Aha! Kiss my face. Mmhh. With typical self aggrandising North Norfolk whit, Alan Partridge returned in 2012 in the paperback release of I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan, the autobiography of his very own life. With the hardback release already a Sunday Times Best Seller the paperback added to the literary success of the man, the myth, the legend that first came to light on the BBC Radio 4 satirical news parody, On The Hour, all those years ago.
On the face of things, I, Partridge is the autobiography of Alan’s life, and no-one else, from his childhood in Norwich to his burgeoning radio and television career; right the way through his chocolaty fueled break-brown and his reintroduction to the dog-eat-dog world of local radio. However, the reality is that the book is a perfectly crafted work of fiction by the man behind the face of radio, Steve Coogan.
In fact, so convincing is the job that the likes of W.H. Smiths, Waterstones and maybe even the book aisle of ASDA managed to reference the book as an autobiography. Instead, it’s a comedy opus satirising autobiographies as much as it mocks, lauds and documents the life and times of Alan Gordon Partridge.
I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan was released on paperback on the 26th April 2012 a little more than six months after the hardback. We didn’t imagine too many copies getting pulped this time around, and the number of copies sold turned out to put Bouncing Back to significant shame.
Obviously there would have been a Toblerone and cereal incident in the offing if I, Partridge hadn’t have lived up to the success of the hardback release, but luckily for Norfolk’s maddest man it was a pretty ruddy bloody good effort. If you’re still not convinced, check out our full review of I, Partridge to find out what else you’re missing out on.
If having a successful book documenting his tumultuous, Bond-loving life isn’t enough, AP has also added to his bow with a full feature length movie in Alpha Papa. That only leaves a number 1 single and knighthood remaining for Alan to get before he can say he’s really done it all.
If that isn’t enough, he’s decided to follow up I, Partridge with the story of his biggest adventure to-date; a ramble around Great Britain. Alan Partridge: Nomad will be released on hardback in October 2016 and promises to be the parody of the parody of a walk in the wooded isle of the United Kingdom’s Himalayan rolling green hills.
