Danny Wallace – Yes Man
April 12th, 2011 by Sara
I would like to start this review by saying how lucky it was that I read the book of Yes Man a good few years before I watched the film of the same name.
Before this instance I’d always been of the (stupid) opinion that a film must be better than a book, (because you know, you can see it and stuff), and that people who said; “The book is much better than the film” were just saying that to show you how well read they were. Had I seen the rather bland Jim Carrey film first, it is pretty likely that I would never have read the book, and that would have been a travesty.
Just to quickly summarize, the only thing that connects Danny Wallace’s superbly written literary offering to the 2008 film is the title and the concept of saying ‘yes’ to everything, all other aspects of the story are different. So if you were disappointed with the film, buy the book and be pleasantly surprised.
The book’s author and protagonist, Danny Wallace, has realised that his life is going stale. He often finds himself turning down the chance of a social life, despite the best intentions of his friends, and that opportunities are passing him by. Then a chance encounter with a stranger on a bus changed his life. ‘Say yes more’, said the stranger, and Danny did. The book follows Danny acting on this advice and the adventures that follow.
The book is, of course, non-fiction and it covers everything that happens in Wallace’s life simply as a result of saying ‘yes’ more often. It is a marvellous example of how positive thinking and positive doing can drastically change your life for the better and is thus a warming, feel-good read. If you get a spring in your step after finishing this book and develop an urge to become a ‘Yes-man’ (or woman) yourself, then I know just how you feel. But despite being a book with an upbeat message and outcome, at times it can have the opposite effect. Reading page after page about the positive influence of ‘yes’ can make you look back at your own life with feelings of intrigue and regret. What if I’d spent my life being more positive? What I’d said ‘yes’ more?
The best feature of this book is Danny Wallace himself. The narrative voice he uses is both friendly and funny and he seems to have a fantastic knack of portraying a vast array of emotions, from love to loneliness, while retaining a reassuring blokey undertone. Of course you’ve never met him, but after you’ve read what is essentially the diary of a rather unusual year in his life, you feel as if he’s told you the story in person over pint…or two.
What I found most touching and engrossing is Wallace’s intimate descriptions of his relationship with a girl he meets called Lizzie. From using the wonderfully emotive adjective ‘fizzy’ to describe how he felt when he first met her to the dilemmas he faces with her later on in the book, Wallace manages to get the reader emotionally involved in the story, creating a bond which he manages to retain throughout.
You notice as you read through the book that not only has Wallace agreed to say ‘yes’ more often, he also changes his whole view on life. ‘Yes’ encourages him too see the good in people, take things at face value and see the world through innocent eyes once more. It doesn’t always pay off of course, but it paints the inspirational portrait of a simpler, happier way of living. His descriptions of the chain of consequences that a casual ‘yes’ can initiate can get a little tiresome, but once again it makes you think about yourself and what started the events that got you to where you are now – but whether an introspective investigation is a good or bad thing is down to the individual.
I brought this book in 2005 and that fact that I keep coming back to it is a glowing appraisal in itself. I wouldn’t call it a self-help guide, but I can certainly see how people could view it in such a way. So whether you’re after a laugh or could perhaps do with a different perspective in life, you Yes Man by Danny Wallace gets two thumbs-up.
So I’ll end with a question; are you going to read this book? Well, there’s only one answer isn’t there?!
Written by: Karl Sears
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