This book is a follow up to Louis Theroux’s tv series Weird Weekends, in which he spent time with members of various sub-cultures in America. Some years later, he decided to track down some of the subjects of the show and see what had become of them. It isn’t necessary to have seen the tv series (I hadn’t seen all of it) as Louis provides a recap of what happened when he met his subjects initially before describing how he tracked them down – sometimes with difficulty – and details of their second encounter.
Inevitably, some of the sub-cultures Louis became involved in are more interesting than others (although this is an entirely subjective opinion of course), and some are more disturbing than others. The final story, where he met a deeply racist mother, who was encouraging her twin daughters (who were only 11 years old) to sing White Power songs. This story in particular left me with a feeling of bitter distaste, as well as sympathy for the two young girls and their baby sister, who had had their mother’s views forced upon them, and were not really allowed to think for themselves.
Other encounters included Ike Turner – a man who does seem to have some charisma, but holds some very contradictory opinions – I personally did not like him at all; a group of UFO enthusiasts, the Aryan Nations (another chilling chapter, although the main person who Louis had dealings with came over as pathetic more than anything else); the owners and workers in the Wild Horse brothel; and a former porn star, who had now dropped out of the business and seemed to lead a relatively conventional life. The most resonant and poignant of all the stories was the one where Louis met survivors of the Heavens Gate religious group, who committed mass suicide in 1997.
I could definitely imagine Louis’ voice in my head as I read the book – and felt the frustrations and the surprise that he felt when meeting certain people. He is a lively and engaging narrator, who clearly did his best not to judge the people he was meeting – not always successfully. A lot of the book is humorous, but there are some thought-provoking moments as well. If you’re a fan of Louis Theroux – or even if you’re not – this book is well worth a read.
(Author’s website can be found here.)
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