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THE NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

When Douglas Adams died in 2001, he left behind 60 boxes full of notebooks, letters, scripts, jokes, speeches and even poems. In 42, compiled by Douglas’s long-time collaborator Kevin Jon Davies, hundreds of these personal artefacts appear in print for the very first time.

Douglas was as much a thinker as he was a writer, and his artefacts reveal how his deep fascination with technology led to ideas which were far ahead of their time: a convention speech envisioning the modern smartphone, with all the information in the world living at our fingertips; sheets of notes predicting the advent of electronic books; journal entries from his forays into home computing – it is a matter of legend that Douglas bought the very first Mac in the UK; musings on how the internet would disrupt the CD-Rom industry, among others.

42 also features archival material charting Douglas’s school days through Cambridge, Footlights, collaborations with Graham Chapman, and early scribbles from the development of Doctor WhoHitchhiker’s and Dirk Gently. Alongside details of his most celebrated works are projects that never came to fruition, including the pilot for radio programme They’ll Never Play That on the Radio and a space-inspired theme park ride.

Douglas’s personal papers prove that the greatest ideas come from the fleeting thoughts that collide in our own imagination, and offer a captivating insight into the mind of one of the twentieth century’s greatest thinkers and most enduring storytellers.

'The prevailing mood of 42 ... is joyous celebration of a phenomenal mind and a huge talent for surreal humour' Sunday Times

42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams, edited by Kevin Jon Davies
Status: Published
Publication date: 24.08.2023
  • Hardback
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    Dimensions: 303 × 216 mm

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    Dimensions: 303 × 216 mm

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  • Special Edition
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    The Special Collector's Edition featuring a special French fold dust jacket printed on both sides that folds out into a poster.

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  • Signed Special Edition
    Signed Special Edition
    £48.00£60.00Save 20%

    The Signed Special Collector's Edition featuring a special French fold dust jacket printed on both sides that folds out into a poster.

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  • 41 Ebook Variant Image
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    £25.00

    Page count: 320

  • Unbound Gift Bag
    Unbound Gift Bag
    £6.00

    Get your books all wrapped up! Add a book to your order, followed by this gift bag and your order will arrive with the book inside the bag. Only one book will be placed inside each bag purchased.The gift bag measures 30cm wide and 44cm high. Crafted from 100% natural cotton. Perfect for reusing.

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THE NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

When Douglas Adams died in 2001, he left behind 60 boxes full of notebooks, letters, scripts, jokes, speeches and even poems. In 42, compiled by Douglas’s long-time collaborator Kevin Jon Davies, hundreds of these personal artefacts appear in print for the very first time.

Douglas was as much a thinker as he was a writer, and his artefacts reveal how his deep fascination with technology led to ideas which were far ahead of their time: a convention speech envisioning the modern smartphone, with all the information in the world living at our fingertips; sheets of notes predicting the advent of electronic books; journal entries from his forays into home computing – it is a matter of legend that Douglas bought the very first Mac in the UK; musings on how the internet would disrupt the CD-Rom industry, among others.

42 also features archival material charting Douglas’s school days through Cambridge, Footlights, collaborations with Graham Chapman, and early scribbles from the development of Doctor WhoHitchhiker’s and Dirk Gently. Alongside details of his most celebrated works are projects that never came to fruition, including the pilot for radio programme They’ll Never Play That on the Radio and a space-inspired theme park ride.

Douglas’s personal papers prove that the greatest ideas come from the fleeting thoughts that collide in our own imagination, and offer a captivating insight into the mind of one of the twentieth century’s greatest thinkers and most enduring storytellers.

'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

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