Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Brain: The Man Who Wrote the Book that Changed the World by Dermot Davis


Brain: The Man Who Wrote the Book that Changed the World is a self-published book and I just about never say "yes" to self-pubs for review because [deep sigh] I read a few too many truly appalling self-published novels in my early blogging years and quit accepting them entirely, for a while. Occasionally, the intriguing synopsis of a self-published book keeps me from even noticing the fact that it's a self-pub, though, and I'm truly glad that happened when Dermot Davis asked me to read Brain.

At the beginning of Brain, you're introduced to its hero, Daniel Waterstone, as he accepts a literary award that a young woman nicknamed "Crazy Mary" believes she deserved.  Rather than just accepting the award politely and returning to his seat, Daniel gives a lengthy speech that clearly highlights his arrogance. 

A few years later, Daniel is living in Los Angeles, where he has been attempting to launch his fabulous literary career. After completing the sequel to his Great American Novel, Daniel prepares to meet with his agent. He has been published but his novels are too literary for the average American and aren't selling well.  Daniel is nearly out of money, his car is a beater that's likely to stop for good at any moment, he's late on all of his bills and he's hoping his agent, Suzanne, will spring for lunch. When Suzanne tells him she can't sell his Great American Novel, much less a sequel, he begs her to tell him what he should write. What will sell? Whatever it takes, he'll write it.

Daniel settles on writing a satire, feverishly researches satire writing and then begins to write obsessively. Starving because he can't afford groceries, he becomes crazed and delirious but he finishes his novel and sells it.  Unfortunately, it's marketed as a self-help book and the "advice" Daniel gave in the book -- never intended to be serious -- is taken as instruction.  Daniel finds himself stuck touring and doing seminars for a bestselling book whose principles were meant to take a stab at all the people who are making him wealthy.

"Mr. John Fox, Tutorsfield, Wisconsin," Daniel read from the envelope as he opened it.  "Walking backwards blindfolded while banging two sauce pan lids together and singing If I Were a Rich Man at the top of my lungs really helped me improve my concentration, as your book said it would. I fell over a couple of times and needed to be treated for a mild concussion and some minor cuts and bruises but the weeklong stay in the hospital was a small price to pay for the heightened awareness which I felt as a result of the exercise.  If you're ever in the Wisconsin area . . . " Daniel stopped reading and looked at Suzanne with a mystified expression. 

"Read some more," encouraged Suzanne, handing him his refill.

"How to be a forest fairy, as described in your book, was a hard exercise for me at first.  However, as I followed the exercise further and yelled out for all the other forest fairies to come gather round, sure enough, they did reveal themselves from their hiding places and I soon felt myself as one of them.  My view of life has changed dramatically as a result." Daniel stopped reading and picked up another letter.

[. . . ] "These people are nuts," said Daniel.  "We have names and addresses here . . . we should call the mental health services or something."

"Don't be ridiculous, Daniel," Suzanne said casually.  "These are your fans.  You've earned quite a following with just one book."

"Yeah, I'm king of the loonies."

"It's the follow-up book that always sells even better."

pp. 90-91

I won't give away anything else that happens because Brain is quite a wild read and I'd hate to ruin any of its surprises. The writing itself could stand some tightening but the story is so delightful that it's worth ignoring Brain's shortcomings for the sheer entertainment value. 

What I loved most about Brain -- besides the fact that the author kept surprising me -- was the hero's growth. Daniel's book is not just a bestseller but a book that changes how people think and, in the long run, changes the world. And, yet, the author knows what the book really is about and in his inability to simply accept his success and continue playing the role of the self-help guru, he shows his humanity. 

There is a romantic subplot and I confess to not quite understanding whether the female is (as I suspected) "Crazy Mary" reinvented and, in fact, much more stable than Daniel or if I misread that entirely but I liked the romance. Before I accepted the book, I read a few reviews and there were a lot of complaints about the ending so I was expecting a far-fetched end to the romantic subplot. But, I had no problem with the romance at all. There is also a lovely character, an elderly librarian, whom Daniel considers his only friend. I loved where the author took that relationship.  

