THE NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
Over 60 boxes full of notebooks, research, letters, scripts, jokes, speeches, to-do lists, hard drives and even poems...Welcome to the incredible archive of Douglas Adams.
After his death in 2001, Douglas Adams's papers were loaned to his old Cambridge college, St John's. Reproduced here, in facsimile form and in close association with Adams's family and literary estate, 42 is a full-colour, large-format hardback that follows Adams career from early collaborations with Graham Chapman to his work on Doctor Who, through the Hitchhiker years, Dirk Gently, his groundbreaking non-fiction book Last Chance to See and his later digital work. Alongside this are details of projects that never came to fruition like a proposed theme park ride and a TV series provisionally entitled The Secret Empire.
Edited by Kevin Jon Davies, who has worked on a number of Hitchhiker-related projects and had a personal friendship with Adams spanning more than twenty years.
"An astonishing comic writer."-- Neil Gaiman
"In lieu of a conventional autobiography, this collection of letters, jottings and ephemera - interspersed with heartfelt tributes from admirers including Stephen Fry and Neil Gaiman - will have to serve as the definitive insight into this brilliant man's life and work." -- Alexander Larman
'All your readers have Douglas Adams Circuits in their heads, now: a glowing synaptic lens that has made the whole of space seem like a place as familiar and human as Earth. That makes us approach new tech, and the future, without fear.' -- Caitlin Moran
"Douglas's slanted way of looking at reality makes the fuzzy sharp and the improbable probable. In a cock-eyed universe the level gaze is not much use." -- Stephen Fry
"[A]n enjoyable tour through the archives....The selections offer an intimate look inside Adams's process...and even tossed-off memos are sprinkled with the humor that endeared him to readers. Adams's fans will be eager to dig into this treasure trove." -- Publishers Weekly
"[T]his collection of letters, jottings and ephemera - interspersed with heartfelt tributes from admirers including Stephen Fry and Neil Gaiman - will have to serve as the definitive insight into this brilliant man's life and work....[A]n invaluable reminder of what an inimitable - and prophetic - talent Adams was." -- The Guardian
"The choice to present this material in its raw form gives the book a sense of intimacy and offers details a transcription alone could not....Adams was charming and funny in his written replies to fans, friends, and professionals, and his wit and warmth are evident throughout the book....[A]n enjoyable annotated scrapbook that illuminates the rich inner life and creations of Douglas Adams." -- Foreword
"The prevailing mood of 42 ... is joyous celebration of a phenomenal mind and a huge talent for surreal humour." -- Sunday Times
"It is a rare opportunity to be granted insight into the earliest machinations of a beloved artwork, but that is what Davies offers us with this meticulous archive." -- Reader's Digest
"It really brings Adams to life in your imagination. Reading a drafted apology to a girlfriend for being "bloody stupid", or a page of typescript in which the author talks to himself ("It may interest you to know that you are writing garbage..."), you get a strong sense of the man - the fully-rounded individual, with all his frustrations and quirks, not just the towering wit of repute." -- SFX Magazine
"Although there can be no new Douglas Adams novels, crowdfunded publisher Unbound has given us the next best thing. It's a beautifully produced selection of Adams' work taken from 60 boxes of notebooks and memorabilia left behind at his death." -- Daily Express