So far I've only read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy but I do intend to read the other four books of the trilogy. Then, when I was scanning through articles and stories by and about DNA (= Douglas Noel Adams), I came across this collection of essays, interviews, speeches and the partly written "The Salmon of Doubt". I think it's a great idea that those remaining snippets on DNA's computer have been put together as a sort of memoire.
I have laughed so hard my stomach still hurts and it was a real joy! So get your towels ready ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 - 42! ;-D

Just reread this and wanted to register my reaction. Douglas Adams was very funny in a way that was intelligent and insightful. I'm so sorry he's gone. This book is sort of a tribute to him, and is fitting, as such, but the part of a novel that is contained therein is about as disappointing as you'd expect from an unfinished draft version. His books are really all about the wonderful hilarious ideas he has, I think. The plot, characters, pacing, and settings, if any, are quite haphazard and scattered all over the place. He has a delightful sort of philosophy of life that comes through it all, and I think that's what it is I love about him. He brings the wonder of everything back, the bizarreness, and the beauty.

We live, he says, at the bottom of a gravity well on a gas-covered planet orbiting a nuclear explosion 93 million miles away, and the fact that we think this is normal shows how skewed our perspective really is.

I think I'll try reading P. G. Wodehouse because of one essay in here in which DNA lauds him in a way that makes him sound really good. I might try Ruth Rendell, as well, on his recommendation, though I really don't enjoy mystery books very much as a rule. It sounds like she's one of those excellent writers for whom the mystery is a pretext to tell us all the other cool stuff she thinks about, and her perceptions of the world.

I think the deadlines whooshing by were mentioned 5 times at least, in different introductions, forewords, essays, etc. and I thought it needed a rest. The computer and gaming things were quite out of date now, a decade after DNA's death, but still were interesting just to see the sort of vision he had. All in all this book is recommended for DNA fans but not for those who aren't already. Try H2G2 or Dirk Gently instead, if you're new to him.

Kipp die Schublade eines Schriftstellers aus, leere seinen Papierkorb, krame in seinen Hosentaschen und mische alles mit den Post-its von seinem Kühlschrank und voila, du hast etwas wie "Lachs im Zweifel".
Auf diese Mischung aus Schwanengesang und Leichenfledderei war ich nicht gefasst und sie gefiel mir auch nicht.
Wie kann ein Verleger annehmen, 30 Seiten "Dirk Gently" rechtfertigen einen kompletten neuen Band. Indem er das lediglich impliziert? Mich hat dieses Buch doch recht frustriert. Ich kann mir nicht vorstellen, dass Douglas Adams diesem Schnipselwerk zugestimmt hätte (siehe seine Anmerkungen zwecks Regie).
Traurig
Traurig

I'm just guessing here, but I think those who rated this book highly were doing it out of affection for Douglas Adam's other, better works. They are great.

This one is less so, and came about from collecting whatever was lying around on his computers after his sudden and sad death. So what can we expect- much of the book is incomplete and unfinished.

There is also a wide variety of subject material here that veers away from comedic science fiction into serious atheism and endangered species protection.

The last book he was working on, The Salmon of Doubt, is not far enough along for the reader to do more than glimpse at where it was heading, so remains unsatisfying. You couldn't and can't expect more that that, considering the circumstances, but there it is.

What the book does offer is another look at the author himself, which dedicated fans will most likely appreciate.