How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (memoir) to sue him) and "Vanity Fair"'s own Graydon Carter. Young also describes awkward run-ins with American celebrities including Nathan Lane, Mel Gibson and Diana Ross. Throughout the book, Young describes being tormented by his friend "Alex de Silva" (speculated to be Sacha Gervasi), a former colleague of Young's who manages to succeed in America in every way that Young does not. The title of Young's book is a parody of the title of Dale Carnegie's 1937 perennial bestseller, "How to Win Friends and Influence People"; a parody by Irving Tressler titled "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People" was also
How to Make Trouble and Influence People environmental and anti-war protests, as well as acts of inspired vandalism and detournement. As such, this book can be said to be a testament to the larrikin tradition of Australia, and its numerous manifestations throughout history. Two sequels were released, "How to Stop Whining and Start Living" and "Revenge of the Troublemaker". Each of these is attributed to the "Question Mark Collective". It is believed that one of the compilers was Iain McIntyre. Copies of these books may possibly be found in anarchist and countercultural bookshops in Australia. The book influenced the production of the ABC Radio "Background Briefing" program