Rating: 
Summary: A fake meritocracy
Review: This book is about a fake society where 'perception is reality', where people show naked respect for power and money and where Cupido is Stupido.It gives us a good insight into the superficial mentality of the rich and famous and into the false 'meritocratic' argument by people who pretend to have earned honestly everything they possess, while in fact they inherited it. The same 'merit' should also justify the enormous income differences in the US. Toby Young's biography centres on the glossy magazine 'Vanity Fair' and his misadventures as a junior writer. It contains the well-known ingredients of booze, drugs, sex, the homo/hetero battle and his unwelcome English 'hooligan' behaviour. In fact, besides some thoughts about 'de Tocqueville, freedom and the US', his work is nearly a 'colossal waste of time' (the author's own words) and certainly not more than somewhat better gossip for insiders about totally uninteresting people.
Rating: 
Summary: How Funny....
Review: This is a great book. It kept me in stitches.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to get through...
Review: I thought this book would be a hilarious romp through the catty magazine publishing world...it wasn't. It was hard to read and I had to really push myself to get past page 100. I agree with the reviewer who said it took off towards the end. The book redeemed itself in the final chapters. But the author was whiney and irritating and I even found myself rolling my eyes while reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Funny and Biting Analysis of American Literati
Review: Toby Young comes across as a shrewd self-promoter here--albeit a smart one. His gimmick, if I can use that word, is to pose as the "outsider," the angst-ridden Brit, who coming to America to work for Vanity Fair, finds that his irreverent sensibilities clash with the pompous American literati. Much of this book is a chronicle of Young's self-destructive, compulsive, selfish, infantile, salacious behavior, which I suspect he orchestrated because by playing the fool he was, in effect, gathering pungent material for his book. In other words, this book is about a brilliant British graduate of Oxford (later went to Harvard) who, posing as a tough-fisted rebel, finds an effective persona for jabbing the insiders of a prominent magazine, the dangers of American democracy (he quotes Tocqueville extensively to good effect), political correctness, and the grotesque egotism of the American literati. Young is an excellent writer who knows how to tell entertaining, compelling stories and this gift compensates for his less than convincing affectation as an outsider.
Rating: 
Summary: Insights from a journalistic failure
Review: The memoirs of an English journalist who, after landing a job at prestigious magazine Vanity Fair, sets out to conquer the Big Apple. Through a combination of misfortune, miscalculation and just basic ineptitude he soon alienates friends, co-workers and employer and returns home with his tail between his legs, leaving us with many bitter yet funny observations on New York high society and the publishing world. He regards himself as an abject failure, yet for someone who counts model Sophie Dahl, actress Natasha McElhone and writer Candace Bushnell as his acquaintances, and whose father is a respected academic and life peer, everything is relative I suppose. Its just hard to think of someone who moves in such circles as anything but a "failure" in life as such, thus subverting to a certain extent the whole weight of the book. Aside from his many humorous shenanigans, he makes some interesting observations on the differences between US and British society. He has nothing but scorn for American style meritocracy and believes a benevolent aristocracy, tempered by some form of democracy should run the ideal society. In fairness, this book is witty and enjoyable in a cringe-inducing sort of way. Ultimately however, you could say its as superficial as many of the people portrayed in it.
Rating:
Summary: Skip the first 175 pages! The last 150 are worthwhile.
Review: "How to Lose Friends..." starts out with a few witty anecdotes, helping to set the mood. However, after page 50 or so the book takes a nosedive. Mr. Young spends the next 100 plus pages in full "tell all" mode. Dropping famous names and gossiping like, well, a bitter gossip-columnist. Although, Mr. Young seems to present facts objectively, he never really assumes any blame for what happens to him. (Although, his objectivity might be the way he owns up to his faults.) During the first half, Mr. Young drops some hints of skill as a thoughtful and engaging writer. (This is what compelled me to continue.) Finally, somewhere around the two-thirds mark, my faith in the author is justified. Mr. Young finishes strong with clever and insightful looks at American culture, success/failure, and love on both a macroscopic and personal level. I plan to keep my copy, with the caveat that I will tab the "tell-all" pages, or simply tear them out.
Rating:
Summary: Some good stuff, often very funny, but he is annoying.
Review: Although some of the anecdotes included are hilarious, Young comes off as shallow and definitely someone you wouldn't want to get too close to. Appearing to be nobody's friend, not even his own, he still has some very good insights on America, democracy, and how seriously Americans take everything. Much of the book is drop dead funny, but his tendency towards whining about his personal life and his career, especially as compared to others, does not add anything much for the reader. The best parts of the book come when he relays anecdotes about the Conde Nasties and the NY social scene and the more thoughtful passages on democracy and his experiences while at Harvard. Overall, I did enjoy the book.
Rating:
Summary: fun but not well written
Review: Don't get me wrong, I really really enjoyed reading this book. It felt like a terrible guilty pleasure, I literally could not leave the house until I had finished it. I even stayed up all night as I was so absorbed in the fascinating world that Toby paints. Every time the phone would ring I felt compelled to relay an anecdote from the book to whoever was on the line. The problem that I have with the book is this: It feels like Toby was under the gun to finish it really quickly. It has a sense of barely having been proof-read and he occasionally goes off on long tangents about his fathers' invention of the term 'meritocracy' which then leads into theories about economics etc. etc. It is moments like this that derail the book. If only Toby didn't feel the need to prove his intelligence and could stop being a touch didactic. The book is solid and compelling without the excessive ruminations about politics and economics. If I had wanted to read about that I would have purchased a different book. I found myself skimming through the 'unfunny' parts searching for another good laugh.
Rating:
Summary: He Dug His Own Hole But Doesn't Get It
Review: It's hard to have much sympathy for Mr. Young. He seems to go out of his way to dig his own hole with his juvenile antics, then wonders why such bad things seem to happen to him! Throughout this book, it was clear that he was quite an admirer of his own self-importance. If you're into name-dropping and egotism, you'll enjoy this book tremendously. But, if you're like me, you'll find a few funny moments and spend most of your time learning to dislke him. It's not the worst book I've read all year, but it still only rates 3 stars. It was too much work to wade through the tacky parts in order to get to the funny parts.
Rating:
Summary: Hate snobs? You'll love this
Review: While reading this book, I was battling conflicting feelings of revulsion and admiration. After all, no matter how unappealing and obnoxious Toby Young makes himself out to be, I was holding in my hand a bestseller that I myself had paid for. Talk about making lemonade out of lemons! And the book is a million laughs. I, too, went to New York to attack the magazine journalism world (albeit from a completely different mind set and background as Toby), and came to conclusions similar to his. The New Yorker attitude that they are the center of the cultural universe is about as "provincial" as it gets (and that is an adjective New Yorkes LOVE to use to describe everyone in the "fly-over states"). Toby manages to sneak in, gracefully, some observations on American life and attitudes that are not always flattering, but seem to have some truth. I highly recommend this book... especially to any young, starry-eyed journalist hopeful who is unfortunate enough to have an unrecognizable last name.
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