Number 42- 42- curated by Kevin Jon Davies

There was only ever one book going to be number 42 this year.  A very generous gift I received at Christmas. 

I said Curated by rather than Edited by because it does seem like a collection of artifacts on display rather than an edited selection of his writings.

This is a coffee table book.  I've needed to take it to work in a rucksack, it's so big.  

Basically, it's selected notes and letters to and from the legend that was Douglas Adams. There are some fascinating insights into his creative process and his life.

Most of the material has already been covered in Neil Gaiman's excellent biography of Adams (Don't Panic) and the similar compilation of Adams' scribbles - The Salmon of Doubt.

However, this book doesn't just transcribe his writings, we see pictures of the original notebooks, the scrappy post-it notes, and the manuscripts complete with crossings out and rewrites, which gives us more insight again into his creative processes. Knowing how many times he would rework some of his sentences gives hope to us mere mortals. Some of the items chosen are more interesting than others, but that is the nature of this type of beast.

There are also some letters written TO Adams post mortem.  remembrances from those who knew and worked with him.  Neil Gaiman's letter is the post perfectly worded description of the loss of a friend and colleague that I think I've ever seen.  It's one of the most deeply moving pieces of writing I know of. From the opening line of "I remember the day I learned you were dead" onwards, the depth of love and respect he had for Douglas cries off the page.

Obviously, there is no narrative or story being told, but the notes are compiled in roughly chronological order.  After seeing his progression through his life, I found myself a little emotional when I saw the cover of the ZZ9 (HHGTTG fan club) memorial issue of their newsletter. That page of this book is headed Dead for Tax Reasons, a touch I'm sure Adams would have enjoyed.

I think the only H2G2 related reading I have left to find is Starship Titanic, unless I discover he wrote Dr Who novelisations under a pseudonym (something that I'm sure would have been mentioned in here).