A book released around Christmas 1986 to raise money for Comic Relief, selling at the bargain price of £3.95. Compiled from submissions by the cream of UK comedy talent at the time, and edited by the late Douglas Adams, it has become something of a collectors item due to its unique content. The whole thing is rabidly anti-nuclear, anti-Thatcher and anti-Raygun. This is a Good Thing.

The majority of the book seems to have been written by Douglas Adams, Rowan Atkinson, Richard Curtis, various members of the Private Eye and Monty Python teams, and many names from the scriptwriting teams of various comedy shows.

Notable amongst DNA's contributions are the following, though I can't node here for copyright reasons, can be found easily enough on the web once you know the titles:

  • Young Zaphod Plays It Safe - rather good Hitchiker's story about the origin of Ronald Reagan. Later bundled in US Omnibus editions of the trilogy, in a slightly revised form.
  • The Private Life of Genghis Khan - Based on a sketch Adams did with Graham Chapman. Features Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged in a cameo.
  • A Christmas Fairly Story - Written with Terry Jones, a black comedy story about nuclear accidents.
  • The Official Supplement to The Meaning of Liff - As it says, an addon for The Meaning Of Liff, by DNA, John Lloyd and Stephen Fry.
  • The Official Supplement to the Official Supplement to The Meaning of Liff - Yet more Liffage.
  • The Official Supplement to the Official Supplement to the Official Supplement to The Meaning of Liff - "We seem to have omitted an 'o'. Here it is: o. Enjoy."
Also of note are "Biggles and the Groupies" by Michael Palin, illustrated by Glen Baxter, and "Tiny Tim Strikes Back", credited only to "Chuck" Dickens, where Tiny Tim beats Scrooge to death with his crutches as he won't stop calling him "tiny". There's also nice exclusive Posy Simmonds strip picking apart parental reasoning.

If you ever see it, buy it. It has some phenomenal content which can't be found elsewhere.

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