Recommended - A delightful, humorous satire that pokes fun at the world of publishing via a flawed character who, in becoming a success for all the wrong reasons, emerges a better person. There are quite a few crazy, slapstick scenes in Brain; it is nothing if not wildly creative. Like most self-pubs, Brain could use a bit of editing for small mistakes like misspellings and larger ones like excessive description (particularly at the beginning of the book), but the pacing is excellent and, in the end, it's just rollicking good fun. 

©2014 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

20 comments:

  1. I don't take self-published books very often, but one I did accept in 2012 is one of my favourite books ever. It just is how it works out, I guess!

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    1. Isn't that funny? The fates decided we needed to read those books, I guess. :) My niece's dystopian book was also a self-pub and it is a fabulous story. Just goes to show you that not every wonderful book is discovered by the big houses.

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  2. Well now. I'm just going to have to check this one out. Sounds highly entertaining and seems to have lots of ingredients for a book I'll love.

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    1. It's a lot of fun. I had a bit of trouble getting into it because I wanted to take a red pen to the unnecessary words, at first, but then I was sucked in and thought it was immensely fun. I smiled a lot. There's nothing I love more than an excuse to laugh or smile. :)

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  3. I must admit that I'm very intrigued with this book. I, like you, rarely read self-published books.

    Thank you for this review.

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    1. I don't believe I ever would have found it, otherwise, since I'm so overwhelmed that I've sacrificed the reading of other blogs, for the most part, to save time. It's a great deal of fun. If you read it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, Debbie.

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  4. Bookfool, you've whetted my interested in this book. It sounds very entertaining--I may need to read it myself!

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    1. I found it very entertaining, Suko. I kept thinking I knew exactly where it was headed and the author continued to prove me wrong. I love that. Surprise me, make me smile and I am a happy camper. :)

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    2. Bookfool, sorry about my ghastly typo above! I guess I should wear my "readers" when typing on the computer. I will be getting a copy of this book from the author, thanks to you. :)

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    3. I didn't even notice your "ghastly" type (which isn't all that bad - believe me, I do worse all the time). Hope you love the book!

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    4. TYPO. See, I am bad. No need to ever apologize for typos, here.

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    5. Thanks for your kind words, Bookfool! I mention you in my guest post by Dermot Davis. Stop by when you have a moment. :)

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    6. I saw your interview, Suko! Thanks for the shout-out! I was on my iPad when I visited your blog, so I didn't comment but I'll dash over there. :)

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    7. I am back, Bookfool. I've posted my review of this book, and have linked to yours (at the end). Enjoy your weekend. :)

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  5. Well I got a pitch for this one today and while I usually say "nope" to review copies these days, I think you've just about sealed the deal for me on this one :) it does sound like quite a good story!

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    1. Oh, did you? Cool! I hope you love it if you agree to review it, Chris. If you have editor brain, you'll have to become accustomed to his style and try to overlook the errors. I did, but once I got into it I just enjoyed the ride. It's a lot of fun. :)

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  6. I also got the pitch for this and I am glad you mentioned me because this does sound really intriguing! I am not even really accepting very many review copies right now but I might have to make another exception for this one.

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    1. Wow, talk about go-getter self-marketing. Looks like this author has been everywhere! I'm at the same place you are, Becca - not accepting many books at all. I'm glad I said yes to Brain, though. :)

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  7. Thanks for the rec friend! Was contemplating an offer to review this one myself and I think your review helped tip the scales in its favor. We shall see how it all turns out. Happy reading! ^_^

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    1. I hope you love it, Gina! I'm a little worried that so many people are accepting it based on my recommendation but in spite of having to shut off my internal editor, I really did think it was a terribly fun read so hopefully at least some of you will enjoy it as much as I did!

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