The Salmon of Doubt

Douglas Adams was born in 1952 and created The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy phenomenon: radio, novels, TV, computer game, stage adaptation, comic book and bath towel.The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's book was published in 1979 and has been a huge success story. His series has sold over 15 million books in the UK, the US and Australia and was also a best seller in German, Swedish and many other languages. Douglas lived with his wife and daughter in California, where he died suddenly in 2001.

"Above all, of course, Douglas Adams was a transcendent, multi-faceted, comic genius. What made Douglas's work unique, I think, were the wildly contradictory attributes he displayed in his writing. He seamlessly blended world-class intelligence--and a daunting knowledge about an impossible variety of subjects (literature, computers, evolution, pop culture, genetics, and music, to name but a few)--with transcendental silliness; technophobia with a lust for, and fascination with, every high-tech toy imaginable; deep cynicism about virtually everything with an effusively joyful spirit; and one of the quickest wits on the planet with a relentless perfectionism in pursuing his craft." --From the Introduction by Christopher Cerf"The bottom drawer of recently deceased writers is often best left firmly locked and bolted. In the case of Douglas, I am sure you will agree, the bottom drawer (or in his case, the nested subfolders of his hard drive) has been triumphantly well worth the prising open. There are those who write from time to time and do it well, and then there are Writers. Douglas Adams, and it is pointless to attempt here an explanation or anatomisation, was born, grew up, and remained a Writer to his too-early dying day. "You are on the verge of entering the wise, provoking, benevolent, hilarious, and addictive world of Douglas Adams. Don't bolt it all whole--as with Douglas's beloved Japanese food, what seems light and easy to assimilate is subtler and more nutritious by far than it might at first appear." --Stephen Fry, author of "The Liar" and "Making History: A Novel""From the Hardcover edition."