Be Now, Buddy What by Dan Spencer

"A naked man survives a meteoric plunge from a cloudless sky, and a small-town TV reporter rushes to get the story. The fallen man claims amnesia and, despite widespread efforts,no one can identify him. The press dubs him Buddy What. When no clues surface about his identity and as details about the mystery man are examined, Internet devotees start worshiping him as a celestial being. With reputation, he accepts the call to become a spiritual guru. But as Buddy What grows into a worldwide phenomenon, controversies follow. Be Now, Buddy What is a satire about fame, the news media organized religion, and people who let strangers into their homes."
I received an e-copy of this book from Dan Spencer for reviewing. The pitch/summary of this book sounded hilarious, so I decided to read it.
Buddy What is a naked man who falls from the sky. For obvious reasons he becomes a media star and everybody wants to know his story, since he doesn't have one- a possible amnesiac- the media begins to speculate. As a result he is ultimately thought to be a God or a messiah. Buddy What's behavior supports this theory too- the simple clothing, the lack of interest in luxury and indulgence and his various seemingly spiritual beliefs.
The book is told from the perspective of a small time reporter who ends up being Buddy's buddy and often spokesperson. The writing is satirical and hilarious, very engaging style of writing. At first I found it tiresome but as I read on it was amusing to read.
The story could have been made MUCH shorter, 200 pages perhaps 100 even. All the events that occur are logical and the reporter frequently retrospects the events. So its like reading a journal or diary, the purpose as the the reporter implies of this book was to tell the public The True Story of "Buddy What".
The concept was nice and the observations in the book very real and often cynical, i agreed with most of the views. But towards the end of the book it got preachy- preachy in a self-help book way not a religious preachy.

"So, please, for your sake, don't obsess over Buddy

What. Don't live vicariously through him or me or anyone

else. Don't rely on someone else's story to get you through

life. You are your own story. We are all stories.

Now do yourself a favor. Put down this book.

Your life awaits.

Be now."

I am not big on self-help books, the message is all the same - Live for Today etc etc.

The book was a good read  I would give it a 2 on 5 for an unusual plot and amusing writing style. Otherwise I thought it was a drag, I think it would have been a more fun read if it was shorter. A lot of the pages were just repetitions of the same thing in the story which the reader could have figured out for himself even if it hadn't been written. It was like driving home a point- saying the same thing over and over and over and over again. 
The story was a weak one, but I guess the main idea was to share views about society today and the media-centric aspects of it- like a parable to mock the media, fame etc etc. 
Its like reading a Victorian novel, where the author uses a story to comment on society and mock it norms; the difference being the time period and the style of writing.

I would recommend this if you would like a good laugh and quirky one liners!

"Patience would be easier

if it weren't so time consuming."

- Buddy What

You can find out more about Buddy What here! And, you can sign up to win a copy of Buddy what here! :)