Book Review: The Biggest Idea in the World by David Joland

I’ve noticed another trend in my reading habits: I don’t usually pick up comedies. I think the last comedy that featured on Joyful Antidotes was Scoundrels. I tend to do the same with films. However, when a comedy does come my way, I usually end up enjoying it very much. Quite like this one.

The Biggest Idea in the World by David Joland is led by Barry, an Uber driver with a mountain of debt, an unhappy wife and a big idea he strives to realize. See, Barry is convinced that apps like Facebook and What’s App were his idea, stolen from him through conversations on online forums. To avoid the theft of his latest idea, Barry, along with his stacks of NDAs, decides to travel to Silicon Valley to present the plan himself. Not having the best brain for business, how will this adventure turn out?

Well, it turned out a very humorous read for me. Seriously, I found the corners of my mouth pointing upwards quite a few times reading this book. This is a rather unique story in the publishing world (as far as I have seen) but in reality I work in the startup world and there were many personality types included that were familiar to me.

There are many different characters in The Biggest Idea in the World and that can be a bit daunting at the start. However, it soon becomes clear who the main players are, which makes the story easier to follow. There were a few characters who stood out to me. Naturally, Barry, who overall is a complete pain in the backside. Yet, Barry is probably the most developed character in the book and as I saw different sides to him, he appealed to me more. Plus, Barry is really a down-on-his-luck kind of guy, which brought out my sympathetic side. I really couldn’t hate him by the end.

Marie, Barry’s wife, also stood out to me. She is unlikeable when we learn about her solely from Barry’s point of view but when we are presented with chapters from her own perspective, we see she is a lonely woman and that makes the character more real and relatable. Then there was Luke, another Uber driver and an ex-con. I liked Luke solely for the comedy value he brought to the book.

One other thing I appreciated about The Biggest Idea in the World was its relatively short chapters. They kept a nice flow to the book and also helped make things less complicated with quite a few characters in the mix.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this book and I think it would make for a good comedy TV series. I’m looking forward to what David Joland will offer next.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.