Having always been quite the fan of Grace Dent - author, TV critic and columnist - I was pleased when the news of her book, How to Leave Twitter: My Time as Queen of the Universe and Why this Must Stop, was released. I've always found Grace to be very witty, always giving a blunt and amusing insight into life (and of course, television), and so had an inkling that this book was going to be a fun read. I was right.Let me just say that up until recently, I wasn't an avid user of Twitter. Then I gained a new job in which tweeting was a must, and I've suddenly become an addict, craving to know more about this social networking phenomenon. Grace, an extremely popular Twitter user with a VERY high follower count, has been entertaining the masses in 140 characters or less for quite some time, and let's face it, she knows her stuff.
At the beginning of the book, Grace describes how what started out as a place to post observations and TV rants soon turned into something she couldn't live without. Twitter and its addictive tendencies caused her to quickly become reliant and of course, highly entertaining. In How to Leave Twitter, Grace goes on to describe Twitter and her experiences with it in her usual hilarious manner, and a lot of chapters in list form. For someone like myself who's quickly getting used to Twitter (and quite possibly becoming addicted to it too!), it was a fantastically funny insight.
But for those who generally aren't huge fans of Twitter (or Grace, for that matter), this book may not be for you. It's not a long book, but the humour made up for it, although if you don't particularly understand the ins and outs of the site then you might just be a little confused.
In all honesty I had expected more from this book, rather than merely Grace's opinions on Twitter. That's pretty much all this book is, and it's quite a short one, which is why I'm only awarding it four stars. However, it was an enjoyable read, something I could partially relate to, and I'd love to read more from Grace (book of memoirs...please?). She's funny, honest and has the Twitter expertise to pull this off but it's more of a novelty book than a serious book (in the beginning Grace mentions how she and her agent came up with the idea for How To Leave Twitter whilst trying to think of a novel plot). But if you love Twitter? It's a must-read.
Rating: 4/5
