Win a copy of The Frood: The Authorised and Very Official History of Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

The Frood: The Authorised and Very Official History of Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Random House Books RRP $37.99 (paperback)
As a wise ape once observed, space is big - vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly so. However, if you look too closely at space, it becomes nothing but lumps of rock and sundry gases. Sometimes it's necessary to take a step back, and let a few billion years go by, before any of the true wonder and scope of the cosmos becomes apparent.
Similarly, the late 20th century author, humorist and thinker Douglas Adams was big - vastly, hugely and thoroughly mind-bogglingly so, both in physical terms, and as a writer who has touched millions of readers, firing up millions of cerebellums all over planet Earth, for over 35 years - and for nearly half of that time, he hasn't even been alive.
It would be ridiculous to pretend that Douglas Adams's life and work has gone unexamined since his dismayingly early death at 49 but throughout the decade since the last book to tackle the subject, the universes Adams created have continued to develop, to beguile and expand minds, and will undoubtedly do so for generations to come.
An all-new approach to the most celebrated creation of Douglas Adams is therefore most welcome, and The Frood tells the story of Adams's explosive but agonizingly constructed fictional universe, from his initial inspirations to the posthumous sequel(s) and adaptations, bringing together a thousand tales of life as part of the British Comedy movements of the late 70s and 80s along the way. With the benefit of hindsight and much time passed, friends and colleagues have been interviewed for a fresh take on the man and his works.
Review by Susan Melling.
The introduction to this book had me laughing aloud, a very promising start; after all any introduction that has a the title 'Do not read this introduction' has to be worth reading.
It also left me confused wondering how Douglas Adams had written an introduction to a book, after his death. I decided not to overthink this, but to go with the thought that this piece of writing had been written by Douglas Adams prior to his death, but not as a introduction to this book.
The Frood has been deeply and painstakingly researched; the opening pages even give details of the occupations of Douglas Adams' ancestors, starting with the Dr Alexander Maxwell Adams (1792-1860.) There are descriptions of Douglas's early life, his schooling and his heroes.
There are academic discussions about who influenced his writing, his early work and how lines from his early work were recycled in later works and in Hitchhikers.
I have read and enjoyed The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, but I think I am not a big enough fan to be held fascinated by all the detail in The Frood. I found the facts all blurring together, and before the end of the first chapter was turning to the illustrated plates, and to the appendices for some light relief, and by half way through the second chapter gave up trying to read through the book in a continuous fashion. For me it is more a book to dip into, than to read from start to finish.
It is undoubtedly a mine of information for devotees of Hitchhikers, and for fans avid to soak up all the minutiae available about its creation. It would be an invaluable source of reference for anyone writing a thesis on the subject, however I had expected this book to be an easier, more entertaining read, rather than such an academic work.
To go into the draw to win a copy of this book CLICK HERE Draw closes 24th November 2014.
Open to NZ residents only.