More Disasters from Toby

by John F. Baker -- Publishers Weekly, 3/14/2005

A book called How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, in which author Toby Young frankly discussed his disastrous career as a Vanity Fair writer, his devious efforts to get into the best parties and his constant rebuffs by women rendered hostile by his puerile pick-up lines, was a surprise hit last year; now Da Capo, his publisher then, has signed him for a second helping of self-inflicted anguish. And though Young, another transplanted Brit, has now married, returned home and started a family, he seems no better able to achieve a life without lumps. The new book, The Sound of No Hands Clapping, was signed by publisher John Radziewicz with agent Emma Parry and will offer such nuggets as Young posing as a client for a penis-enlargement clinic; his participation in a swiftly canceled reality show; and his appearance in a universally panned one-man play. The deal bought Da Capo U.S. rights and Canadian for six months—presumably as long as anyone there wants him around.