Young is back with the eagerly awaited follow-up to his account of a hilariously failed attempt to conquer the Manhattan social and professional scene in How to Lose Friends and Alienate People. All the elements that turned Toby's earlier memoir into a bestseller from coast to coast and on both sides of the Atlantic are back, too. Well, some things have changed for Toby — he has married his girlfriend from How to Lose Friends and Alienate People and now has two kids, and he has moved from the Manhattan that treated him none too kindly to London. But Toby remains Toby, and what Graydon Carter of Vanity Fair called Toby's "brown thumb" continues to work its magic, transforming opportunities into cringeworthy debacles and leading to situations that are classic Toby Young territory. Toby gleefully recounts such dubious journalistic assignments as posing as a patient at a penis-enlargement clinic and as a greeter at a Wal-Mart. He has misadventures in Los Angeles as a screenwriter for films that never quite get made, he's been a contestant on an abysmal reality show that absolutely no one watched, and he has acted in a one-man play that was utterly savaged by the critics. Yes, Toby has become a dutiful husband and a devoted dad, but he's as relentlessly self-sabotaging as ever, with a demonstrated knack for attracting misfortune, publicity — and devoted readers.

"British journalist Young scored big with How to Lose Friends and Influence People, a dishy account of his dire mishaps in the world of glossy New York magazine publishing, and inevitably came to Hollywood's attention. Though his own book was considered, a more lucrative writing offer came from a big-league producer, known here only as '————,' or 'Mr. Hollywood,' who wanted 'a biopic about a notorious '70s record producer,' who was also 'a spectacularly unpleasant human being.' This would seem to be a sufficient frame for a follow-up about misadventures in the magazine world, but curiously, it isn't. Instead, Young wanders (literally) all over the map, recounting his experiences on his book tour; as a newlywed and new father; as a screen-writing student, underqualified drama critic and monologist. Naturally, nothing goes right in this unfocused memoir. Young gets in some good anecdotes, but the outcome of the Hollywood adventure is obvious from the start — marital bliss is, alas, less compelling than laddishness; an anonymous producer and subject are no match for colorful Graydon Carter and Vanity Fair. 100,000 first printing. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"[R]eaders won't be disappointed with this warm, funny, self-effacing memoir, which will appeal to anyone who has ever tried to accomplish anything — and that amounts to all of us." Booklist

"...Young sticks a little too closely to the structure and style that made his previous book such an enjoyable read....A pointless sequel." Kirkus Reviews

"Most of it is merely dull." Hugo Lindgren, New York Times

"Mr. Young, I am happy to report, learned virtually nothing from his American misadventures....For readers, this is very good news. Mr. Young's pain is their gain." William Grimes, New York Times

"What might have been a great book — Toby Young set loose in Hollywood 3 gets lost amid unrelated moments that inspire only winces." David Daley, USA Today

The anticipated sequel to the bestselling How to Lose Friends and Alienate People finds the author now a dutiful husband and devoted dad who's as relentlessly self-sabotaging as ever with a demonstrated knack for attracting misfortune, publicity and devoted readers.

Toby Young is back with the eagerly awaited follow-up to his account of a hilariously failed attempt to conquer the Manhattan social and professional scene in How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.

All the elements that turned Toby's earlier memoir into a bestseller from coast to coast and on both sides of the Atlantic are back, too. Well, some things have changed for Toby — he has married his girlfriend, has two kids, and has moved from Manhattan to London. But Toby remains Toby, and continues transforming opportunities into cringeworthy debacles and leading to situations that are classic Toby Young territory.

Yes, Toby has become a dutiful husband and a devoted dad, but he's as relentlessly self-sabotaging as ever, with a demonstrated knack for attracting misfortune, publicity — and devoted readers.

Toby Young was born in 1963. In the course of his career as a journalist he has been fired from a succession of prestigious newspapers and magazines, including the Times of London and Vanity Fair, and most recently the Mail on Sunday. He is currently restaurant critic for the Evening Standard and theater critic for the Spectator. He lives in London.