Hooray! You have added the first book to your bookshelf. Check it out now!
[−]
  • Search Digit-count Valid ISBN Invalid ISBN Valid Barcode Invalid Barcode
Blog this item

The Salmon of Doubt

By Douglas Adams

(70)

| Paperback | 9780330323123

Like The Salmon of Doubt?
Join aNobii to see if your friends read it, and discover similar books!

Sign up for free

Book Description

The Salmon of Doubt is the late Douglas Adams' third comic novel about "holistic detective" Dirk Gently. Ten tantalising chapters of this unfinished project are padded to book size with about 50 short Adams pieces, mostly non-fiction.

Additional material includes introductions by Stephen Continue

The Salmon of Doubt is the late Douglas Adams' third comic novel about "holistic detective" Dirk Gently. Ten tantalising chapters of this unfinished project are padded to book size with about 50 short Adams pieces, mostly non-fiction.

Additional material includes introductions by Stephen Fry and editor Peter Guzzardi (who stitched together the Salmon fragment from disk drafts), The Guardian's Adams biography, Richard Dawkins' farewell piece, and the order of the memorial service.

The non-fiction by the man himself ranges from perhaps a dozen meaty articles and speeches to brief squibs, interview/questionnaire answers and tiny asides like: We are stuck with technology when what we really want is just stuff that works. How do you recognise something that is still technology? A good clue is if it comes with a manual.

There are enjoyable pieces on computers (especially), atheism, dogs, manta rays on the Great Barrier Reef, the Save the Rhino stunt climb, and PG Wodehouse. Much of the rest is ephemeral; you can't help reflecting that Adams himself never chose to collect all this lightweight newspaper work.

Lovers of his fiction will welcome the Hitch-Hiker-related short stories "The Private Life of Genghis Khan" and "Young Zaphod Plays It Safe", despite the latter's dreadfully dated political punch line.

What of The Salmon of Doubt itself, a quarter of this book? There's a glimpse of a far-future estate agent's utopia, a woman asking Dirk Gently to investigate a cat that's literally only half there (his puzzling reluctance to take the case may echo Adams' own feelings about the novel), Gently's capricious trip to America in response to an unknown client's total lack of instructions, the tragic death of a rhino as perceived by the rhino... Many teasing questions; we'll never know the answers.

Overall it's a must-have for devoted Adams fans and completists, a likely disappointment (though with pleasant exceptions) for new readers. --David Langford

Critics

  • Gently does it

    The Salmon of Doubt Douglas Adams 336pp, Macmillan, £16.99 James Boswell was taken aback by Samuel Johnson's verdict on Gulliver's Travels: "When once you have thought of big men and little men, it is very easy to do all the rest." So are we - but pa ... (read full critics)

    guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

  • A deadline bandit's last hurrah

    The Salmon of Doubt Douglas Adams Macmillan £16.99, pp299 When I was in publishing in the 1980s, hardly a season went by without some wonderful piece of gossip about the brilliant new book Douglas Adams was not writing. These tales were matched by sc ... (read full critics)

    guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

6 Reviews

Login or Sign Up to write a review

  • 1 person find this helpful

    While the unfinished story can't really be commented on (Adams himself planned to abandon it and salvage the [great] ideas), the rest of the book - the collection of articles, interviews, letters and thoughts saved from his Macintosh - is amazing. Simply a great mind. His thoughts on religion often ... (continue)

    While the unfinished story can't really be commented on (Adams himself planned to abandon it and salvage the [great] ideas), the rest of the book - the collection of articles, interviews, letters and thoughts saved from his Macintosh - is amazing. Simply a great mind. His thoughts on religion often echoed my own, but were expressed in such an eloquent and humourous way. Makes me sad that I didn't read Hitchhiker's until after he'd died.

    Is this helpful?

    halften said on May 30, 2009 | Add your feedback

  • *** This comment contains spoilers! ***

    I have read 5 of the Hitchhiker triology and Douglas Adams has been one of my favourite authors (and wordsmiths) ever since. This' the first book I read about Adams other than the through the proxies of Arthur Dent and Henry Ford. In this last legacy of his we come to know more about Adams' think ... (continue)

    I have read 5 of the Hitchhiker triology and Douglas Adams has been one of my favourite authors (and wordsmiths) ever since. This' the first book I read about Adams other than the through the proxies of Arthur Dent and Henry Ford. In this last legacy of his we come to know more about Adams' thinking on technology, on conservation, and more other miscelleneous topics (like fried eggs, Friday, Feng Shui, sting rays). (one letter to the movie maker in Hollyword was especially funny) (another was a recipe about making proper, English, tea)
    I felt as fortunate to be given this chance to be revealed his legacy as I felt unfortunate that the world is now denied any more of his wit.

    Is this helpful?

    Archer said on Apr 11, 2009 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • This was my first Douglas Adams book, and I love it. He has an extremely endearing way of writing

    Is this helpful?

    Pia said on Sep 27, 2007 | Add your feedback

Book Details

Improve data of this book

Groups with this in collection

Prices Change currency & sellers

ISBN Edition List Sale Seller
9780330323123 Paperback $11.06 $7.11 The Book Depository
Other editions →
Added to Shelf Added to Wish List

Inline Translation Mode

Left click to navigate, right click to translate.

inline translation guide

or close

Inline translation is not ready for this page yet.

Inline translation mode.

Share this page with your friends.

The viewport has not loaded.