Review of 'Wish You Were Here: The Official Biography of Douglas Adams'

Wish You Were Here: The Official Biography of Douglas Adams by Nick Webb

I am a big fan of “The Hitchhiker Guide of the Galaxy” from being told by a cousin about it I remember watching the television series on PBS when living in Canada. I eventually would pick up the books (yes, one signed and an original first edition of the first book) including his Dirk Gently books, his “Last Chance to See” non-fiction book about species on the brink of extinction where he travelled the world with a zoologist, the radio scripts and also the CDs of his books. His witty writing is a joy to read and always gives me a chuckle though, I suppose, it is not for everyone. A few years I read the not-so-official biography Hitchhiker: A Biography of Douglas Adams so I have finally got around to reading the “official biography” by Nick Webb, who commissioned The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy while an editor at Pan Books…and remained a friend of Adams until the author died tragically at the age of 49.

In “Wish You Were Here”, Webb takes us through the rather unusual life of Adams, with his beginnings with the Footlights in Cambridge where his height and slightly dominating personality did not really suit the stage but his writing was brilliant. Eventually he hit the big time with a radio script of “Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” that the BBC decided to pick up which quickly turned in a phenomenon and made Adams a very wealthy man for much of his life…though he was not good at keeping it, throwing lavish parties, nice houses in the middle of London, buying the latest tech, and a soft touch for charity cases. It did not help that his accountant embezzled him, resulting in a huge loss. The often-noted propensity of Adams to procrastinate to an incredible degree is related in all it's glory here but when he did write it was, generally, gold and sold in the millions. He struggled for much of his life to find his voice beyond the Hitchhiker books but his adoring fans forced him to return and again to his major hit. Lesser known is his earlier involvement with writing for Doctor Who and he even was involved with Monty Python, credited in writing for their television series (one of only two non-Python people to have such a credit). Later in life he was really taken up with the potential of the Internet, including a real-world “Hitchhiker's Guide” which allowed the public to contribute to it (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition). He even got involved with video game production including “Starship Titanic” whose book adaption would eventually be written by Eric Idle (yes, of Monty Python fame). It is also clear here that the man was a big softy and appeared to hugely enjoy his life.

What is missing here is a huge amount of detail about Adams but I suppose that is to be expected as it is clear he would use his humour to perhaps hide away his personal life. Webb was certainly a colleague but likely not a hugely personal friend so here the focus is largely on his public life, his huge fame and the large amount of money he earned. There is discussion of a few of the aspects of his personal life including his slightly awkward relationship with his wife and his adoration of his one child. Even the death is mentioned but not discussed much beyond the fact of it's occurrence.

Fans of Douglas Adams will find this book an interesting insight into his life and success but “Wish You Were Here” is fairly superficial and does not offer too much of an insight into the inner thoughts of the man himself but it is a pretty exhaustive and detailed view of what the man actually did, which, I suppose, is the point.

Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2026-06-13

Genre: Autobiography

Publisher: headline

Publication Date: 2003

ISBN: 0755311558