Danny Wallace makes a bet with his friend Dave Gorman that he will not be able to find at least 50 other "Dave Gorman"s (or Gormen). [return][return]This book (and the subsequent TV program presented by Gorman) tells of how and where Dave finds the other Daves, and some of the more "unique" Daves that he comes across.[return][return]This is an easy and humerous book to read, giving a brief look into other people's lives united by one specific trate

Brilliant concept for a book, superbly executed. Put Gorman firmly on the map. ( )

I am not Dave Gorman but I enjoyed the humorous antics of Dave Gorman and his mate Danny Wallace as they travelled the world searching for Dave Gormans. You wouldn't think there would be heaps of people out there named Dave Gorman but Dave manages to meet 50-odd namesakes by the book's conclusion (and all up he met around 70 other Dave Gorman's).

Lots of fairly humorous situations abound in "Are you Dave Gorman?" but you get the feeling that had the book gone on any longer it would have dragged (Gorman's post "Are you Dave Gorman?" writing career has seen him struggle to say anything funny at all). Instead, if you like "Are you Dave Gorman?", hunt down some Danny Wallace books instead. ( )

what promised to be funny only had surprisingly many thoughtful ponderings ( )

(11 October 2001)

As I may have mentioned in my original post about this Month of Re-Reading, I chose a few representative books for this month to see if they were actually worth the re-read. This one, the Joanna Trollope (which I haven’t got to yet) and the Molly Moynahan (which I might well not get to at all) fall into this category. I have quite a few “quest” books on my shelf, you know, the kind of book that starts with a daft bet and then tells the story of what happened next. Once you know who won the bet, is it worth keeping for a future re-read? Well, the answer as regards this one, which will stand for and thus protect all the others, is a resounding “Yes”.

I hadn’t read this at all since the original purchase and read back in 2001 (a few days after I got together with M – I dimly remember buying stacks of books at the Books Etc. near his flat), and it’s still fresh and funny, as well as endearing. In fact, it’s probably more sweet and endearing than I remember, being very much about Dave and Danny’s friendship. This friendship, and Danny’s relationship with his girlfriend, is put to the test as they embark upon an almost accidental search for people called Dave Gorman. Having two writers alternating sections works well and allows for very funny double-aspect descriptions of the same events at times, although avoids being repetitive, and there’s a palpable sense of the friendship and people behind the humour, which makes it more of a satisfying read than just whizzing through to see if they achieve their target. I like the epilogue, which updates us on various developments and appearances of badges and t-shirts in different TV programmes. This actually made me want to go and re-read other quest and travel books in my collection. ( )