Join Me is the true story of how Danny Wallace accidentally became a cult leader.
Inspired by his great uncle's attempt to get one hundred people to live on a farm with him, Danny places an advert in a local newspaper bearing the words 'Join Me'. People begin to send in passport photos at his request, and soon he is amassing a following who are eager to find out what 'Join Me' is about. The problem is, he doesn't know what it's about.
As Danny's collective grows, he aims for one thousand joinees and spreads the word through newspapers and television, all while attempting to hide it from his girlfriend. Hilarity Ensues.
Tropes include:
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Danny is 'accused of being a cult leader, of trying to get people's credit card details, of being an American.'
- Bittersweet Ending: Join Me is a massive success, but Danny and Hanne break up
- Catchphrase: 'It's not a cult - it's a collective'
- Comically Missing the Point: When a police officer catches Danny putting up stickers, Danny tells him that they are for a club. The police officer assumes he means a nightclub.
- Con Man: Raymond Price
- Happily Ever After: Inverted - Danny and Hanne are together for most of the book, but break up at the end.
- Take That!: When Join Me is compared to Pay It Forward, Danny decides to rent it.Danny: It was rubbish.
