Alan Partridge: Nomad

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His little Englander’s provincialism and his unerring belief that his corner or Norfolk is the only place of note in the whole world could make it all very inaccessible comedy.

The plot of the book, such as it is, concerns Partridge’s attempt to follow in the footsteps of his late father by hiking from his beloved Norwich to the Dungeness “A” Nuclear Reactor – where Partridge Sr once apparently had a job interview he never showed up for. But the way it’s done here feels in keeping with Partridge’s literal-mindedness, his instinct for over-elaboration. There are still some funny bits, and it wasn't awful, but maybe it is getting near time for both Alan, and the character of Alan, to enjoy a well-deserved retirement.

Not much more I can say than 'Pure Genius' If you know Alan Partridge, watched his TV programes, read his books or seen any of his DVD's, you will eat this up very quickly. To get a lot of the jokes in Nomad you need to at least semi-understand the local trivialities of what he’s on about. Early on in the book Partridge admits to padding the word count with meaningless filler, and it's depressing to realise that it's not merely a gag but the literal truth. For instance, if you live in the South East of England the chances are you’ve ridden Gatwick’s “state-of-the-art” monorail system and you’ll know that it’s anything but. Similarly, not being able to spell Stansted, or Stanstead, or Standstead or Standsted is a recurring problem in my life, and a failing that I wasn’t aware other people also suffered from.

For the skies are yours now and you are free, free to soar and swoop, to glide and gambol across the very face of heaven, until you touch down, weary yet elegant in a land far, far away’. 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.

I nearly spat out my tea hearing about Gary Wilmott at a wedding, but I can't imagine many Gen Z'ers even knowing who he is. 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). 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. I listened to the audio-book of this and would definitely recommend it to fans, Steve Coogan does an awesome job as ever.

They hit you with cumulative effect, so that after a few paragraphs you might easily find yourself reduced to tears by a single well-chosen adverb. But analysis seems pointless – better to just skim through some of my updates and remind yourself what all the fuss is about.Gregarious and popular, yet Alan’s never happier than when relaxing in his own five-bedroom, south-built house with three acres of land and access to a private stream.

But then again, it seems people from further afield find Partridge funny anyway, so maybe I’m just spewing drivel… again. This makes sense given how Alan himself comes up with the idea for the book within the book but unfortunately no level of meta meaning can compensate for a weak text. By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. 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.p.s: monstrously careerist alan; "i'm not owned" alan; prone to oversharing re bodily functions alan; touchingly well-versed on some obscure facet of city planning or mechanics alan. This is a book that is just crammed full of funny stuff and Coogan’s narration only makes it funnier. You could, I suppose, analyse what makes Alan Partridge such a satisfying creation; what I find interesting is the way he lets you laugh at that comfortable, right-of-centre boorishness, while also often being as it were accidentally justified when arguing with some of his leftist adversaries, so that your allegiance can switch abruptly from derision to grudging sympathy within a scene. In Nomad we find Alan attempting to complete the journey that his father never could, a walk to Dungeness A through a somewhat unscenic Kent. I'm fairly Anglophile, but some of the cultural references still went past me, but I'm confident I inferred the point correctly when that happened.