Andrew McGibbon - I Was Book

I Was Book

Compiled from research for the earlier radio series, as well as drawing on interviews with seven new subjects, I Was Douglas Adams's Flatmate, and Other Encounters with Legends was published by Faber & Faber in 2011. Many reviews commented on its eclecticism, with Tim Walker of The Independent describing it as "a bizarrely versatile toilet book". Iain Finlayson of The Times predicted it would "stand up as entertaining primary source material for future biographies". Writing in The Word magazine, Mark Hodkinson added that, in his view, "the chapters on civil rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith and Valerie Danby Smith, Ernest Hemingway's former secretary, are solid pieces of reportage." The Big Issue added that "McGibbon's comic timing and affection for his subject matter makes it a lot of fun."

To promote the release of the book, The Independent on Sunday published extracts. McGibbon also gave a number of interviews.