MY SIX BEST BOOKS
DAVE GORMAN
DAVE GORMAN, 44, is the comedian known for his shows, Are You Dave Gorman? and Googlewhack Adventure. His third series of Modern Life Is Goodish starts on the Dave channel on September 8. A stand- up tour, Dave Gorman Gets Straight To The Point, begins on October 23.
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP
by John Irving
Black Swan, £ 8.99 My mum was an English teacher and our house was full of books. At 13, I picked this one off the shelf.
I hadn’t read anything on this scale before and you are able to lose yourself in it. There are many weird plots and it’s funny about sex.
LITTLE HANDS CLAPPING
by Dan Rhodes
Canongate, £ 8.99 I’ve become a huge fan of Rhodes as there’s an audacity about his writing. This book is about a man who is working in a museum dedicated to suicide.
It’s like a Wes Anderson film but in print – otherworldly and dark but also comic and elegant.
A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY
by Kurt Vonnegut
Bloomsbury, £ 8.99 I’ve come late to this author, partly because the sci- figenre is not for me.
But a friend bought me this memoir and it’s like sitting by a log fire at the footstool of a wonderful grandad.
Vonnegut expounds on political things and also on everyday interactions. It is very good company.
THE BOYS ARE BACK
by Simon Carr
Arrow, £ 7.99 I read this years ago and made a note of it. It’s about fathers and sons and now I’m about to become a dad, I’ve read it again – aloud to my wife in the bath, in fact.
It’s about accepting that you’re not going to achieve perfection but if you’re kind and tolerant, sensible boundaries will be respected.
FLAT EARTH NEWS
by Nick Davies
Vintage, £ 9.99 Davies is an investigative journalist and this looks at modern journalism and where it’s all gone wrong. It makes you read newspapers differently and that’s healthy.
WHO ON EARTH IS TOM BAKER?
by Tom Baker
Out of print I’m not a big Doctor Who fan but this might be the funniest book I’ve ever read. Baker is a proper eccentric.
I once asked a fellow comic to pick a page number from it and whichever number he picked I was able to find a sentence that made him laugh.