Rating: 
Summary: All you ever wanted to know about Graydon Carter (and more)
Review: Basicly, if you're not interested in the New York publishing world (and Vanity Fair in particular), this probably isn't the book for you. But if want to know the nitty-gritty about working for Conde Nast or about the reign of terror PMK holds over New York reporters, this is your book.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Fast paced Fun and Engaging
Review: This is one of the funniest books I've ever read and I've read a lot. Maybe he catches slack for making fun of political correctness, but I thought the book was hysterical. And any bad reviews demonstrate why political correctness is far too anal retentive and self righteous to begin with. It's hard to imagine anyone not liking this book.
Rating:
Summary: A wry, tongue-in-cheek memoir
Review: How To Lose Friends And Alienate People by Toby Young is a wry, tongue-in-cheek memoir of a British journalist with an attitude who came to New York in 1995 and saw his personal life and professional efforts fall apart. Fired from Vanity Fair magazine, banned from the most fashionable bar in the city, unable to get a date, and even rejected by the local AA group, Toby's journey through numerous different and bizarre jobs makes for simply irresistible reading that is literary equivalent to watching a multi-car chain-reaction interstate highway pileup in slow motion.
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Summary: A New York view through an English telescope
Review: "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People" is an intriguing look behind "Vanity Fair" magazine and the Condé Nasties. Although Mr. Young is an annoying cad and mostly deserved what was coming to him; he does make a strong case for what may or may not be wrong with NYC society.
Rating: 
Summary: He has an immature perspective
Review: He has an immature perspective of a part of our socety, (supervicial, status seekers of NYC) He's fighting something that's bigger than him. It's like fighting the wind. Don't complain if they don't let you in. That's the name of the game. Either critique it politically or leave it alone. I rented the audio tape version from the local bookstore. It cost me $3 bucks to rent. I would not listen to this otherwize. I decided to listen, basically b/c of the catchy title. All I could think was that he was rebelling against his father's perspective of America, which I think is true, that we are all living under an illustion that if we work hard enough, that we could make it big, (wealthy). Toby sounded like a insecure, immature, selfish young dude. In his book, there is a part towards the end, when he starts to quote his father and bring some analysis to the superficial world of NYC and I started to have some respect for him, but then he falls in love with his old girlfriends younger sister. I found that just too, incestuous. I mean, can any of you imagine going back in time to your teenage years and remembering your girlfriend/boyfriend's younger sibbling and then one day when they are grown up, you date that person. I find it odd. And, then I thought, Toby is just odd, into himself, kind of spoiled and yet blaming the world cause they don't like his underdveloped character. He's a nice guy, but he needs some maturity. One other point....I think it's very interesting as a British person, how he see's NYC people, all the same personality with little variation and if you don't conform, you don't fit in. That was one of the brightest things he said. Keep writing Toby.
Rating: 
Summary: Pre-9/11 New York Humor
Review: In the heady days of the 1990s, Toby Young is hired at Vanity Fair. When he is fired - and for lots of good reason - he asked why he was hired in the first place. The response from Vanity Fair's editor is "I don't know why you were hired in the first place".
The book is an examination of New York publishing and social life. To be truthful, I was hoping that Toby was going to be a new Hunter S. Thompson. Thompson would never be warped enough to work at Vanity Fair. Thompson would stick to sports and go with his strong suit. Toby works at Vanity Fair and comes across as the character on Seinfeld's, "George Constanza". Really, Toby even says he dresses like a character on Seinfeld. He boffs very young women - which reads like you're watching "Seinfeld" - or he's nailing some freaked out coke head. The latter nearly has the Hunter S. Thompson feel. "I nez $250 fur zum coke!" I nearly died laughing when reading about that. His descriptions of New York are very pre-9/11. The place is rich, snide, and has an ego. I wished Toby had made a few friends and written on how 9/11 made New York into a better place. However, Toby has no real friends to call and talk about 9-11. Perhaps it was best Toby didn't talk to anybody about 9/11. He would remark that the party life was not as fun in post 9/11 America. Yep, Toby is that sort of person. Like Seinfeld's "George Constanza", Toby is not a serious person. He is a gadfly and admits it. Some of what he does in the book is bloody funny, such as when he upset the local AA group. The weird thing is the AA group deserved it. Toby makes the mistake of bragging about it a newspaper column. Near the end of the book, Toby proposes to a woman who is 11 years his junior. This reads a little weird to Americans. Toby is an upper class Brit. His class is allowed this behavior. It just reads weird for Americans. This reviewer usually reads either politics or history. Toby was a nice visit to New York as seen through the eyes of a British "George Constanza".
Rating: 
Summary: True to the title
Review: Toby Young alienated me in no time. The book is one huge whine-fest about his lack of success in the New York publishing world. He seemed to attribute his failures to the uptight careerists in publishing and the fact the days of Dorothy Parker and Robert Benchley are over (which is why he's so unappreciated). Well, I've got news for Mr. Young: his writing and wit bears little similarity to Parker's or Benchley's. In fact, the only similarity he showed to these true wits was in his alcohol consumption.
In short, it's a dreary, unenlightening (and unenlightened) read sure to make one cranky.
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Summary: How to lose readers and alienate everybody
Review: This book is just not funny. The british are renowned for their wit but maybe being in NY too long dulled this in Toby Young. I ended up despising the author as a snivelling weasel who fails in life by his own lack of integrity and intelligence and belittles his friends and collegues whether they deserve it or not. I finished the book only to see if it improved but alas, no. The name dropping anecdotes are worse than a boring gossip column. The most redeeming feature of this boring and trite book is being able to put it down and thank any diety you can pray to that you are not like the author.
Rating:
Summary: A little bit of all of us
Review: This book is extremely funny, yet one can not help but identify with Toby, as there is a little bit of him in all of us. Trying to find ourselves, at the same time trying to fit into the media driven world called America (New York). I recommend this book a hundred and one percent and you should pick it up if you want a funny read, but insightful truth in all of us
Rating:
Summary: When He Says He Has Negative Charisma, He Ain't Kidding
Review: This is a whiny anti-American book by a guy who really, really wants to be a part of the crowd he tears apart. Despite the fact that he idolizes the most superficial of American sub-cultures, it ends up looking better than it should. The superficial entertainment and fashion biz is criticized for not being dysfunctional enough. At one point, he claims not to be able to make close friends in NYC because no one is willing to get drunk with him. Bottom line, our whole culture is slammed because we're not drunk enough, not drugged out enough, and not sexist and homophobic enough. The only big mistake that Graydon Carter made was keeping him on staff as long as he did. If you must read this book, borrow it rather than encouraging this loser-wanting-revenge writing with royalty money.
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