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I know I shouldn't have done, but I just couldn't resist. I bought Simo's biography of Douglas Adams.
Adams is an endlessly fascinating figure and sadly Simo's book doesn't really do him justice. His admission that he avoided repeating anecdotes from Neil Gaiman's "Don't Panic" suggests that the books ought to be read in parallel. The problem for Simo is that Gaiman is a much better writer than Simo. OK, no real surprise there. Furthermore, the book doesn't attempt any kind of critical analysis of Adams's work, but then Simo would direct you to his Pocket Essentials Guide. There is still plenty of room for a more detailed critical biography that manages to really get under the skin of Adams. I'm sure not all of the book's limitations are Simo's fault. Some of the major figures in Adams's life appear not to have talked him (Jane Belson, Richard Dawkins) and book was written to a very tight deadline. Nevertheless, there are interesting revelations particularly just how much of Adams's life he reinvented. Like Jeffrey Archer, he had a talent for inaccurate precis.
Well, I should have waited for the paperback. Never mind. One thing that would definitely have improved the book would have been a chronology. Simo too often falls into the trap of so many biographers in not making it clear when events happen, how long they go on for and how they relate in time to other events.
I seem to recall rumours that another biography *is* in the pipeline. Can anyway confirm this?
Adams is an endlessly fascinating figure and sadly Simo's book doesn't really do him justice. His admission that he avoided repeating anecdotes from Neil Gaiman's "Don't Panic" suggests that the books ought to be read in parallel. The problem for Simo is that Gaiman is a much better writer than Simo. OK, no real surprise there. Furthermore, the book doesn't attempt any kind of critical analysis of Adams's work, but then Simo would direct you to his Pocket Essentials Guide. There is still plenty of room for a more detailed critical biography that manages to really get under the skin of Adams. I'm sure not all of the book's limitations are Simo's fault. Some of the major figures in Adams's life appear not to have talked him (Jane Belson, Richard Dawkins) and book was written to a very tight deadline. Nevertheless, there are interesting revelations particularly just how much of Adams's life he reinvented. Like Jeffrey Archer, he had a talent for inaccurate precis.
Well, I should have waited for the paperback. Never mind. One thing that would definitely have improved the book would have been a chronology. Simo too often falls into the trap of so many biographers in not making it clear when events happen, how long they go on for and how they relate in time to other events.
I seem to recall rumours that another biography *is* in the pipeline. Can anyway confirm this?
