Alan Partridge: Nomad

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Its elegant perimeter road, its state-of-the-art monorail system, its kerosene-stuffed aeroplanes soaring overhead like aluminium eagles. Alan Partridge, under-appreciated TV chat maestro and King of East Anglian daytime radio, embarks upon a trek from Norwich to Dungeness in the footsteps of his late father, determined to solve the mystery of how he failed to get a job with British Nuclear Fuels.

While there were a few in the first book, the chronology and geography are noticeably messy here, and there's a lot of gaffes that simply wouldn't have been made by the character. There are some very funny sections and Alan’s self-aggrandisement, self-delusion, absurdity, pettiness and point-scoring are almost always amusing. Unfortunately, Alan gets far too distracted with the various celebrities that he meets along the way. Alan is doing the 'in' celebrity thing of going on some type of journey, which encompasses actual travel, intermingled with a less tangible, personal sense of discovery. Due to declining ratings, a single catastrophic hitch (the killing of a guest on air) and the dumbing down of network TV, Alan’s show was cancelled.

London Luton isn’t in London and is barely in Luton; and Heathrow is just an absolute tit of an airport. It's a lazy book, too long in the making that forgets the warmth of affection people have for the character and winds up outstaying an awkward reunion. I listened to this as an audiobook, and I can’t imagine that reading the book yourself could be better. Alan is a modern day Renaissance man looking to connect with his dear departed somewhat grouchy fatbacked dad. The audio recording is excellent, which is what you can expect from Sennheiser recording equipment and the expert use by the much loved UK radio and TV (less so after the shooting) presenter.

Nomad is a book that tells the story of one man’s journey to rediscover himself by rediscovering his father by waking the same path that he once drove down. While we do get some more insight into other characters, the main "plot" is a bit simple and moves at a slow pace. He wants to discuss his relationship with his father and how that helped him to become the man he is today.Our walks are as unique as we are—from the pert strut of a Strictly Come Dancer to the no-nonsense galumph of a Tory lady politician. Expect loads and loads of laugh-out-loud moments, some introspection, and an overall fun time reading. I was genuinely excited for this book having enjoyed I, Partridge immensely and being a fan of Steve Coogan's work . If you read the other reviews of this book you will probably waste a good deal of your time and I can tell you why.

Now this is an uncomfortable thing to discuss, but I run towards discomfort like a man who has strapped truth explosives to his body and made his peace with god". One of those funny little books that are well worth checking out if you're a fan of the character, or if you just like eccentric British comedy on the whole.

Alan Partridge has decided to honour the memory of his late father by undertaking a walk "in the footsteps" of his father. And so ends the surprisingly tasty sandwich formed by Alan Partridge's autobiographies and the brutal wartime novel that is Captain Corelli's Mandolin. Of course, it’s all coming from his point-of-view so all of these insights are hilarious rather than meaningful. Alan Gordon Partridge is a fictional radio and television presenter portrayed by English comedian Steve Coogan and invented by Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Stewart Lee and Richard Herring for the BBC Radio 4 programme 'On The Hour. Alan had a lot to live up to, as his autobiography was (and still is) excellent, and I listen to it religiously (not literally--that would be ridiculous).

I reckon the web series from last year, Alan Partridge's Scissored Isle, is one of the best things he's done. As I’ve said, Nomad is a great book but I can’t help suspecting that they struggled to find material to fill it. Diarising his ramble in the form of a ‘journey journal’, Alan details the people and places he encounters, ruminates on matters large and small and, on a final leg fraught with danger, becomes – not a man (because he was one to start off with) – but a better, more inspiring example of a man.Diarising his ramble in the form of a 'journey journal', Alan details the people and places he encounters, ruminates on matters large and small and, on a final leg fraught with danger, becomes - not a man (because he was one to start off with) - but a better, more inspiring example of a man. The joy of Alan has always been the hug divide between his sense of self and the person he actually is. And I’m glad that I got the audiobook version because hearing it read by Alan himself only made everything work so much better. I know some people say you need the audiobooks for these, but really, can't we all inwardly read them in the appropriate Partridge voice? That is no word of a lie, to laugh is one thing – and laugh I did, but to repeatedly guffaw (hard) when you least expect it does wondrous things for one’s capacity to hold onto even the emptiest of bladders.