The most worrying thing about the book you are about to read is that it's true. Entirely, painfully true.
- Danny Wallace, from the Prologue

One of the idiosyncrasies of British culture is eccentricity, another is that you must be seen to see things through to the bitter end, whether in glorious triumph or heartbreaking failure. These characteristics have thrown up some of the more heroic expeditions, and we've seen Britons trying to run faster than anyone else or outrow someone in a boat while facing backwards, but very occasionally, the cause is not so much as nobly pointless, but comically pointless.

As it turns out, this book is an account of one such dogged pursuit, which falls seamlessly into the latter category.

The Plot

Not a work of fiction, but much to the despair of the other protagonist, a work of fact - the story begins when the comedian, Dave Gorman, gets a job in London, but has to wrestle with the vexed issue of moving out of his beloved Manchester.

At the same time, the journalist, Danny Wallace, living in Harrow-on-the-Hill, needs to find a new flatmate, after the his old one was deported. By some good fortune, one finds the other, and after various other issues, both end up sharing a flat in East London.

Then comes Danny's birthday - or at least his present. Despite the present being six weeks late, both remember the house rule:

...if you get your present, it's your birthday.

...and so the two happy flatmates go to the pub to celebrate, tequila being the drink of choice. After several rounds of the stuff, Dave mentions an email which was sent to him, the contents long forgotten, but the postscript fresh in his mind - that there was another person called Dave Gorman who used to play for East Fife Football Club, and is currently their assistant manager. Danny, unsurprisingly, didn't believe him.

So a bet was tabled; Dave saying that there were 'loads' of Dave Gormans in the world, with Danny calling his bluff, and indeed, five hours later, cold, hungover and £170 down, Dave and Danny were on a train to Scotland to meet the Dave Gorman of East Fife Football Club.

However, meeting 'loads' was too much of an abstract concept for the two, and so, Danny set the target. With a pack of cards he placed on Dave's hand, it was set. Dave was to meet 54 Dave Gormans, not including himself - the number of cards in a full pack, including the jokers.

In the next six months they ran this trivial pursuit and in the process, drank hot milk in the south of France, swanked on over to New York - where they were very nearly killed by the forces of nature, caused a security alert in Israel, and became front page news in Norway.

With Dave nearly bankrupting himself, and Danny's personal life nearly ruined out of all proportion, this is a book which describes the obsession and dedication of two men to a cause, and how one woman dealt with the fallout that was left in its wake.

The Players

Dave Gorman

Or at least, it was costing my credit card company. But that's okay, because then it's sort of free, isn't it? No actual cash is changing hands, is it? And as long as I didn't open their letters for a bit, well, maybe they'd just forget about me.
- Dave Gorman

Notorious for not knowing his limits or when he's gone too far, Dave Gorman is a unique comedian, having developed what the press describe as 'documentary comedy'. Rather than stand in front of a mike, he stands in front of a lectern telling the audience of his exploits. A far better explanation of what he does can be found here.

Born in Stafford, the ginger Piscean read Maths at Manchester University. After two friends had persuaded him to try out comedy at a theatre workshop, he thought he'd take it further. Preferring the laughs to the graphs, he dropped out to pursue the former¹. Such was the quality of his act, Frank Skinner² offered Dave his first spot at a charity gig. The rest, to coin a cliché, is history.

Danny Wallace

Now, Danny Wallace isn't really a name you're going to see all that much in this book, so if I were you, I'd go back and read it all again.
- Danny Wallace, from the Prologue

The suffering flatmate, Danny Wallace is an award-winning producer, writer and journalist who first started out in media at the tender age of 13 writing for computer games magazines, albeit with the initial intention of blagging a few free games for himself. However, having been bitten by the journalistic bug, he then went on to set up a magazine at the age of 18, which folded all too soon after it was launched.

Despite this setback, Danny has now climbed the dizzy heights of critical acclaim, being one of the original writers of the BBC Radio 4 series, Dead Ringers, producing the award-winning Radio 4 comedy series, The Mighty Boosh, and of course, working with - or coping with his friend and ex-flatmate, Dave Gorman.

Hanne

Whatever. You are the idiots. I am just the director of operations. I can go shopping while you go and do... whatever it is that you go and do.
- Hanne

Danny's ever-suffering Norwegian girlfriend, Hanne (pronounced 'Hannah') is the voice of reason in the book. Not quite understanding the obsessive machismo that drives her boyfriend and his 'idiot flatmate' to such extremes, quite understandably, she is driven to the end of her tether, and the depths of despair at seeing her boyfriend make such a fool of himself.

Despite this, she does play a key role in the search for Dave Gormans, but as the quote above illustrates, with much disapproval on the way.

The Writing

Hello. My name's Dave Gorman.
Throughout this book I'll be writing in this bold, rather confident typeface.

Hello. My name's Danny Wallace. And I'll be writing in this relaxed, more elegant font.
- from the Prologue

With the shared authorship of the book and the paired nature of the quest for Dave Gormen³, the book is written to accommodate both sides of the story - Dave's deepening obsession versus Danny's sarcastic overtones. So the book is written in two aptly-chosen fonts; Dave in the bold, and Danny in the not-so-bold.

What had I done to make the poor lad act like this?

See chapters 1-14.
- Chapter 15

Although it may seem confusing to have two sides of the same story in one book, it surprises with clarity. Imagine a conversation over a pub lunch with two guys about their latest exploits, one remembering it slightly differently to the other; it is rather similar to that. Dave's optimism and relentless drive is effectively counterpointed by Danny's dry wit and sardonic observation of the ridiculousness of the whole affair.

The End of The Gorman Conquests

Despite Dave's quest nearly ruining Danny's personal life, and despite Danny nearly beating Dave to death with a sweaty sock, both remain the best of friends, collaborating further in the TV series, Dave Gorman's Important Astrology Experiment, which is explained quite neatly here.

The quest also became an award-winning stage show of the same name and a cult TV series on BBC 2 called The Dave Gorman Collection, prior to being written up as a book.

But curiously, throughout those manic six months of 54 Dave Gormans, they met no one else called Danny Wallace.

Further Links

• At the time of writing, there are two editions of the book - the front cover of the first edition can be seen here, with the back cover here, and the board game-inspired cover of the second edition can be seen here.

• Inspiration can be a wonderful thing, but in the case of this quest, it has thrown up some of the more bizzare homages to the bet made in drunken whimsy:

  • 'Have You Read Dave Gorman?' - After reading the book, two guys decided to see if they could collect the initals of those who have read the book. Using a scoring system according to the letters in dear readers' initals, the aim was to reach a score of 1000. Did they succeed? Click here to find out.

  • 'Why Can't Everyone Buy 54 Books Each?' - Inspired by the quest for the 54, this is one man's pursuit of buying 54 separate copies of Are You Dave Gorman? in 54 separate towns. Mere folly or exquistite homage? Click here to find out.

• You'll need RealPlayer for these next two glimpses into his TV adventures - click here for more information.

  • For a glimpse into what the TV show was like, here's an article on when it was shown in the US; just a click away from a clip from the first show, where Dave meets the Assistant Manager of East Fife football club, Dave Gorman.

  • For an example of just how literally Dave took things for the '...Important Astrology Experiment', just take a look at these funky dancing skills, used to improvise his way out of trouble.