Pictured Left: Author, Composer & Twitter Citizen Rob Gokee
High speed boat chases. Explosions. Espionage. New and exotic women every night. Clowns... This is a window into the intriguing life of Rob Gokee, international man of mystery and professional spy as portrayed in his book In The Belly Of The Fail Whale. The question that left me hanging by a string throughout this breathtaking, high pulse autobiography was "who is he a spy for? Is it Russia, USA, or the 62 square mile principality of Liechtenstein?" You just might find out. I can't share all of his secrets, so you will have to read this book... Oh, wait. This is the wrong story. Rob didn't want me to share this. It's not what he wrote about. (Rob, will you have to kill me now? Have I said too much?)
What Rob Gokee (known as @robgokeemusic on Twitter) did write about is how Twitter changed his life over the course of a year. This is a fantastic read if you want to understand how to use Twitter in a communal and life changing kind of way. Rob gets it with Twitter, and if you read this, you will get it too.
If you already understand how to make Twitter work for you and why it's different from other social networks like Facebook or My Space, that's OK. You'll love his book for the reasons I did:
1. Rob is damn funny. Hands down. His biting sarcasm and off the wall humor makes it worth the ride.
2. Rob shares in detail how Twitter helped his personal life and his business.
3. This absolutely speaks to my generation of Twitter punks and enthusiasts. We're an odd bunch, and it's awesome to see that he has captured what it's like to be a part of this global cyber community.
4. This is not just a how-to book, it's a very personal and raw spilling of guts and emotion. I applaud Rob for being so personal. Not everyone can share their private life--the ups and downs--in a book or on Twitter like he has. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll probably want to give Rob a hug for what he went through (and buy him some pants) if you ever meet him in person.
The most touching part for me was his interaction with @alliecine. I can't say more because I don't want to ruin it. You'll just have to buy the book if you want to know why I found it to be so heartwarming.
Final thoughts...
Buy In The Belly Of The Fail Whale, read it and tweet it to spread the word! I'm excited to find out what Rob does next with this book and beyond. If you want to know, follow him on Twitter at @robgokeemusic or follow his book updates on Twitter at @failwhalebook
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2 comments:
Boat Chases? Spies? (Grabs a copy of the book and thumbs through it) Uhh, I don't know what book YOU were reading. Mine is about my struggle with a horrendous Barbie doll addiction, and how I overcame it to become an astronaut.
Thanks for the review, Liz, I'll be seeing you when the book tour hits Portland:)
That's really odd because my copy of the book went deep into his fear of the color yellow, his struggle with an addiction to pork rinds and an entire chapter devoted to The Wiggles.
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