David Mitchell: Back Story cover art

David Mitchell: Back Story

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

David Mitchell: Back Story

By: David Mitchell
Narrated by: David Mitchell
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

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 Performing Arts Funny Comedy Celebrity Witty Celebration Feel-Good Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Dishonesty Is the Second-Best Policy cover art
Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse cover art
That Mitchell and Webb Sound: The Complete Series 1-5 cover art
Behaving Ourselves cover art
Mack the Life cover art
And Away... cover art
Small Man in a Book cover art
How Not to Be a Boy cover art
For Richer for Poorer cover art
Mitchell on Meetings cover art
We Need to Talk About Kevin Bridges cover art
Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to Happiness cover art
Thanks for Nothing cover art
Straight Outta Crawley cover art
Is It Just Me? cover art
The Life and Loves of a He Devil cover art

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  
Mitchell is an incredibly witty man, his misery cheers me up. His book is narrated by himself and is very well read.

Superb

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Quite sweary so do not listen if you would be offended otherwise a great read well read by a nice sounding guy

Good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Always love him on tv/radio anyway and this just fleshes out the bones. Such a relief. He really is the guy you think from wilty but more. And what a yummy ending - just perfect with not a hint of ick. Thank you David

Wonderful. Just as I’d hoped 😍

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed this book. Quite dry with too much swearing but interesting non the less.

Enjoyable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed this book :) I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, easy and interesting listen.

Great fun

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An excellent, entertaining, intelligent and funny memoir from a clever, deep-thinking and witty man. Hearing it read by the author also makes it far more enjoyable than reading it off the page. It's literally in his voice! His final section describing his feelings for his wife are really moving and you're left wanting to wish them both every happiness for the future. Highly recommended.

An excellent, entertaining memoir

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I had a passing interest in David Mitchell, I'd see. a bit of Peep show and the magicians. But I like his voice, it makes me laugh and this is him talking about his life (as you'd expect). It's funny and towards the end heartwarming. If you see him, give him a hug (don't)

For fans of David Mitchell

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
He is a great story writer. I found his voice annoying to start but always looked forward to the next chapter. In the end I didn't mind him reading his own story. His humour is warm, funny and ...

Back Story is a good story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews