What do You think about Wish You Were Here: The Official Biography Of Douglas Adams (2005)?
Painstakingly researched, and affectionate. Webb acknowledges his seriously pro-Douglas bias, but he makes many excuses for Adams' personality challenges which are a bit grating to read after a while. The early parts of the book are the strongest, focusing on things that happened and anecdotes. I consider myself a great admirer of his work, but not a fanatic, so I was happy to learn about the childhood and adolescent circumstances that shaped one of the funniest English modern writers. The latter chapters - especially the movie-making chapter - get bogged down in too many details. Die-hard fans will enjoy the minutiae (and complain there wasn't enough!) but I found it a bit painful to read and reread accounts of botched Hollywood deals, and the agony Douglas went through with each writing process.
—Elizabeth
Another thrift store find... and a fantastic one at that! Douglas Adams was a difficult genius and Nick Webb did a wonderful job of telling the story in a very even-handed manner. He admits Adams's shortcomings as well as some of his unpublicized triumphs. Webb's writing is also great. A biography has never been so fun! He has a quirky humor, much like Adams, that makes it an enjoyable read. The only bummer is that the book was published before the movie was released - I would have loved to hear his thoughts on the movie, and the thoughts of all the other creative minds behind Hitchhiker's to see how they felt about it. (I personally love the movie)
—Amelia Chameleon
I made it through the introduction and the first chapter or so (about 50 pages in) before deciding that this wasn't going to work for me. Maybe if Douglas Adams had written it...What I really wanted to hear was more of his stories, and this was, perhaps, too comprehensive. Let's go back in time and set up the family, talk about how who begat who and all of the myriad relationships. Skipping ahead might have served me better, but I'd already invested my hour or so, and I wasn't interested anymore.Moving on.
—Arminzerella
