I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan
by Steve Coogan, Rob Gibbons, Neil Gibbons
I never thought I’d go down the Alan Partridge rabbit hole to this degree. Years ago, I watched the This is Alan Partridge show, liked it, then forgot about it. But then, the Steve Coogan/Rob Brydon “The Trip” series started popping up on my radar, and after watching all of them (in series form, not movies – I’m a cultured man), I then started mining the Alan Partridge well. Honestly, I’m quite alarmed by how much of it I’ve watched. I know smarter and more articulate people have rated and ranked the Partirdgeverse, but I still think This Time is some of the very best – and funniest – TV I’ve ever seen. I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel at this point (there’s the podcast I’ve been meaning to check out), so it was time to get readin’,
I used to be quite the “reader.” Nothing smart, of course, just non-fiction about topics I barely understand. But, work got the best of me, and I hadn’t read a book in years. YEARS! What a perfect opportunity to get back to “readin’” by cracking open this one.
Of course, there’s an audio version of this book and I’m sure it’s amazing – like one of those specials but in audio form. I opted to read it instead, like a nerd.
Surprisingly (or maybe not), I couldn’t help but hear Alan’s voice and delivery throughout the entire book, which speaks to either the character, the writing itself, or my fandom. Either way, the book itself is great. It chronicles Alan’s entire life up to this point (2011) and is a hilarious supplement to all the shows we’ve seen him do. It’s truly shocking how dense this book is, every sentence is perfectly structured like it would come out of Alan’s mouth and every page loaded with jokes. Throughout, we get the behind-the-scenes of what might have instigated or been the aftermath of the events we got to witness. Questions are answered and holes filled. And I love that.
I’m looking forward to reading the rest. Yes, I know I will. I’m a readin’ type again.
