Douglas Adams

The Salmon of Doubt

Before his untimely death in 2001, Douglas Adams had started writing a new Dirk Gently novel. The Salmon of Doubt contains the first few chapters of this novel.

Most of the book though is a collection of articles which Adams had written, brought together into one place. There are interviews for various publications, Adams telling of his problems with computers, his views on religion and so on. In fact all sorts of stuff, with plenty of that unique Adams style.

The book starts with an editor's note, followed by a prologue, then a foreword. That's a lot to work through before getting to the real stuff - which includes an introduction written by Adams for another book on why he hates writing introductions.

If you are a fan of Douglas Adams then of course you will want to read this book, but you should realise that the main part of it is the articles rather than the story. Adams delights in introducing several seemingly unconnected threads, and here they never have a chance to connect. If you're not a fan of Adams' fiction, you might still give this book a try as his style does result in some very amusing articles.

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Paperback 336 pages
ISBN: 0345460952
Salesrank: 147788
Weight:0.5 lbs

Published: 2003 Ballantine Books

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Paperback 336 pages
ISBN: 0330323121
Salesrank: 14079
Weight:0.39 lbs

Published: 2003 Pan Books

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Paperback 336 pages
ISBN: 0330323121
Salesrank: 67230
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Product Description
On Friday, May 11, 2001, the world mourned the untimely passing of Douglas Adams, beloved creator of The Hitchhiker’s 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 boy’s 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 can’t 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. From the Hardcover edition.

Product Description

On Friday, May 11, 2001, the world mourned the untimely passing of Douglas Adams, beloved creator of The Hitchhiker’s 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 boy’s 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 can’t 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.

From the Hardcover edition.

A wonderful parting gift from a one of a kind voice. *****
A collection of essays, interviews, and other assorted ephemera (including several chapters of a new novel) pulled from Adams's hard drive after his death, A Salmon of Doubt is nowhere near as morbid and depressing a project as it sounds. Instead, for the first time, we get a window into the man behind Hitchhiker's Guide and Dirk Gently. Writing on topics ranging from atheism to personal computing, from sand to schoolboy shorts, Adams comes across as intelligent, funny, and thoughtful, none of which are surprising to anyone who's read his work. But for those of us who have, the chance to delve into the man himself is a can't miss opportunity. And if that's not enough for you, there's the assorted fiction pieces, from a strange look at Genghis Khan to an early episode from the life of Zaphod, all the way up to a frustratingly unfinished but enjoyably surreal unfinished novel which started as a Dirk Gently tale but may have ended as a Hitchhiker's work. If you're not already an Adams fan, this may not be for you, but for the legions of people who find his work so funny and joyous, this is a wonderful parting gift and an excellent remembrance of such a unique man.

A wonderful parting gift from a one of a kind voice. *****

A collection of essays, interviews, and other assorted ephemera (including several chapters of a new novel) pulled from Adams's hard drive after his death, A Salmon of Doubt is nowhere near as morbid and depressing a project as it sounds. Instead, for the first time, we get a window into the man behind Hitchhiker's Guide and Dirk Gently. Writing on topics ranging from atheism to personal computing, from sand to schoolboy shorts, Adams comes across as intelligent, funny, and thoughtful, none of which are surprising to anyone who's read his work. But for those of us who have, the chance to delve into the man himself is a can't miss opportunity. And if that's not enough for you, there's the assorted fiction pieces, from a strange look at Genghis Khan to an early episode from the life of Zaphod, all the way up to a frustratingly unfinished but enjoyably surreal unfinished novel which started as a Dirk Gently tale but may have ended as a Hitchhiker's work. If you're not already an Adams fan, this may not be for you, but for the legions of people who find his work so funny and joyous, this is a wonderful parting gift and an excellent remembrance of such a unique man.

