Wish You Were Here

January 17, 2005
Webb was the editor at Britain's Pan Books who bought the book rights to Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
in 1978, back when it was a hit radio show on the BBC. While Webb didn't have much to do with Adams professionally after that, the two remained friendly until Adams's death, at age 49, in 2001, and that closeness pervades this authorized biography and its conversational tone. That doesn't mean the story is sugarcoated; Adams is occasionally chided for his emotional thickness, and Webb deals frankly with the consequences of his chronic slowness as a writer (one Hitchhiker
novel was produced only when his editor, Sonny Mehta, booked a hotel room and sat with him as he turned out the pages). Another section addresses the thorny issue of who contributed what to the zany plot line of the radio series and how Adams's collaborator, John Lloyd, was nudged out of the book deal. For the most part, however, Webb genially celebrates Adams's comic talent and zest for life, aiming his account squarely at the large Hitchhiker
fan base with occasional overtures to readers who don't necessarily know every nuance of the trilogy. It might be overstating matters to suggest that "before Douglas nobody had been cosmically
funny," but Webb's tribute makes it easy to see why those who knew Adams admired him so greatly. Agent, Ed Victor Agency.

March 1, 2005
In 2003 Douglas Adams's "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" was voted "one of Britain's 21 best loved novels" by the British public as part of the BBC's "The Big Read" campaign. Adams, creator of the radio series, the novel, and its sequels, is the subject of this official biography. Webb, the editor who commissioned the original "Hitchhiker" novel and a friend of Adams, studies the man, his work, and his influence, presenting him as "a brilliant, engaging, and complex man." He provides countless details about almost every aspect of Adams's childhood, schooling, and early career as scriptwriter and producer at the BBC, as well as the creation of each of the "Hitchhiker" sequels and his other works. His interviews with family members, friends, and colleagues reveal Adams's generosity, overarching curiosity, and constant need for reassurance. The agony Adams endured during the writing process is also well documented. Webb's informal, intimate writing style works well, and his insights are rendered with a great deal of affection. Although the index contains numerous errors, this is still recommended for public and academic libraries. -Kathryn R. Bartelt, Univ. of Evansville Libs., IN

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2005
Untimely death deprived sf of its reigning comic genius, Douglas Adams (1952-2001), celebrated as the author of " The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy " (1979) and its three sequels. After proving its popularity as a 1978 BBC radio series, the " Guide" became a novel thanks to a commission from Pan Books editor Nick Webb, who now gives us what is easily the best of several existing Adams biographies. Drawing on a wealth of Adams' papers and authorized interviews with family members, Webb creates a multifaceted rendering of a complex, charismatic man who was less writer than idea-spinner with a passionate interest in science. Eschewing strict chronology, Webb steps back and forth among seminal moments in Adams' life, from his days at the BBC, rubbing elbows with Monty Python cast members, to his final years in California, pitching the " Guide" to Hollywood. A fascinating, witty portrait of a cultural icon who deserves an audience even larger than the present horde of his buffs. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)