An insightful look into the growth of propaganda and misinformation in the internet age. The UK-based author gives a perspective that is exceptionally useful to American readers.

Danny Wallace is back with a new book all about the dangers of conspiracy theories and social media. As a huge fan of Danny's work going back to Yes Man, I was very excited to read this book and it did not disappoint - Danny weaves a path through how rumours begin to spread, and how social media amplifies them. I did decide to give it four stars though, as at times he does unintentionally veer towards new conspiracy theories of his own!

I've read most of Danny Wallace's book previously, and enjoyed Join Me and Yes Man in particular - I was expecting more of the same daft but funny content in 'Somebody Told Me...', but found something very different and more mature. This is a thoughtful insight into the online world, and the dangers on two counts - firstly the actual dangers posed by malicious actors online, but also the dangers of seeing problems that aren't there.

It does lack a little narrative voice and structure to bring it all together, but overall I found it an interesting (and slightly scary at times!) read.

An excellent read for any and all readers! Author comes at you with both barrels and knocks you out of your shoes! Great job fleshing out all the characters. I give this book FIVE stars! Definitely recommend!

An excellent read for any and all readers! Author comes at you with both barrels and knocks you out of your shoes! Great job fleshing out all the characters. I give this book FIVE stars! Definitely recommend!

This was a fascinating read - beginning and ending with the mystery of an elderly Chinese man who may or may not be a spy.

Following the death of his father, an academic specialising in the former East German , Danny Wallace stumbles on his innocent- sounding correspondence with said elderly Chinese man, and promptly falls down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories, internet trolls and AI bots.

It's an alarming journey through the world of Q-Anon, Covid conspiracies, Russian troll farms and more as Danny talks to people on all sides. Much is clearly absurd (the man from Thetford who believes he's going to be banned from ever venturing out of Thetford - why?!) but the book explores how people get drawn into and then entrenched in certain unlikely beliefs, convinced they're the few who are clear sighted enough to see "the truth", unlike the rest of us poor sheep. Sometimes harmless and sometimes incredibly damaging, like claiming that disasters didn't happen and that the grieving and traumatised are actors. Or that Covid never existed and vaccines are a dangerous conspiracy.

It's also terrifying to consider the degree to which we can be influenced en masse by shadowy figures with ill intent, entering a world where facts are subjective and you can't necessarily believe anything you see, hear or read. The huge expansion of AI has its positives but also brings dangers which are very hard for national governments to keep up with or legislate for.

An interesting read which never fails to entertain, inform, and provide much food for thought.

4.5 stars rounded up.

I’ve been a fan of Danny Wallace’s books for about 20 years, since reading Are You Dave Gorman? And then the wonderful Yes Man, which are two of my favourite books of all time. I was thrilled to get stuck into his new book.

Now this book is already available in the UK, but I believe this is the US release and there is a short extra intro, some unnecessary changes of -ise to -ize and mum to mom, but otherwise I’m assuming all is the same!

This was a bit different to Danny’s comedy books in that it was equal parts alarming, scary, and amusing. Danny’s trademark humour is definitely in there, but it’s more focused on interviews, research and discussion about the fascinating world of disinformation. From conspiracy theories to QAnon, Truthers, AI and Crisis Actors, it was so fascinating and terrifying that I now just don’t know what to believe and fear that we are all doomed!

There’s some great interviews in here from academics, BBC fact checkers, scientists – as well as some truthers themselves and people who have suffered as a result of disinformation. The writing is great – it was nice to have bits of Danny’s wit woven in there to lighten some of the heavy topics; and he does a great job of explaining some complex subjects and concepts.

I really think this is essential reading as there was so much I had no idea about!

***advance review copy received from NetGalley in return for an honest review***
Danny Wallace never fails to both delight and interest. In this latest book he delves into conspiracy theories - who believes them, why they believe them, who’s benefiting from people believing them and where this all might take us in the future. Along the way he explains his personal family history with the topic, and meets several people on both sides of the conspiracy fence.
If you’ve recently watched and enjoyed - or been horrified by - Netflix’s Adolescence, you could do worse than to dovetail that with this book. You’d be surprised what you find on the internet.