Are You Dave Gorman?

David Gorman & Danny Wallace

Average Rating 7/10 (1 Review)

After a heavy night of tequila, flatmates Dave and Danny set off on what turns out to be a 24,000-mile journey to meet all the other Dave Gormans in the world. They visit Scotland, Israel, America, France and Ireland. They even hold a party in London where 50 Dave Gormans attend, including two women who have kindly changed their name via deed-poll. Silly, but engrossing, fascinating and addictive - and a touching story of two friends who grow to share a mutual obsession.

The average Dave Gorman is 37, 5'6" and works in the financial sector. Our Dave Gorman is 29, is a Perrier Award-nominated comedian and writer. His TV work has earned him two BAFTAs for The Mrs Merton Show as well as his own BBC2 series. Danny Wallace is a writer, producer and award-winning journalist, whose work has appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines including The Guardian, The Independent and Melody Maker.

'You'll like this so much you may want to change your name to Dve Gorman.'

'A magnificent tale of obsession and adventure.'

Review by Charlotte (100509) Rating (7/10)

Review by Charlotte
Rating 7/10
Are You Dave Gorman? breaks all the usual expectations, falling under the genres of humour, biography and travel.

It all starts with a drunken bet made between two flatmates, Dave and Danny. The bet is that Dave can’t meet 54 people who share Dave’s full name. The next day, they find themselves on an Edinburgh bound train, to make an unannounced visit to the first Dave Gorman they’ve managed to track down. This visit to Scotland is the first of many trips made in their quest. Their travels are spontaneous, locating a Dave Gorman in the morning, and knocking (unannounced) on his door by the afternoon.

They begin by journeying around Britain, and then travel to foreign places such as New York, Norway and Israel. This book is not written to be a travel guide, but as an account of the strange places and situations that two twenty-something bachelors find themselves in. As their bet becomes an obsession, Dave’s unread credit card statements mount, and Danny’s relationship with his girlfriend begins to suffer.

As they meet more and more Dave Gormans, the pair generate world wide publicity for their cause. Despite this, they begin to run out of namesakes and resort to bribing people to legally change their names. The reader wonders if they will ever complete the bet, and if their relationship with each other will survive it.

One of the most unusual and interesting aspects of this book is the way it is written. Both Dave and Danny take it in terns to narrate events from their own individual perspectives. This generates a lot of humour, as often they see the same thing in widely different ways. Dave greets every new Dave Gorman with enthusiasm, whereas Danny just wants the bet to be over. This results in some great humour and conflict.

Are You Dave Gorman? is a light hearted and entertaining story of two friends and their journey. Not only is it one of the most unusual books I have read, but a firm favourite which will remain on my bookcase for many years.
Charlotte (10th May 2009)