Synopses & Reviews
On Friday, May 11, 2001, the world mourned the untimely passing of Douglas Adams, beloved creator of
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, dead of a heart attack at age forty-nine. Thankfully, in addition to a magnificent literary legacy—which includes seven novels and three co-authored works of nonfiction—Douglas left us something more. The book you are about to enjoy was rescued from his four computers, culled from an archive of chapters from his long-awaited novel-in-progress, as well as his short stories, speeches, articles, interviews, and letters.
In a way that none of his previous books could, The Salmon of Doubt provides the full, dazzling, laugh-out-loud experience of a journey through the galaxy as perceived by Douglas Adams. From a boys first love letter (to his favorite science fiction magazine) to the distinction of possessing a nose of heroic proportions; from climbing Kilimanjaro in a rhino costume to explaining why Americans cant make a decent cup of tea; from lyrical tributes to the sublime pleasures found in music by Procol Harum, the Beatles, and Bach to the follies of his hopeless infatuation with technology; from fantastic, fictional forays into the private life of Genghis Khan to extended visits with Dirk Gently and Zaphod Beeblebrox: this is the vista from the elevated perch of one of the tallest, funniest, most brilliant, and most penetrating social critics and thinkers of our time.
Welcome to the wonderful mind of Douglas Adams.
Review
"The pieces here bounce with charm....A beautiful sendoff, Douglas, wherever you are." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"It is plain from the editing that Cerf had to extract nuggets from fragments, but even minor Adams seems like a message from an old friend." John Mort, Booklist
Review
"It's hard to classify this cornucopia, selected by Christopher Cerf from Adams's papers after his untimely death, but Hitchhiker fans will want it." Library Journal
Review
"Guzzardi has done a good job....[The Salmon of Doubt] is perforce a book full of bits and bobs....Which is hardly going to offend people who thought, correctly in my opinion, that his collaboration with John Lloyd, The Meaning of Liff, was one of the funniest little books ever written." Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian (U.K.)
Review
"Surprisingly, for such a ghoulishly opportunistic-sounding project, Salmon is a lot of fun....Taken together, the disparate pieces paint a loving portrait of Adams....Salmon whets readers' appetites for a literary meal that will never come." Tasha Robinson, The Onion AV Club
Review
"[E]clectic fun....Those who have never read Adams probably are better off starting with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Get to know Adams's work, then come back to The Salmon of Doubt and get to know the man." John Grochowski, The Chicago Sun-Times
Review
"Although Adams expressed misgivings about writing [the titular novella] as a Dirk Gently novel...the fragment works quite well as written....The fragment included here makes it evident that Adams's proclivity for procrastination and untimely death resulted in the loss of an highly entertaining novel." Steven H. Silver, SFSite.com
About the Author
Douglas Adams was the author of the five novels in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy (yes, you read that right!); two Dirk Gently novels; Last Chance to See (with Mark Carwardine); and The Meaning of Liff and The Deeper Meaning of Liff (both with John Lloyd).