Cover of the UK 2nd Edition book
"The true story of a man who started a cult by accident"[]
There are currently (April 2005) two editions of the book in the US, UK, and Australia. The UK version, published by Ebury Press, can be found (and reviewed) here and the American one here. The second edition of the book had a slightly longer epilogue, detailing some of the things that had happened in the year since the first book came out.
Book Blurb (UK 1st edition)[]
This blurb is a slightly extended version of the 2nd edition quote used on the Welcome to the Join Me Wiki page:
They didn't know what they were joining...
They didn't know why they were joining...
But joining they were.
Danny Wallace was bored. Just to see what would happen, he placed a whimsical small ad in a local London paper. It said, simply ‘Join Me’. Within a month, he was receiving letters and e-mails from intrigued strangers all over the country, eager to sign up.
Teachers, mechanics, sales reps, vicars, schoolchildren, pensioners – all pledged allegiance to his cause. None knew what that cause was.
Soon he was proclaimed Leader. Increasingly obsessed and possibly power crazed, he risked losing his sanity and his loyal girlfriend. But who could deny the attraction of a global following of thousands of devoted joinees?
A modern day Pied Piper, he travelled the world. From Inverness to Amsterdam, Swindon, Paris, Zurich, Crete and oslo. He became a minor celebrity in Belguim. He had a brush with a criminal mastermind in Devon. He made hundreds of old men all over the world very happy.
A book about dreams, ambitions and the responsibility that comes with power, JOIN ME is the true story of a man who created a cult by accident, and is proof that whilst some men were born to lead, others really haven't got a clue...
- blurb from the back of Join Me
Cover Quotes (UK 1st edition)[]
A measly one quote on the original book:
" Unfailingly funny." - Arthur Smith
Cover Quotes (UK 2nd edition)[]
“One of the funniest stories you will ever read.” Daily Mail
“The hilarious true story of a bunch of strangers being swept up in a bored man’s experiment.” Heat
“Wallace is back, much to the distress of his girlfriend, and has formed a cult just for the hell of it.” Problem: not even Wallace knows what it means to join, but it’s hilarious watching him busk it.” I-D Magazine
“ Very funny.” Independent on Sunday
“ The new Jesus? No.” Aftenposten (Norway)
“If Danny Wallace can lead people – then so can my brother’s Norfolk Terrier...” Emma Freud
“Join Me is the kind of book I love: effortlessly funny, painfully accurate and entertaining to the very end. Brilliant.” Mike Gayle
“Danny Wallace does things few people would and writes about them in ways that few people could. He’s as funny as Bill Bryson used to be.” Nicholas Barber, Independent on Sunday
“Extremely enjoyable… one cannot help wondering whether he has stumbled upon the future shape of spirituality.” Daily Telegraph
“ Very funny and, in its own way, an affirmation of the generosity of the human spirit.” The Independent
“As you’d expect from Wallace, a lot of it is very funny. Hideously, out-loud-laughingly funny.” BANG Magazine
“Brilliant.” Stephen Torsi, The Bookseller
“A highly amusing and engaging book… hugely compelling. If he doesn’t make you join, he will almost certainly make you laugh.” Big Issue
“ Hugely funny.” Word Magazine
“Hilarious.” The Mirror
Contents[]
Find a summary of the book's contents here.
People and Events from the Book[]
There are three links here, one to Joinees mentioned in the Book, another to Non-Joinees mentioned in the Book and a final one showing a Rough Timeline of Events in the Book.