Nazi survivalist brain washing (The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures - Louis Theroux)

Member Name: sympatic

Product:	The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures - Louis Theroux
Date:	20/06/09 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Engaging read

Disadvantages: Lightweight in places

I have always enjoyed the Louis Theroux TV series especially when he goes to America but I had never thought to buy one of his books until I read a review on this site and so I went out and read this one, it turned into a bit of a page turner and I enjoyed it so much I was all done within a couple of days.

I find his writing style to be engaging and humourous and it feels like you are right there beside him as he tracks down the people who he has interviewed in the past to get a better idea of their motivations and beliefs and to see whether they have changed much. He specialises in interviewing those who live outside of mainstream America and as such it brings him into contact with some right fruit cases and also some very disturbing people not least the racist groups in America that support a neo Nazi ideology. Next series he will probably be in Salford interviewing the nutters who elected the BNP scum to office.

The chapter where he meets up with a group of survivalists who refuse to pay taxes and see the American government as the enemy was very interesting and although I had heard of such groups it was scary to see them in the flesh.

I found this to be an interesting read and one that I found hard to put down, it is not particuularly challenging and you sometimes are left wishig that Theroux could delve a bit deeper but overall it is worth checking out if you like his TV work.

Summary: Interesting book