David Mitchell: Back Story

By: David Mitchell

Narrated by: David Mitchell

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

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

David Mitchell is David Mitchell by David Mitchell

I'm not British & therefore only know who David Mitchell is because of Netflix. He is the sort of person I thought he would be, based on his characters in Peep Show & That Mitchell & Webb look: nerdy, neurotic, & a bit stuck-up at times. What I didn't expect is that he made the decision to go in to comedy at such a young age & that once this decision was made it was final (if I had imagined David Mitchell's back story would have guessed that his life-long dream of becoming an accountant was cut short when a BBC exec saw some posh twit being hit in the face with a pie & decided to give him a show). Back Story is a tale of someone who is normal, but just happens to be famous. David Mitchell went to school, he drank too much, he was awkward with girls, he was an ass to some people, some people were asses to him, he made friends, he drank too much again, and at the end of it all, he grew a beard. Also it's funny. Really funny. Funny in a not-too-British-y way, so it's easy for those of us in the States to enjoy & share with friends without having to apologize for recommending it because someone you recommended it to didn't like it & you're then left secretly thinking that person isn't very smart because they don't get dry British humor, causing the friendship to fall apart, which may not be that bad because when it's all over & done you still get to feel superior because you are obviously the more intelligent one. Not that kind of funny at all. Mostly not.

David Mitchell, funny man with a funny biography

Few of my friends here in the U.S. have heard of this great comedian, but I have been a fan since watching Peep Show on Hulu. His book, like David, is smart and very funny.

If you love David Mitchell, you'll love this.

Very funny and enjoyable to listen to. I'm curious as to how he's handling having a kid now. Maybe someday he'll write "Further Back Story".

Entertaining!

Entertaining book made more engaging by David’s performance. Truly enjoyed it and would definitely recommend.

Fantastic book

Entertaining, sincere, heartfelt, witty, interesting, brilliant and intelligent story by one of the greatest comedians of all time. Masterfully written and spoken prose. One of the best audio books I’ve ever listened to and will listen to again. Just loved it.