David Mitchell: Back Story cover art

David Mitchell: Back Story

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David Mitchell: Back Story

By: David Mitchell
Narrated by: David Mitchell
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About this listen

David Mitchell, who you may know for his inappropriate anger on every TV panel show except Never Mind the Buzzcocks, his look of permanent discomfort on C4 sex comedy Peep Show, his online commenter-baiting in The Observer or just for wearing a stick-on moustache in That Mitchell and Webb Look, has written a book about his life.

As well as giving a specific account of every single time he's scored some smack, this disgusting memoir also details:

  • the singular, pitbull-infested charm of the FRP (‘Flat Roofed Pub’)
  • the curious French habit of injecting everyone in the arse rather than the arm
  • why, by the time he got to Cambridge, he really, really needed a drink
  • the pain of being denied a childhood birthday party at McDonalds
  • the satisfaction of writing jokes about suicide
  • how doing quite a lot of walking around London helps with his sciatica
  • trying to pretend he isn’t a total **** at Robert Webb’s wedding
  • that he has fallen in love at LOT, but rarely done anything about it
  • why it would be worse to bump into Michael Palin than Hitler on holiday
  • that he’s not David Mitchell the novelist. Despite what David Miliband might think
©2012 David Mitchell (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Entertainment & Celebrities Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV Performing Arts Funny Comedy Celebrity Witty Biography Feel-Good Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking

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Critic reviews

‘One of the best celebrity memoirs of last year…his outsider geek personality translates just as well on the page as it does on TV.’ Metro

‘It livened up about half way through with the appearance of me. But enough of David's life. The book is wonderful from beginning to end.’ Robert Webb

'David Mitchell is an extremely funny man on screen, in person, in print and very probably underwater.' Sam Bain, co-writer of Peep Show

‘He can write’ Evening Standard

‘Fluent, discursive, intelligent.’ Evening Standard

‘If you like Mitchell on television, you will like him in this book.’ Shortlist
All stars
Most relevant
I have never seen Peep Show, but have enjoyed David Mitchell's dry wit on lots of panel shows. I was so glad that he was reading this as you cannot imagine anyone else. I listen in the car and he cheered me on my journeys. Also his paean of love to Victoria Coren was so touching. They seem to be a perfect match. Thank you David.

I loved this!!

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I loved this book. I'm about the same age as Mitchell and share a lot of his quirks and neuroses, and it was great to hear someone I already admired be as open and honest about his life. The anxiety he feels at the appearance of new email, the relief when it's spam, and his feeling that parties are a largely horrific and hostile environment. Even if you can't identify with these feelings, he portrays them in a funny and straightforward way.

Mitchell had, by the sound of it, a really nice childhood, and it was nice to hear him talk about it in honest and fond terms, without obviously trying to turn it into something it wasn't.

I already liked and admired David Mitchell before reading Back Story, and having done so, I'm confident I was right to. This is a really good book.

Insightful and enjoyable

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V good, but went into too much detail about Cambridge university. As people's names who weren't that relevant. It just gets confusing.

Drag

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This is a good book, as you would expect from a famous author, I was hoping for more details about all the books that David Mitchell writes. Anyway it entertained me on my commute to Swindon, and much better than the Economics book I had listened to the week before.

well done

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If you're a fan of David Mitchell (comedian and author, as opposed to just author), then you'll like this book. I'm not sure the narrative being shipped around a walk brings any value to the book, but it is nonetheless, very well written. Enjoyable with a few laugh out loud moments.

Surprisingly good

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