I'm Not Dave Gorman. Are you? (Are You Dave Gorman? - Dave Gorman & Danny Wallace)

Member Name: mattygroves10

Product:	Are You Dave Gorman? - Dave Gorman & Danny Wallace
Date:	30/08/09 (139 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Laugh out loud funny in places, well written

Disadvantages: A bit rushed in the end

Dave Gorman is a man I'd love to meet up with for a pint or two, but wouldn't want to live with, and nor would I want to get stonkingly drunk with him. You see, he is dangerous when drunk, and when those fateful words, "you wanna bet" are spoken, chaos ensues.

This was clearly and scarily evident in The Googlewhack Adventure, when instead of writing his novel, he searched the world for Googlewhack. However, the evidence stretches even further back to 2001, when Are YOU Dave Gorman was published.

Unlike his later books, Are YOU Dave Gorman was written with his then-roommate, Danny Wallace, but like his later book (Googlewhack), it all started with a bet. Actually, it all started with far, far too much Tequila, and proceeded with a bet.

Dave Gorman, after copious quantities of said Tequila was drunk, slurred to his friend and roommate Danny that the assistant manager of East Fife Football Club was called Dave Gorman, and that Dave Gorman (our hero, rather than the manager) had also become aware of another two Dave Gormans. Our Dave Gorman therefore concluded that there must be HUNDREDS of Dave Gormans in the world. Danny was sceptical, even to the existence of the first three, much less the possibility of there being 'loads.' One train trip to East Fife later, and our adventure has begun. During one trip, it is agreed that 'loads' means 54 - one for each card in a deck of cards including the Jokers. And now the game is afoot - can Dave and Danny meet 54 Dave Gormans before Danny's girlfriend disowns him or possibly does him (and indeed Dave) physical damage? How far will they have to travel to meet their Dave Gormans, and how many people (male and female) will change their name to aid the cause?

Are YOU Dave Gorman is a very funny book. It is written alternately by Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace (Dave uses bold font, Danny ordinary, so you can always tell who is speaking). Their styles work well together - sufficiently different to distinguish the two (even without the font help), yet similar enough to mesh well together. Danny is constantly worried (with good reason) about his girlfriend's reactions and behaviour (though, in truth, he could have stopped at any time, and perhaps should have). Dave worries (like in Googlewhack Adventure) about his self-imposed rules of the game. There are pictures of nearly all the Dave Gormans (including those that changed their names), though I do suspect one or two were mixed up, judging from the wardrobe changes.

I did laugh harder when reading Googlewhack Adventure. I don't know whether that is because I read that one first and it was utterly unexpected, or whether Dave's style has matured over the intervening years (even if his behaviour clearly hasn't, beard or no beard), or whether the initial bet involving the word play of the former book better caught my imagination and my funny bone. Nevertheless, Are YOU Dave Gorman did have me laughing out loud in places.

One thing that Dave Gorman seems to suffer from is 'rushed ending-itus'. Both this book and Googlwhack spend a lot of time on the set up, and meeting the first dozen or so people (in this case, namesakes), and then rush through the remaining like a runaway train, spending a wee paragraph, or sometimes less, on the last few. But this is a minor niggle.

It is just as well Dave Gorman is a professional performer and comedian. With his penchant for taking the phrase 'wanna bet' rather more seriously than the rest of his, he'd possibly struggle to hold down a 'real' job, or indeed keep any money in his bank account. Fortunately for us, he is a fine writer (as is Danny Wallace, to be fair), an excellent performer, well educated, articulate and a very, very funny man.

Recommended.

Summary: Yet another obsessive quest for the very funny Dave Gorman