Alan Partridge with Rob Gibbons, Neil Gibbons, Armando Iannucci and Steve Coogan, I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan
2011 / Audiobook / 366 pages / UK*****
Re-re-read as part of a full 2010s Partridge revival rewatch(/read), this AGP sourcebook novelising familiar events from a warped or revisionist perspective and filling in the missing but perfectly-fitting pieces is the definitive Alan statement. It's also probably the funniest fictional book I've ever read (not in the mood for maintaining the illusion, sorry). Maybe next time I'll finally get around to actually reading it with my eyes, but I doubt it. The in-character audiobook narration is impossible to resist.
Alan Partridge with Rob Gibbons, Neil Gibbons and Steve Coogan, Alan Partridge: Nomad
2016 / Audiobook / 360 pages / UK****
More Alan in print was unlikely to be as good as his definitive second autobiography was, but I'm still very glad that they bothered. Like the near-contemporaneous Scissored Isle "documentary," it's a passionate Partridge inflamed by the delusion that he's got something worthwhile and challenging to say, while being ultimately opportunistic and self-absorbed. Diminishing returns or not, please keep them coming.
Limmy, Surprisingly Down to Earth, and Very Funny: My Autobiography
2019 / Audiobook / 352 pages / UK***
I only properly checked out Limmy a couple of years ago, and the combination of impressive lo-fi self-production and nostalgic Scottish aggro (even if it's the wrong coast) made him an instant favourite. It helped that he's very funny. This candid backstory is less funny, what with all the despair and everything, but that's okay. Though I was more interested in the behind-the-scenes insights to the TV stuff, which says a lot about my interest in people's lives and why I don't normally read biographies.
