Horizons Online Edition

Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: Reviews

Douglas Adams died in May of 2001 in a gym in Santa Barbara. He was a well-known author who, as writers often do, died without completing his work. Adams was the author of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," "The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul," and many other works including articles, books, and short stories. "The Salmon of Doubt" is the title of a collection of only a few of Adams' writings kept on his computer. It is arranged in the categories of Life, the Universe, and Everything. The topics range from all over. They cover whiskey, the letter "y," computer cables, the Beatles, and some of his works of fiction.

"The Private Life of Genghis Khan" is a humorous exploration of the Mongol leader who might have wanted more to life than war, blood, and thievery of all kinds. The Genghis Khan in Adams' story wants a wife to do all of the mundane things that others might find tedious; Genghis Khan desperately craves things like talking about how their respective days went, being called "dear," and even being nagged. "Young Zaphod Plays it Safe" references to his Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy series with the character of Zaphod Beeblebrox. It turns into a criticism of weapons, politics, and secrets.

Being critical wasn't something Douglas Adams was shy to do. He humorously criticized everything from politics, lifestyles, and misdirected processes of thought. His favorite topic to write about, which spoke much of his love-hate relationship with it, was technology--specifically computers, physics, and philosophy--an example of this was the bovine animal in Milliway's, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, who wants to be eaten.

"The Salmon of Doubt" discusses Douglas Adams' favorite subjects and the chapters of the last book he was working on. His friends assembled the book so that every fan of his can "share this one last conversation."


The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time
By Douglas Adams

Hardcover
336 pp. Harmony.
$24.00.

Paperback
336 pp. Del Rey.
$7.99.

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