A mixed bag of goodies ***
An interesting little volume filled with Adams' musings about a wide-ranging array of topics. Some of the essays and articles here are quite good, and others are, well, not quite so good. But they are all written with Adams' trademark zany wit, and you certainly won't be bored. The good: As usual, his observations about the foibles of life, whether it's his mortification about having to wear short pants to school because they didn't make long trousers his size, or the story about the stranger stealing his cookies, are hilarious. And his passionate enthusiasm for his personal values, whether it's technology or the Beatles, shines through in every line and is therefore quite contagious. He has a way of turning a phrase to bring an abstract point down to earth, especially when it comes to his criticism of theism. And some of his analogies between evolution and computer science are quite illuminating, particularly his observation that computer code is analogous to the genetic code in showing how evolution operates by performing simple operations millions of times over. The bad: As an amateur biologist, however, Adams does tend to get carried away with the computer analogies--no, Douglas, your baby is not "rebooting." Combine this tendency with his otherwise virtuous enthusiasm, and, like many computer scientists, he carries it to the point of assuming that we are on the verge of creating "artificial intelligence," i.e., that in the near future there will be conscious computers. This failure to distinguish between the biological and the man-made plays right into the theists' hands--after all, that's the basic fallacy behind the argument from design (the Celestial Watchmaker and all that), Adams has just kind of done it in reverse. And his playing at being a naturalist is at times almost embarrassing--like when he wants to ride a manta ray, which would probably be pretty cool, and then feels all stupid when told he can't, or when he hikes to Mount Kilimanjaro in a ridiculous rhino suit (although he does recognize the pretension of telling developing nations that they preserve the resources that Western nations "exploited" during their own development). As for "The Salmon of Doubt" itself, I haven't read either of the previous Dirk Gently novels yet, but I thought this one was shaping up to be, with more polishing, an interesting book. Of course, in its rough form, and with no ending, it is a bit unsatisfying. Overall, however, this collection is well worth reading, but unless you're an Adams collector you can probably stick with the mass market version (or visit your local library).

A mixed bag of goodies ***

An interesting little volume filled with Adams' musings about a wide-ranging array of topics. Some of the essays and articles here are quite good, and others are, well, not quite so good. But they are all written with Adams' trademark zany wit, and you certainly won't be bored.

The good:
As usual, his observations about the foibles of life, whether it's his mortification about having to wear short pants to school because they didn't make long trousers his size, or the story about the stranger stealing his cookies, are hilarious. And his passionate enthusiasm for his personal values, whether it's technology or the Beatles, shines through in every line and is therefore quite contagious. He has a way of turning a phrase to bring an abstract point down to earth, especially when it comes to his criticism of theism. And some of his analogies between evolution and computer science are quite illuminating, particularly his observation that computer code is analogous to the genetic code in showing how evolution operates by performing simple operations millions of times over.

The bad:
As an amateur biologist, however, Adams does tend to get carried away with the computer analogies--no, Douglas, your baby is not "rebooting." Combine this tendency with his otherwise virtuous enthusiasm, and, like many computer scientists, he carries it to the point of assuming that we are on the verge of creating "artificial intelligence," i.e., that in the near future there will be conscious computers. This failure to distinguish between the biological and the man-made plays right into the theists' hands--after all, that's the basic fallacy behind the argument from design (the Celestial Watchmaker and all that), Adams has just kind of done it in reverse. And his playing at being a naturalist is at times almost embarrassing--like when he wants to ride a manta ray, which would probably be pretty cool, and then feels all stupid when told he can't, or when he hikes to Mount Kilimanjaro in a ridiculous rhino suit (although he does recognize the pretension of telling developing nations that they preserve the resources that Western nations "exploited" during their own development).

As for "The Salmon of Doubt" itself, I haven't read either of the previous Dirk Gently novels yet, but I thought this one was shaping up to be, with more polishing, an interesting book. Of course, in its rough form, and with no ending, it is a bit unsatisfying. Overall, however, this collection is well worth reading, but unless you're an Adams collector you can probably stick with the mass market version (or visit your local library).

