You’re Making Me Hate You by Corey Taylor

You’re Making Me Hate You is the third book by Corey Taylor, lead vocalist of metal bands Slipknot and Stone Sour. As the title of his latest tome suggests, he is a cynic at heart.

Taylor’s misanthropic inclinations will come as little surprise to those familiar with Slipknot, the mask-wearing, primeval-roaring nu metal band who found success in the late 90s with their abrasive take on the world. Song titles like People=Shit and My Plague may speak for themselves, but Taylor has more to add. Much more.

A 240 page rage-fuelled rant in which Taylor tackles the idiocy of modern culture and human behaviour head on, You’re Making Me Hate You takes a shot at everything from reality TV to fashionista posing, with dishonourable mentions for drivers who fail to indicate, binge-drinking and Justin Bieber.

The singer makes his intentions clear from the outset, leading with Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Hell is other people” epigram and a no holds barred anecdote involving a party, drugs and someone defecating in a suburban garden. The episode made Taylor realise that: “when it comes to deep-seated stupor and offensive ignorance, my tolerance level is decidedly low.”

The jagged, fast-flowing prose Taylor adopts is not for the faint of heart; it is peppered with swear words, insults and references to bodily functions. His vitriol is tangible and the reader can sense the relief as he vents – indeed, if they share Taylor’s views they may enjoy a similar feeling of release. After all, this is why many of us read: those eureka moments when we discover that someone else sees the world the way we do or hates an idiosyncrasy of human behaviour with every bit as much secret, cherished venom as ourselves.

You’re Making Me Hate You belongs in the same category as recent titles like Is It Just Me or Is Everything Shit? and the caustic, rant-fuelled tomes of Charlie Brooker and Frankie Boyle. The emergence of such books may even constitute a new sub-genre of literature – hatetriture?

Unfortunately, Taylor lacks Brooker and Boyle’s ability to lighten their prose with unexpected gems of humour and insight. There is a certain flow to his sentences, conveying the sense of an “outpouring”, but asides and digressions often dilute or confuse his message. At times they come perilously close to acting as filler.

The targets of his ire are also fairly obvious. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when offering a critique of a much discussed subject like reality TV, there is a premium on finding a fresh and interesting perspective from which to launch your attack. Too often Taylor resorts to simply hurling insults and profanity towards the subject, lacking the articulacy to really penetrate the issue.

The result is a book that was probably more fun to write than it is to read. Taylor gets a lot off his chest, hacking up bile in a noisy, baleful manner. The fury of the sound will please some, but to others it’ll be a dull monotone.

Steven McCracken

You’re Making Me Hate You is published by Ebury Press at the hardback price of £16.99, and is available in the UK now. For further information visit here.