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tombennett72's review against another edition
3.0
The first third or so of this book is a hard slog: just lots of names and dates. As it does along, though, it does get more readable.
Incredibly well researched: perhaps too much so. I’m glad to have read it, but the actual reading was a chore in places. There’s a definite focus on cataloguing facts and events, rather than trying to flesh out the personality of Douglas Adams.
Overall, a bit dry for me - a bit ‘Colin from the fan club’.
Incredibly well researched: perhaps too much so. I’m glad to have read it, but the actual reading was a chore in places. There’s a definite focus on cataloguing facts and events, rather than trying to flesh out the personality of Douglas Adams.
Overall, a bit dry for me - a bit ‘Colin from the fan club’.
nwhyte's review
http://nhw.livejournal.com/685584.html[return][return]This is really an exploration of Adams in his own words and in the words of people around him, including attempts to get at the truth or otherwise of various anecdotes told by or about him during his life. Simpson conveys well both Adams' charm and the way in which he infuriated friends and colleagues. He is probably fair to put some of the blame of Adams' failure to produce on his editors. Apart from that, it's a bit unsatisfying; as John Lloyd hints in the introduction, Adams' family life, particularly his relationship with his father, remains pretty much unexplored. Also I would like someone to look at Adams' work in perhaps a more literary way, with more reflections on the social context of his writing and how he did (or didn't) link into the issues of the day.
josephfinn's review
3.0
It’s a perfectly fine biography that suffers a bit from jumping around like crazy.
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