In a way that none of his previous books could, The Salmon of Doubt provides the full, dazzling, laugh-out-loud experience of a journey through the galaxy as perceived by Douglas Adams. From a bov's first love letter (sent to his favorite science fiction magazine) to the distinction of possessing a nose of heroic proportions; from dimbing Kilimanjaro in a rhino costume to explaining why Americans can't make a decent cup of tea; from the sublime pleasures found in music by the Beatles and Bach to the follies of his hopeless infatuation With technology; from fantastic, fictional forays into the private life of Genghis Khan to extended visits with Dirk Gently and Zaphod Beeblebrox; this is the vista from the elevated perch of one of the tallest, funniest; most brilliant, and most penetrating social critics and thinkers of our time.

IN 1979, SOON AFTER The Hitchhiker"s Guide to the Galaxy was published, Douglas Adams was invited to sign copies at a small science-fiction bookshop in Soho. As he drove there,some sort of demonstration slowed his progress. "There was a traffic jam and crowds of people were everywhere," he recalls.It wasn"t until he had pushed his way inside that Adams realised the crowds were there for him. Next day his publisher called to say he was number one in the London Sunday Times best-seUer list and his life changed forever. "It was like being helicoptered to the top of Mount Everest," he says, "or having an orgasm without the foreplay."Hitchhiker had already been a cult radio show, and was made in both television and stage versions. It expanded into four more books that sold over 14 million copies worldwide.There were records and computer games and now, after twenty years of Hollywood prevarication, it is as close as it"s ever been to becoming a movie.

Prologue

Introduction

LIFE

THE UNIVERSE

AND EVERYTHING

Epilogue