Doug, we hardly knew ye ****
No, this isn't the next, lost Hitchhiker book. It does include about eighty pages of pieced together stories which the editor says fell easily into place. In my view, they seem to be pieces of at least three different books which don't go together at all. One is a Hitchhiker or Dirk Gently book in the making, one slips into the nihilism that is thankfully sparse in the other books. The rest of the volume is compiled, the notes say, from ephemera found on Doug's beloved Macs. This is also a bit misleading, as most of it has already been printed before, and his other books, notably Last Chance to See, tend to be expanded versions of the short bits. The bits that most interest me include an interview with a magazine, or group, called American Atheists. Doug's tone is light and funny, but the interviewer is dour and somber as any cartoon Calvinist. "In England we seem to have drifted from vague wishy- washy Anglicanism to vague wishy- washy Agnosticism," Doug notes, "--both of which I think betoken a desire not to have to think about things too much." St. Thomas Aquinas, in the thirteenth century said, in effect, "Is there a God? Apparently not," going on in his Summa to suggest that there after all was one. Doug takes the other tack, in "Is There An Artifical God?" suggesting that there looks like there is one, but there's not. Doug is nevertheless highly interested in religion, a subject that bores most people. He is a true believer (or rather non-believer) converted from reading Richard Dawkins. Thus it is appropriate that the book end with Dawkin's epilogue, a eulogy for his friend. Despite the nihilism that creeps slowly into the Guide books-- they go slowly downhill from book one and perk up again at book five, Mostly Harmless-- Doug wrote the introduction for the final, unfinished novel by that most genial of authors, British humourist P.G. Wodehouse. Perhaps because, like many authors, he found that genial tone so difficult to sustain himself, he was unstinting in his praise of the Master, whose works are being daily discovered by more and more readers looking for something light and hopeful, yet skillfully written, being-- let's just say it-- bored by the nihilism and anti-philosophy of the Decadents, moderns, and now postmodern writers which currently makes up the bulk of bookstores. "Wodehouse is the greatest comic writer ever" reads his enthusiastic thumbs-up, now printed on all new Penguin paperback editions. In the view of many readers, however, Adams is himself a very near number two, even as he sticks up his sub-etha thumb, hitching to the great beyond.

Doug, we hardly knew ye ****

No, this isn't the next, lost Hitchhiker book. It does include about eighty pages of pieced together stories which the editor says fell easily into place. In my view, they seem to be pieces of at least three different books which don't go together at all. One is a Hitchhiker or Dirk Gently book in the making, one slips into the nihilism that is thankfully sparse in the other books. The rest of the volume is compiled, the notes say, from ephemera found on Doug's beloved Macs. This is also a bit misleading, as most of it has already been printed before, and his other books, notably Last Chance to See, tend to be expanded versions of the short bits.

The bits that most interest me include an interview with a magazine, or group, called American Atheists. Doug's tone is light and funny, but the interviewer is dour and somber as any cartoon Calvinist. "In England we seem to have drifted from vague wishy- washy Anglicanism to vague wishy- washy Agnosticism," Doug notes, "--both of which I think betoken a desire not to have to think about things too much." St. Thomas Aquinas, in the thirteenth century said, in effect, "Is there a God? Apparently not," going on in his Summa to suggest that there after all was one. Doug takes the other tack, in "Is There An Artifical God?" suggesting that there looks like there is one, but there's not. Doug is nevertheless highly interested in religion, a subject that bores most people. He is a true believer (or rather non-believer) converted from reading Richard Dawkins. Thus it is appropriate that the book end with Dawkin's epilogue, a eulogy for his friend.

Despite the nihilism that creeps slowly into the Guide books-- they go slowly downhill from book one and perk up again at book five, Mostly Harmless-- Doug wrote the introduction for the final, unfinished novel by that most genial of authors, British humourist P.G. Wodehouse. Perhaps because, like many authors, he found that genial tone so difficult to sustain himself, he was unstinting in his praise of the Master, whose works are being daily discovered by more and more readers looking for something light and hopeful, yet skillfully written, being-- let's just say it-- bored by the nihilism and anti-philosophy of the Decadents, moderns, and now postmodern writers which currently makes up the bulk of bookstores. "Wodehouse is the greatest comic writer ever" reads his enthusiastic thumbs-up, now printed on all new Penguin paperback editions. In the view of many readers, however, Adams is himself a very near number two, even as he sticks up his sub-etha thumb, hitching to the great beyond.

it was ok ***
it was nice to see how adams thought. that is really all you get from this book.

it was ok ***

it was nice to see how adams thought. that is really all you get from this book.

