Nick Webb is a fine writer. I can’t find anything else by him on Amazon, so I’m assuming this is his first book. He should do more biographies. I loved the observant and well-phrased asides he scatters throughout the book. He seems as genuinely fascinated by the natural world, literature, and technology as Adams was.

Neil Gaiman's unofficial biography is better; I feel like the author's presence (not DNA's) is pretty heavy here.

Originally published at Novel Escapism

While this biography is tedious to read, it is clear that the subject matter is worth the effort. Douglas Adams was a unique talent. He was a technophile, incredibly creative, and full of life. Yet, he was also difficult to live with, egocentric, and a perfectionist. Mostly, he was gone too soon.

“He loved philosophical ideas, and had a natural grasp of them, but he knew that plonking them unadorned into the text would induce instant tedium followed by the heterodyne squeal of a million radios being retuned…Douglas’s genius was to sneak them into the reader’s brain camouflaged as a series of extremely good jokes. It is this serious underpinning of dazzling notions and intellect that made Hitchhiker’s so extraordinary.”

Author Nick Webb brings Adams to life while seemingly trying to emulate Adams’ irreverent writing style. But Douglas Adams he is not and the book ends up being too long and meandering with only flashes of Adamsesque flair. Still, I enjoyed learning more about the author that brought us the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

A biography that's actually fun.

Got this book for my 42nd birthday last year. Figgered I should prolly get it read before I finish another revolution around the sun . . .

Official biography and a fascinating read and insight to the man - would now like to read the other biography - don't panic

http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts...

I admired Douglas Adams' writing from page one of the h2g2 books... After all, his phenomenally profound, witty, and irreverent writing prompted me to start reading again...

Little did I know then, that, for many reasons I'd come to admire the man himself.

This is the first biography I've ever completed (or wanted to).

A candid, funny, and intimate insight into Douglas' life, wish you were here made me want to read each one of his books again, so I could delve deeper into how he perceived the world.

I was surprised constantly through out this book. I really enjoyed reading this book and was very happy to find out about one of my heros, this book made me laugh, cry, giggle like a kid!! It was happy, sad and enlightening and it surprised me in places. I think knowing his work made me enjoy learning about the man behind the answer to life the universe and everything and has made me dust of my old copies of the hitchhikers four book trilogy to reread. But you most definitely don't need to be a fan to enjoy this book about an engaging man.

eh, i ended up skimming. maybe i just wasn't in the mood for a bio. it did make me want to read more douglas adams though.