Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Everything was good
My world collapsed around me when I found out that Douglas Adams had died. I had also failed a chemistry test the previous day, so I was, as you may be able to imagine, fairly distraught. I immediately commenced my "memorial" to Douglas by re-re-reading all of his books. (I have read Resturant at the End of the Universe about six times now) This simply didn't seem like enough to do justice to one of the greatest authors of all time. Imagine by confoundment when, while walking on the streets of Burlington, Vermont, I spotted this wonderful homage in a bookstore window. I dragged my buddy into the shop with me and walked out with not only a copy of "The Salmon of Doubt", but also a hardbound edition of the Complete Hitchikers guide (The one with all of the books, plus a few shorts), and a copy of Robert Ludlum's "The Bourne Identity" (see my review). Anyway, when I returned to our condo where my family and friend were staying, I flopped on the bed and started to read. In no time flat, I was lauging histerically at some of the marvellous essays, speeches, and magazine articles contained in this book. Such articles as "Little Dongly Things", "The cookies" and "The Trousers", brought new light to a side of Douglas of which I had no idea. The new Dirk Gently novel (part of it, anyway) is good, though not as refined as his earlier works. This collection of writings is indeed a fitting tribute to a wonderful author. For a fan of Adams, it will be a joyous ride throughout his life and career. For a non-fan, I would sincerely recommend getting into Hitchhikers and Dirk Gently before tackling this book. An excellent read, earning every one of it's five stars. EFD
Rating: - Oh. Wow. My. God.
When I read that the late and great Douglas Adams had passed away on May 25th, I felt as if a close friend had died. There would be no more adventures of Dirk Gently, trying to solve mysteries in his own, weird way, or of Arthur Dent, venturing through the space, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in hand. I went into a bit of a depressed slump for a while.But then, miraculously, when one day I was walking through Chapters, trying to put up a huge "DNA Memorial" in front of the section of the store that carried his books, I saw 'The Salmon of Doubt'. And I thought "I am dreaming"... so I pinched myself, and realized that I wasn't. HERE IT WAS - DOUGLAS ADAMS' LAST BOOK! I screamed. People stared. I fainted. Enough said about that. I bought the book. I read the book. I laughed. I cried. I remembered. And you should, too. This collection of Douglas Adams' writings, plus the first few chapters of Douglas Adams last unfinished project, 'The Salmon of Doubt' (a new Dirk Gently novel) is an item for anyone who even knew who Douglas Adams was. And even those who don't. 42.
Rating: - An Absence of Pretence
Do not pick up The Salmon of Doubt expecting a complete novel. Given time Adams' would have converted it into a brilliant final product. Sadly, however, that will never happen. The novel is unfinished, but better to be unfinished than completed by someone else.
The book is more than the uncompleted novel, however. The would-be third Dirk Gently installment occupies fewer than 100 pages at the volume's end. The rest is taken up by an amalgam of tidbits from Adams' life. The book's success is the essays, short stories, letters, interviews, many of them in print for the first time in Salmon. They accomplish what no novel ever could; they portray Adams' as a human being.
Salmon is to Douglas Adams' what I, Asimov is to Isaac Asimov. It's not an autobiography, exactly, but it's as close as print gets to establishing a dialogue between the reader and the author. A great many people admire Adams' for is brilliant wit. This book allows us to admire him for much more. I frequent a message board where a rating of "5" means "Comedy Gold," and that is why I give A Salmon of Doubt five stars. It is hilarious. The essay, "Cookies," used as a plot point in So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish, is a brilliantly narrated anecdote. The reflections on canine behavior in Maggie and Trudie gave me a sleep-preventing giggle fit. The novel portion is jerky in places. An astute reader will spot some filler lines, gaps in continuity, and things that would most likely have been left out of the final version, but no one is pretending that it is whole. Salmon is exactly what it sets out to be; it is a requiem, a tribute to a great man.
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