The Call of the Weird

After a decade of making documentaries about offbeat characters on the fringes of US society, Louis had the urge to return to America and track down the people who most fascinated him. It would be a reunion tour, but this time without the cameras and the sense of performance being filmed inevitably brings. It would allow him to get closer to people, to discover what really motivated them, what they believed in, and what had happened to the assorted dreamers, outlaws and eccentrics since he last saw them.On a journey that took him to the porn sets of Los Angeles, among the UFO contactees of Arizona, and up to far Northern Idaho for a festive get-together of leading neo-Nazis, he asked what 'weird people' have to tell us about our own secret natures. Had he learned anything about himself by being among them? Do we choose our beliefs or do our beliefs choose us?Louis Theroux's first book is a hilarious, thought-provoking and at times surreal voyage into the heart of weirdness.

“Compelling reading”

Crammed with original insights Guardian
What Theroux actually shows us in this exhilarating read is that the barmy and bizarre are still very much alive and kicking Sunday Express
FT Magazine
'The original guru of American psychosis.' -- Times The Times

Louis Theroux is an award-winning documentary film maker whose programmes are shown all over the world. After working on Michael Moore's TV Nation, Louis was given his own show, Weird Weekends, on the BBC. He followed this with the popular series When Louis Met... in which he spent time with, amongst others, Jimmy Savile, Neil and Christine Hamilton and Chris Eubank. He has also interrogated criminals at San Quentin prison; lived with the extreme believers of the Westboro Baptist Church; gambled with the high-rollers at a Las Vegas mega-casino, and stalked game with trophy hunters on South Africa's wild animal farms. His feature-length documentary, My Scientology Movie, was released in 2016.

'Crammed with original insights' Guardian After a decade of making documentaries about offbeat characters on the fringes of US society, Louis had the urge to return to America and track down the people who most fascinated him. It would be a reunion tour, but this time without the cameras and the sense of performance being filmed inevitably brings. It would allow him to get closer to people, to discover what really motivated them and what had happened to the assorted dreamers, outlaws and eccentrics since he last saw them. On a journey that took him from the porn sets of Los Angeles to the gangsta rappers of Memphis, from a convention of UFO contactees in Arizona to Northern Idaho for a festive get-together of neo-Nazis, Louis considered what 'weird people' have to tell us about our own secret natures. Had he learned anything about himself by being among them? Do we choose our beliefs or do our beliefs choose us? Louis Theroux's first book is a hilarious, thought-provoking and at times surreal voyage into the heart of weirdness.'Compelling' Financial Times '[An] exhilarating read' Sunday Express

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