I Didn't Get Where I Am Today, by David Nobbs

Autobiography of my favourite author. It was good to be able to read this and confirm that so many of the Henry Pratt incidents have their origin in real life: from the childhood experiences of school to the first job working as a reporter on a provincial newspaper. And it was interesting to find out just how many TV programmes Nobbs has been involved in.

It covers his first girlfriend, his first and second wives, and his friendship with Peter Tinniswood - although these aren't made as moving as I believe he's capable of. He also made passing reference to the fact that he considers himself tone-deaf, which perhaps explains why there's no mention of music in any of his books (I'd always thought he'd be good at explaining the power of music to evoke emotions, and wondered why he didn't use that theme).

Although I enjoyed reading it and there a couple of laugh-out-loud passages, I couldn't help but be struck by the way that when he included extracts from his books, they really stood out and you realised how good a writer he is.

Nobbs is one of my heros, and so I really enjoyed finding out more about him, but I don't think that I'd have liked the book so much if it was the first of his works that I'd read.

Completed : 27-Oct-2003

[nickoh] [2003 books] [books homepage]