Doesn't exactly leap to the top of Adams' body of work ****
There's not much to add that previous reviewers haven't covered regarding this posthumous Douglas Adams collection. As a huge fan of Adams' work and in particular his Dirk Gently novels, I am bound to rate this highly but I agree that it's largely a unsatisfying read and probably for completists only.

Doesn't exactly leap to the top of Adams' body of work ****

There's not much to add that previous reviewers haven't covered regarding this posthumous Douglas Adams collection. As a huge fan of Adams' work and in particular his Dirk Gently novels, I am bound to rate this highly but I agree that it's largely a unsatisfying read and probably for completists only.

The Benefit of Doubt. ****
`The Salmon of Doubt' is a posthumously published collection of words put into a fantastic collection of arrays by Douglas Adams whom had previously been assembling words in a very pleasing manner in the various incarnations of `The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy' and the `Dirk Gently' novels. The book contains tributes from comic actor and writer Stephen Fry, Nicholas Wroe, scientist and writer Richard Dawkins and the editor of this collection, Peter Guzzardi. All of which give some insight into Douglas but nothing like the insight Douglas gives of himself in the collection of articles, drafts of speeches and letters which have been prised from the hard drive of Douglas' beloved Apple Mac. The pieces have been assembled into three sections, Life, The Universe and Everything but the themes don't really add anything to the writing of a man whom could have paraphrased the phone book in a manner that would leave us weeping with laughter. The best part of the book is the quarter given over to `The Salmon of Doubt' an abandoned rather than incomplete Dirk Gently novel. Adams had apparently decided that the ideas he was exploring did not suit Dirk Gently and was considering rewriting the piece as a Hitch Hikers novel. Although it would have possibly being a great novel as Adams then saw it I have to say that I enjoyed reading what he had actually written and am only disappointed that I will never get to marvel at the clever conclusion that not only tied up all the loose ends I'd noticed but ten or twelve others I wouldn't have noticed until rereading the book for the nth time. The beauty of Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently books was that every time you reread them you found something new which you hadn't noticed before.

The Benefit of Doubt. ****

`The Salmon of Doubt' is a posthumously published collection of words put into a fantastic collection of arrays by Douglas Adams whom had previously been assembling words in a very pleasing manner in the various incarnations of `The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy' and the `Dirk Gently' novels.

The book contains tributes from comic actor and writer Stephen Fry, Nicholas Wroe, scientist and writer Richard Dawkins and the editor of this collection, Peter Guzzardi. All of which give some insight into Douglas but nothing like the insight Douglas gives of himself in the collection of articles, drafts of speeches and letters which have been prised from the hard drive of Douglas' beloved Apple Mac.

The pieces have been assembled into three sections, Life, The Universe and Everything but the themes don't really add anything to the writing of a man whom could have paraphrased the phone book in a manner that would leave us weeping with laughter.
The best part of the book is the quarter given over to `The Salmon of Doubt' an abandoned rather than incomplete Dirk Gently novel. Adams had apparently decided that the ideas he was exploring did not suit Dirk Gently and was considering rewriting the piece as a Hitch Hikers novel.

Although it would have possibly being a great novel as Adams then saw it I have to say that I enjoyed reading what he had actually written and am only disappointed that I will never get to marvel at the clever conclusion that not only tied up all the loose ends I'd noticed but ten or twelve others I wouldn't have noticed until rereading the book for the nth time. The beauty of Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently books was that every time you reread them you found something new which you hadn't noticed before.

A look into an awesome mind *****
If you have read every Douglas Adams book but still don't feel close enough to the great man himself, this is the book for you. You can see how the master thinks, how his everyday musings were written with the same wit and wisdom as his greatest works of fiction and read a wonderfull work in progress. As he says of 'Sunset at Blandings' (unfinished due to the author's death) by PG Wodehouse, you can see in DNA's first Chapters of his new Dirk Gently novel, the craftsman at work, the sentences are unpolished, the work has not even been through its first proof-read and it is all the more wonderful because of this. This book is fact, fiction and autobiography all rolled into one. Read it. It will blow your mind.

