Kyri G

I have always been a fan of Michael's comedy, I have seen him live multiple times and enjoyed his tv shows. I therefore had high expectations for this book. While he is good at light entertainment where Michael doesn't excel is depth, and this book lacked it in abundance. Michael's obsession with success and money was palpable and at times obscene. His shallow idea of success and wealth pervades the whole book and started to make me think about how I could make some extra money on the side, but in a way that felt shallow and hopeless rather than meaningful or enjoyable. I learned very little about his family or anyone close to him in his personal life. The book was solely focussed on him, his career and his manager, how he made money and how he spent it. I started to lose interest when Michael described becoming more successful and detailed spending money on fancy holidays and cars. The humour was lost and it became a lavish shopping list. It would have been worth chucking in a charitable cause he donated to if only to come across as more likeable. While there is no denying that Michael is talented, there was no reflection on his white, male, privilege and how his path to becoming a successful comedian lacked barriers that others such as women or people from minority ethnic groups would have faced. I wasn't able to finish the book, and it put me off his comedy. If you're going to write a book, you really need to have something interesting to say, and sadly, he didn't.