Social media maven Brittlestar shares 6 books that shaped him and his comedy
His new book, Welcome to the Stupidopocalypse, is out now
Brittlestar, also known as Stuart Reynolds, is a Stratford, Ont.-based comedian and content creator with over 57,000 Instagram followers. His latest project is his book, Welcome to the Stupidopocalypse, which consists of 44 comedic essays about life and politics, pointing out the absurdity of the world we live in.
"It came about because I was following what was happening politically in the U.S., and then what was happening during the pandemic globally," he told CBC Books.
"I think that people are forgetting the fact that we can all be kind of stupid sometimes and we can all do dumb things. And the first step of getting better is realizing that and looking at how ridiculous some of the stuff we do is and then trying to get smarter from there."
To celebrate that Welcome to the Stupidopocalypse is now on the shelves, Brittlestar shared the books that shaped him.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
"Douglas Adams' writing to me was just incredibly clever and his word choice and his turning concepts on their heads and stuff was fascinating to me. And it was funny but it was clever, but it was also a little bit of social commentary, even though it was a science fiction book.
I love the mocking of things that we don't question sometimes, which is great.- Brittlestar
"I love the intergalactic rock star who is dead for a year for tax reasons and that kind of thing. I love the mocking of things that we don't question sometimes, which is great. But even just the improbability drive for their spaceship is fantastic. I always love that idea."
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
"It was one of the first serious books, serious novels, that spoke to the perspective that I had at the time, as a kid reading it. Our public school librarian, Mrs. MacDonald, took me aside at the beginning of Grade 3, and she's like, 'You should read this." And I was like, "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing… I'm too young to read this." It's like she handed me a beer and a cigarette. I was like, "'Wow, I'm an adult now. This is so cool.'
It was cool to have her style of writing where she was reading something and I thought, 'Wow, I feel connected to this.'- Brittlestar
"It was cool to have her style of writing where she was reading something and I thought, 'Wow, I feel connected to this. This is not exactly how I see the world, but this is like the same type of lens that I see the world through.' Her writing was just great; I just loved it. It was very relatable."
Life After God by Douglas Coupland
"One of the things I love the most about it was the, for lack of a better term, the packaging, the binding of the book. It was the size of a Bible.
Being able to sit down at the pub when I was in my early 20s and have this book on the table was like, 'Oh, cool, like he's reading this book by Douglas Coupland.'- Brittlestar
"I know paperbacks are very portable, but this was a hardcover book and it felt super portable. Being able to sit down at the pub when I was in my early 20s and have this book on the table was like, 'Oh, cool, like he's reading this book by Douglas Coupland and it's called Life After God and it just looks cool. It looks like it was packed full of insight. And that's just from the packaging.'
"Of course, I like the short story style as well. It fits my attention span."
A Year with Swollen Appendices: Brian Eno's Diary by Brian Eno
"I love this for a number of reasons. It was fascinating to see what Brian Eno, who is a very famous composer, producer and artist, did with his days and how his days were structured.
It also started a love I have of putting the minutiae of the everyday under the microscope.- Brittlestar
"It gave me the first sort of real glimpse into the life of a working creative who is doing these seemingly fantastical amazing things, but then also getting the bus to go to a meeting and stuff like that.
"It also started a love I have of putting the minutiae of the everyday under the microscope and like realizing, 'Oh, there's like lots of layers and levels to that, which is really cool.'"
The Monster At The End Of This Book by Jon Stone, illustrated by Michael Smollin
"I love it so much. It's a Sesame Street book. You're led through the story by Grover. At the end you discover — I'm not giving anything away here, I don't think — the monster in the book is him. It's not what you expect.
It was the first and clearest example I have of misdirects and how entertaining they can be and how fun they can be and how insightful they can be.- Source
"It was the first and clearest example I have of misdirects and how entertaining they can be and how fun they can be and how insightful they can be. They can be fun because they can take you down one path and you start to decide how things are going to be and how things are going to end up. Then when the misdirect happens, you're like, 'Oh, okay, that's not what I thought was going to happen. But now I have a better appreciation for what has happened.' Which is great. And that's a big part of comedy. It's one of my favourite parts of comedy."
If Only by Geri Halliwell
"It was out of character for me to buy this because it wasn't necessarily the kind of book you'd tell people that you bought, weirdly, especially as a 29-year-old man at the time.
It was fantastic because I love anything that shows you a line between success and the everyday.- Brittlestar
"It was fantastic because I love anything that shows you a line between success and the everyday. That book really spelled out how it all happened and their success and how long it took them to get paid and how they were living these crazy lives. But it was also very normal at the same time. They did all the regular normal stuff that everybody does anyway.
"I just love that kind of stuff. I love it so much."
Stuart Reynolds' comments have been edited for length and clarity.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