A look into an awesome mind *****

If you have read every Douglas Adams book but still don't feel close enough to the great man himself, this is the book for you. You can see how the master thinks, how his everyday musings were written with the same wit and wisdom as his greatest works of fiction and read a wonderfull work in progress. As he says of 'Sunset at Blandings' (unfinished due to the author's death) by PG Wodehouse, you can see in DNA's first Chapters of his new Dirk Gently novel, the craftsman at work, the sentences are unpolished, the work has not even been through its first proof-read and it is all the more wonderful because of this. This book is fact, fiction and autobiography all rolled into one. Read it. It will blow your mind.

Be aware of what you're getting ****
For those who know Douglas Adams' work, chances are you are aware that The Salmon of Doubt is the last of Adams' work before his untimely death and is incomplete. Thus for those with an interest in Adams' work this is your last insight into what would have been the third book in his Dirk Gently series. Or perhaps the sixth book in the Hitchhikers series? Who knows what this may have ended up as. This book will give you your last Adams' fix but be aware. Although the book is listed as 336 pages, the actual in-progress novel The Salmon of Doubt is tucked away at the very end of the book and constitutes only a small portion of the entire book. The majority of the content is a compendium of Adams' work ranging from speeches to columns to random notes. It's a chance to see a little more of Douglas Adams for those who are fans, but for those who just bought it for the novel you may feel a bit ripped off.

Be aware of what you're getting ****

For those who know Douglas Adams' work, chances are you are aware that The Salmon of Doubt is the last of Adams' work before his untimely death and is incomplete. Thus for those with an interest in Adams' work this is your last insight into what would have been the third book in his Dirk Gently series. Or perhaps the sixth book in the Hitchhikers series? Who knows what this may have ended up as.

This book will give you your last Adams' fix but be aware. Although the book is listed as 336 pages, the actual in-progress novel The Salmon of Doubt is tucked away at the very end of the book and constitutes only a small portion of the entire book. The majority of the content is a compendium of Adams' work ranging from speeches to columns to random notes. It's a chance to see a little more of Douglas Adams for those who are fans, but for those who just bought it for the novel you may feel a bit ripped off.

Don't um, don't ah, just buy and read. *****
This lunchtime I finished reading The Salmon Of Doubt, the first work of Douglas's I've read since he died all those years ago. I've not really put off reading it, books often stay in my teetering/tottering piles books for years before passing the rubicon of my having read them and getting filed on the bookshelves/book-chest-of-drawers like so many hunting trophies, but I have to say that I didn't relish the prospect of reading a book that I'd never get to see finished. I was wrong: this is possibly my favourite of all his books, not because of the Dirk Gently novel-in-progress, but because it's a treasury of Douglas writing as-himself about things that interest or annoy him. That makes it feel more personal than any other work of fiction, and the Salmon chapters are added on the end of the book like coffee and mints after an excellent meal, rather than presented as a main course where their unfinished state would have disappointed. This book is an ideal tribute to a wonderful man.

Don't um, don't ah, just buy and read. *****

This lunchtime I finished reading The Salmon Of Doubt, the first work of Douglas's I've read since he died all those years ago. I've not really put off reading it, books often stay in my teetering/tottering piles books for *years* before passing the rubicon of my having read them and getting filed on the bookshelves/book-chest-of-drawers like so many hunting trophies, but I have to say that I didn't relish the prospect of reading a book that I'd never get to see finished. I was wrong: this is possibly my favourite of all his books, not because of the Dirk Gently novel-in-progress, but because it's a treasury of Douglas writing as-himself about things that interest or annoy him. That makes it feel more personal than any other work of fiction, and the Salmon chapters are added on the end of the book like coffee and mints after an excellent meal, rather than presented as a main course where their unfinished state would have disappointed. This book is an ideal tribute to a wonderful man.