Yes Man

Imagine being completely open. Imagine a life in which we accept every single chance, offer, or challenge — take every single risk. Thankfully, Danny Wallace has done it so we don't have to.

Recently single, Danny is alone and on a road to nowhere. One day on that road, a stranger on a bus tells him to say "yes" more. A months-long journey that changes not only Danny's life but perhaps the world ensues.

Soon after vowing to be more open, Danny wins $45,000 and becomes a television executive, far above his level of experience or ability ("just because I said 'yes' a lot in meetings I wasn't supposed to be in"). He becomes a minister. Falls afoul of psychotropic drugs. Gives spare change to anyone who asks. Invents things. Travels the globe. Vows to help the son of a murdered sultan escape Oman with forty million dollars ("It's not an Internet scam — it's a cry for help"). But not every yes is an instant ticket to new-found wealth and happiness.

Just as Danny grows closer to a woman for whom he holds strong feelings, his ex-girlfriend asks if he would mind if she dated someone new. "Yes." Things get more complicated when he sees her and her new beau. Being polite, the man asks Danny if he'd like to join them for dinner. "Yes." At a night club, another man asks Danny if he wants a smack in the mouth for looking at his girlfriend: "Er, yes?"

Yes Man introduces a world where a bit of optimism can make a person a television personality. A simple trip to the record store can be rerouted to the center of the Social Acupuncture Peace Movement. An unwanted e-mail can lead to the creation of an undroppable spoon. Feeling hungry can result in eating curry down the street from Jesus. But perhaps most important, a little fearlessness can lead to a remarkably loving relationship.

Yes Man is more than one excitable man's ramblings of seemingly inconsequential events. It's more than even the most elegant of memoirs. It is proof that a little bit of openness and generosity can allow the human spirit to triumph.

"Wallace, a freelance radio producer for the BBC in London, takes three simple words uttered by a stranger on a bus-'say yes more'-as a challenge and says 'yes' to everything for a year. He says 'yes' to pamphleteers on the street, the credit card offers stuffing his mailbox and solicitations on the Internet. He attends meetings with a group that believes aliens built the pyramids in Egypt, says 'yes' to every invitation to go out on the town and furthers his career by saying 'yes' in meetings with executives. The potential for enlightenment and insight into the human condition abounds, yet Wallace doesn't dig deep. Mostly, he covers his relationships with his male friends and former and current girlfriends. While the writing is lively enough-arch and full of colorful British slang-the minutiae of Wallace's world won't fascinate readers as much as it seems to fascinate him. The book is culled from his diary, and it shows: the text is crammed with casual observations and mundane details of everyday life. It meanders through the year, shapeless and slack. Still, Wallace raises an interesting question-if you said 'yes' to everything, would you be prepared to deal with the outcome? " Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"One of those rare books that actually has the potential to change your life." San Francisco Bay Guardian

"[Danny Wallace is] as funny as Bill Bryson used to be." Independent on Sunday (London)

"Wallace is a Generation X legend." Wisconsin State Journal

"If this were a novel, we would probably shake our heads and call it ridiculous. But it's all true...and it's thoroughly entertaining." Booklist

Recently single, Danny Wallace was falling into loneliness and isolation. When a stranger on a bus advises, "Say yes more," Wallace vows to say yes to every offer, invitation, challenge, and chance.

In Yes Man, Wallace recounts his months-long commitment to complete openness with profound insight and humbling honesty. Saying yes takes Wallace into a new plane of existence: a place where money comes as easily as it goes, nodding a lot can lead to a long weekend overseas with new friends, and romance isn't as complicated as it seems. Yes eventually leads to the biggest question of all: "Do you, Danny Wallace, take this woman . . ."

Yes Man is inspiring proof that a little willingness can take anyone to the most wonderful of places.

Danny Wallace is an award-winning comedy producer and journalist who was recently appointed head of new comedy development for the BBC.

Contents

Prologue: In Which We Set the Scene

Chapter 1: In Which the Story Begins

Chapter 2: In Which Daniel Becomes Increasingly Excited

Chapter 3: In Which Daniel Lifts Up His Head and Beholds the Sun

Chapter 4: In Which Daniel Makes an Unfortunate Error

Chapter 5: In Which Daniel Receives Word from the Sultanate of Oman

Chapter 6: In Which Daniel Breaks the Law

Chapter 7: In Which Daniel Proposes a Theory, Attends a Party, and Vexes a Rival

Chapter 8: In Which Daniel Lands Himself in a Spot of Bother

Chapter 9: In Which Daniel Upsets a Stranger

Chapter 10: In Which Daniel Undertakes a Most Unusual Search

Chapter 11: In Which Daniel Finds Himself Central to a Very Disturbing Predicament

Chapter 12: In Which a Friendship Is Brought into Doubt, and Daniel Buys Some

New Spectacles

Chapter 13: In Which Daniel Receives a Very Pleasant Piece of News

Chapter 14: In Which Daniel and Lizzie Climb a Mountain, Visit a Brass Rubbing Centre, and See a Bad Play

Chapter 15: In Which Daniel Receives Some Unexpected News

Chapter 16: In Which Daniel Is Tempted by Evil

Chapter 17: In Which Daniel Meets with Hugh the Incredible, a Tiny Soldier, and a Magical Dog with a Hat On

Chapter 18: In Which Daniel Finally Has a Polite Conversation

Chapter 19: In Which the Reader Is Required to Read Between the Lines

Chapter 20: In Which Daniel Travels to the Goodly Castle of Dobroyd, and Chances

Upon More of the Wisdom of Maitreya

Chapter 21: In Which Daniel Meets His Match

Chapter 22: In Which Daniel Goes Far Beyond the Call of Duty

Chapter 23: In Which Daniel Faces a Terrible Crisis

Chapter 24: In Which Daniel Is Content

Chapter 25: In Which Daniel Makes a Terrible Admission, Searches His Soul, and Finally Accepts That He Must Be Punished

Chapter 26: In Which Something Remarkable Happens

Epilogue 1: In Which Ian Gets His Just Desserts

Epilogue 2: In Which We Must Finally Say Good-bye

Acknowledgements