his imposter syndrome, he's also very critical of himself, particularly for not uncovering Jimmy Savile's sexual abuse somehow. Jordan, Justine (30 September 2017). "Marcel Theroux: 'Keep the life normal, and keep the work weird' ". The Guardian . Retrieved 20 October 2018. Nancy thinks that (I will retire soon), and I don't know that I have the heart to tell her that I don't see it on the horizon" (kind of odd to say this in an interview) Beryl was a good companion when my husband left on his first long absence – a term teaching at the university of Virginia. At Christmas I flew to be reunited with him. He confessed to an affair with a student, the first admitted infidelity, and I kissed him and said it didn’t matter, thinking this was true.

So, why did I remove a star from my rating? Jimmy Bloody Savile. Once he turns up, he never leaves. Just when I thought I'd heard the last of him, he pops up in another chapter. After a while, Louis reminds you of that annoying Uncle at the family gathering who talks you into a corner - excitedly telling you all about his favourite obscure hobby, and not quite realising you don’t share the enthusiasm. An assumed level of knowledge regarding UK celebrity has-beens is placed on the reader too – I often didn’t know who he was talking about. I would definitely recommend this to fans of his programs and newbies. This book reads exactly like his narration in his show. It’s almost odd how clear it is that he has written it as you can hear his voice in the writing, and you can visualize him asking the probing questions that simultaneously ask and almost poke fun at his interviewees. Theroux’s trademark humour and awkwardness didn't always translate to text - but once it did, the book was a lot more enjoyable. Funny anecdotes about parenting were great. The book also has gems like: Though this did a good job of introducing the reader to bunch of different ‘weird’ subcultures and groups of people – it was very superficial. The short chapters kept it moving and I understand why it’s told the way it is, but it didn’t really give any chance for the viewpoints of these people to actually be explored properly. It just felt so haphazard and the narrative was a weird one. I don’t know whether it’s because this is an old book and more recent LT instalments are better handled, but something about it just didn’t feel right. Louis Theroux’s memoir is exactly how you’d expect an account of his “life and strange times in television” to be; self-deprecating, eager to please and shot through with a sense of bewilderment. “I am a TV presenter who specialises in getting out of his depth,” he writes and, indeed, this book’s pleasures lie in behind-the-scenes tales of Theroux’s offbeat documentaries, chief among them the Jimmy Savile encounter. Perhaps because it cast a shadow over his career (how could he have found himself so drawn to this monster?), Theroux spends a lot of time grappling with his feelings about the affair. Little SiberiaStandard, Kate Church, Evening (2012-04-11). "My London: Paul Theroux". Evening Standard . Retrieved 2022-11-08. {{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ( link) Shavin, Naomi. "The Deep South, As Seen Through the Eyes of Renowned Photographer Steve McCurry". Smithsonian Magazine . Retrieved 2022-07-20.

Listening to this book was a behind the scenes of the approach of Louis Theroux towards his career, but also his documentaries. Some of the documentaries he talked about I ended up watching before continuing the book, because it gives an understanding what he's talking about. In 1995, Louis developed his own Weird Weekends and produced a critically acclaimed documentary series premiere. As Theroux describes, " Weird Weekends sets out to discover the genuinely odd in the most ordinary setting. To me, it’s almost a privilege to be welcomed into these communities and to shine a light on them and, maybe, through my enthusiasm, to get people to reveal more of themselves than they may have intended. The show is laughing at me, adrift in their world, as much as at them. I don’t have to play up that stuff. I’m not a matinee idol disguised as a nerd." April, Lamb & Lynx - Mother and daughters - April being active in the National Alliance, and her daughters being a band called Prussian Blue, a white power folk band. Happy families: Anne Theroux with Paul and their sons Marcel and a recently born Louis, Singapore, 1970. Photograph: Courtesy of Anne TherouxIn Gotta Get Theroux This, Louis takes the reader on a joyous journey through his life and unexpectedly successful career. Nervously accepting the BBC's offer of his own series, he went on to create an award-winning documentary style that has seen him immersed in worlds as diverse as racist US militias and secretive pro-wrestlers, the violent gangs of Johannesburg and extreme drinkers in London. Although initially resisting the idea of going into journalism. "All my friends were writing, and I wanted to be different." Louis found a job on a local paper in the sprawling city of San Jose, "a town where nothing ever happens." A year later he went to work for the New York-based satirical magazine, Spy, where "When I asked some rappers to freestyle on gun safety, one of them threatened to beat me up." Louis Theroux’s, The Call of the Weird – Travels in American Subcultures, is an eye popping, heart stopping, and at times down right depressing telling of stories about some of America’s most unusual groups of people. In a Hunter-esque Thompson, gonzo journalism fashion, Theroux places himself within the story itself, often living with the interviewee for a short period as a means to really uncover the character behind the personality. As Theroux both interviews, shadows and stalks his prey he will engage with them in what at first appears to be banal conversation, but will then slip in questions loaded with both cynicism, and sarcasm, the nuances of which are far too subtle for his often dim witted interviewees to perceive. At times you are left feeling that all Theroux is doing is ridiculing fools and their foolish ideas, and the reason you may think this is because that’s what he does. Essentially his journalism is the equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel. His prey includes a pair of young twin girls who perform of white supremacist ‘folk’ music, the owners of and workers of a brothel, UFO abductees, self proclaimed aliens, alien hunters, and the fervent followers of incomprehensible religious cults.