Onto this - book number 42 every year has to be a Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy related book. If that's not an actual law, it should be. If you don't know why, read Hitcchhikers. Last year I finally got round to reading Eoin Coiffer's book 6 of the trilogy. It was ok but nothing to get excited about. There were some good moments but despite a fairish impersonation of Adam's style, Coiffer wasn't able to replicate the conciseness of an Adams book, or the humour value. Therefore it was twice as long as any of the other five books in the trilogy, and only half as funny - overall a disappointment.
This on the other hand, managed to be as funny as any of the HHGTTG books. It's far and away the funniest non-fiction book I think I've ever read. Gaiman replicates Adams' style of writing perfectly in telling the life story of the man himself. It's packed full of arcane little bits of trivia that even I - as a lifelong HHTTG obsessive - didn't know.
I was lucky enough over 20 years ago to meet Douglas Adams when he visited my local Waterstones on the publication of Last Chance to See. From the short talk he gave and the very brief chat when I got my books signed, I can say that this book seems to give a very accurate picture of the man. As Douglas himself says in a presumably pre-humous quote "It's all devastatingly true - except for the bits that are lies"
(Is pre-humous the opposite of posthumous? If it isn't it should be - or does it just refer to a bowl chickpeas and some lime juice and oil - or would that be pre-hummous?)
It's very affectionately written. Gaiman is obviously as in love with Douglas's body of work as me.
The interviews scattered throughout the book are fascinating.
In one chapter, we read a selection of quotes from letters sent to Douglas Adams - and the responses they received. It's a tragedy he died before the internet and chatrooms were a big thing. No one would care about JK Rowling. Douglas would be the putdown king of twitter judging from his responses to the silly questions people would ask him.
The unpublished elsewhere snippets of hitchhikers deleted scenes are fantastically funny. I've laughed out loud at this book more than any other in the past few years.
It not only fulfilled my book 42 law, it fulfilled my promise that I need to read at least one biography a year. So I'm doubly happy that it's as good as it is. This is the third revised edition, containing as it does a final chapter about his death and the eulogies given by his compatriots. I don't know if it was revised since to mention the publication of book 6.
All I can say is that, if they ever want to try again to ressurect the trilogy, Neil Gaiman is the man they need to hire.
Fantastic read - available on Amazon fairly easily. An easy 9/10
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