'Daniel Frederick Wallace is a British filmmaker, comedian, writer, actor, and presenter of radio and television. His notable works include the books Join Me, Yes Man, and the TV series How to Start Your Own Country. As an author, Wallace's bestselling books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.' (http://www.freshfiction.com, 2022)
I am writing about Danny Wallace, as the first book I read of his was 'Yes Man' (2005). He describes his childhood and walking around Loughborough, and this was very similar to my own childhood and he had walked the same streets, visited the same places. Also in the interview above he was describing his entrance to university and again it was a very similar story to my own. He went to Loughborough which was an old polytechnic and I went to DMU which also was an old poly. We both submitted writing for entrance to university and I think had similar experiences at a similar time and geographically very close.
Yes Man is simply a story about a man who decides to say Yes to everything. The concept he states is simply; “Probably some of the best things that have ever happened to you in life, happened because you said yes to something. Otherwise things just sort of stay the same.” Wallace himself does this and essentially writes the book almost like a diary of his experiences of saying yes. Wallace states in Yes Man: “I recommend keeping a diary. Diaries are cool.” It is personal but obviously still created as a novel with those writing conventions. In a way, it reminds me of Sophie Calle in that Calle uses her own life as art (highly edited and curated) and this is very similar in its conception and indeed its curation.
Wallace writes in the first person and relates the story as if to a friend in the pub and this makes him instantly likable and very English in his sensibilities. Also, he demonstrates a clear understanding of his audience. The book is clearly aimed at people like himself, at a certain age and a bit lost in life.
Wallace uses his amiable personality to really draw the reader in and become part of his story, we want to know he is okay, we want him to win.
In my own story Milk (my own hero) is like many women in their 30s and lives an ordinary life where not much happens and she has essentially got into a bit of a rut. This is very much like Wallace in Yes Man. Milk in my story meets a monk and he promises to change her life, Milk in a way is the child of Yes Man and all she has to do is say Yes and her adventure can really begin.
References
Nast, C., 2018. Danny Wallace on his year in Hollywood. [online] British GQ. Available at: https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/danny-wallace-goes-to-hollywood [Accessed 8 February 2022].
http://www.freshfiction.com, i., 2022. Danny Wallace. [online] Freshfiction.com. Available at: https://freshfiction.com/author.php?id=30897 [Accessed 8 February 2022].
No comments:
Post a Comment