Is forty too young for an autobiography? Bruce Campbell wrote his at 44, so I guess it’s all right. But James Rolfe still seems so young. Maybe it’s because he’s in such a “hip and trendy” medium, being one of the first career YouTubers. I feel he still has more to do in his life, that his career has yet to reach its pinnacle. He won’t be the AVGN forever. And some studio is going to recognize his prowess and snatch him up.

The testament to his staying power is not his video game skill, not his penchant for spectacle, but the fact that he’s always been a filmmaker. And that’s what the book is about. And it’s very much in his voice. Close your eyes during an AVGN video and that’s his narrative voice. Kind of gen-X’y, kind of stilted, like someone with a short attention span with short choppy sentences. The style he uses for videos is the same one he uses for writing. Which is not a smooth transition.

Clearly, he wrote this without the help of an editor or professional services. I spotted quite a few typos and grammar mistakes. Not to mention, overall, it lacks deeper self-reflection. Why did Rolfe do these things? What was his motivation? Why was this a mistake and what would he have done differently? A biography should be as much self-analysis as it is a retelling of events. Maybe even a form of therapy. This book lacks that.

But for a guy who’s just a YouTuber, it has some pretty fascinating events. I’d say it’s on par with Lindsey Stirling’s memoir.