It's the autobiography for which we have been eagerly awaiting. Former BBC sports reporter, radio and TV chat show host, Radio Norwich disc jockey and now radio presenter for North Norfolk Digital, Alan Partridge has finally put it all in print. He has laid his soul bare. His book I, Partridge (We Need to talk about Alan) is now available from all good book sellers.
To give you just a small flavour of Partridge's story, here is how he starts to talk about his troubled childhood:
As I write these words I'm noisily chomping away on not one, but two Murray Mints. I've a powerful suck and soon they'll be whittled away to nothing. But for the time being at least they have each other. For the time being, they are brothers. Which is more than can be said for me, for I was an only child. I will now talk about being an only child.
The book follows his life chronologically, from beginning to end, and one wonders whether he is in the twilight of his career when he writes, in Chapter 34:
Everyone has a shelf-life - whether they're a finely tuned athlete, a surrogate mother, or a lady newsreader. Disc jockeys are no exception. The last thing you want to do is to plough on long past your sell-by date, trading on past glories (Simon Mayo) or pretending you like classical music (Simon Bates). The dignified approach is to recognise when your magic is gone, and serenely slip away, having negotiated a handsome severance package and delivered a stinging broadside against youger DJs and station controllers (also Simon Bates to be fair).
You'll have your own views on Partridge. Always controversial, willing to challenge the status quo (for example when he famously described Wings as the band the Beatles might have become) and loyal to his local fiefdom of Norfolk. I dare you to buy this book, but be prepared to laugh and cry (sometimes simultaneously).
To give you just a small flavour of Partridge's story, here is how he starts to talk about his troubled childhood:
As I write these words I'm noisily chomping away on not one, but two Murray Mints. I've a powerful suck and soon they'll be whittled away to nothing. But for the time being at least they have each other. For the time being, they are brothers. Which is more than can be said for me, for I was an only child. I will now talk about being an only child.The book follows his life chronologically, from beginning to end, and one wonders whether he is in the twilight of his career when he writes, in Chapter 34:
Everyone has a shelf-life - whether they're a finely tuned athlete, a surrogate mother, or a lady newsreader. Disc jockeys are no exception. The last thing you want to do is to plough on long past your sell-by date, trading on past glories (Simon Mayo) or pretending you like classical music (Simon Bates). The dignified approach is to recognise when your magic is gone, and serenely slip away, having negotiated a handsome severance package and delivered a stinging broadside against youger DJs and station controllers (also Simon Bates to be fair).
You'll have your own views on Partridge. Always controversial, willing to challenge the status quo (for example when he famously described Wings as the band the Beatles might have become) and loyal to his local fiefdom of Norfolk. I dare you to buy this book, but be prepared to laugh and cry (sometimes simultaneously).
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