Last Chance to See
by Douglas Adams, Mark Carwardine · first published 1990
75% recommend25% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Funny, whimsical travelogue of Adams and a zoologist hunting endangered species worldwide, including the kakapo. Suits readers who like his humor in a non-fiction nature and travel book.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
An interactive multimedia exploration of the authors' trip around the world in search of endangered species. Contains the unabridged text of the book Last chance to see, a reading of the entire book by Douglas Adams, and over 800 full-screen color photographs. Allows the user to either read or listen to the book, to choose any chapter within the book, and to explore the many sidebars that provide scientific information about the animals and stories about the authors' experiences as they traveled around the world.
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My favorite book by the late Douglas Adams is "Last Chance to See," a nonfiction project where he travelled around the world for a year looking for various endangered species. The chapter about a fat sort of parrot called the kakapo talks about the challenges of keeping…
on “New Zealand’s War on Rats (2017)” ↗The impending extinction of the Northern White Rhinos is discussed in chapter three "Leopard-skin Pillbox Hat" of the book Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams. Yes, that Douglas Adams. It's his only non-fiction. According to the book, the primary use for the horns is to make jewelery. There were thousands of Northern White Rhinos in the early…
on “The last male northern white rhino” ↗I had no idea that the parrot emoji was based on the Kakapo attempting to mate with Mark Carwadine! That's a really funny video, too. I wasn't so impressed by the TV series, but the original book of Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams is one of my favourite books ever - highly recommended.
on “Scientists are getting creative to save the kakapo” ↗…ever. If you are like me, you absolutely have to watch this hour-long presentation he gave at UC Santa Barbara in 2001 [0], titled "Parrots, the Universe, and Everything". Mind blowing. His last book, "Last chance to see" [1], which is about endangered species, is heavily related to that talk. I recently learned that Douglas Adams had a chance to play on stage at Pink Floyd's 28 October 1994 concert at Earls Court in…
on “Riding the Rays (1992)” ↗Douglas Adams is always excellent, but his writing (and his speaking, now) related to endangered species is my favorite. If you can find a copy of Last Chance to See, it's well worth reading.
on “Douglas Adams Talk - Parrots the Universe and Everything” ↗…But there are some great books, that are unjustifiably rare, and hard to get hold of -- four examples: * Islands in the Net (Bruce Sterling) * The man who walked to the Moon (Howard McCord) * Last Chance to See (Douglas Adams) * Literary Machines (Ted Nelson) The three first I've bought second hand, still looking for a reasonably priced version of the last one. Such books I enjoy having on my wall, if for…
on “Humble eBook Bundle 2” ↗You might enjoy Last Chance to See, from Douglas Adams. It is a tells how he traveled searching for near extinct species. It is non-technical and non-fiction, but it is a Douglas Adams book, so he explains a lot of things and makes up…
on “Interesting non-technical, non-fiction books?” ↗…to lede and I really didn't care. Was a fantastic read. I should figure out how to get notified of all your updates, it's some of the most fun I've had reading, and reminds me a lot of Douglas Adams' "Last Chance to See".
on “Gluten Free Antarctica” ↗You might have preferred his description of Kakapo-speak in Last Chance to See then > “The booming [mating call] is deep, very deep, just on the threshold of what you can actually hear and what you can feel. This means that it carries for very great distances, but that you can’t…
on “Andean condor can fly for 100 miles without flapping wings” ↗…helps. I also tried researching some more books that are travel related that I am planning to read next: * Rita Golden Gelman - Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World * Douglas Adams - Last Chance to See * Italo Calvion - Invisible Cities * Rolf Potts - Vagabonding
on “Ask HN: I'm missing travelling in pandemic. How do you satisfy your wanderlust?” ↗If you get a chance, do read his book Last Chance to See (with Mark Carwardine). Easily the most entertaining book of ecotourism I've read.
on “Why 42? - Douglas Adams Explains” ↗In 1993 I came across an email address that purportedly belonged to Douglas Adams, so I wrote and said that his nonfiction book "Last Chance to See" was even funnier than his fictional stories, and asked about the availability of a paperback edition. There was no response until 1996, when he replied that a paperback had recently been published,…
"The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel" by Jasper Fforde, it starts slow, so give it 100 pages but I was hooked then and read all other books from him (and all are excellent). "Last Chance to See" by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine - most underrated book from Douglas Adams, it's brilliant.
on “Ask HN: What were the best fun books you read in 2014?” ↗I enjoyed the books, but I enjoyed the original radio play[1] more. When it comes to books, I think Adams' best book is "Last Chance To See", which is apparently finally (well 2013) out in a new edition, so it's actually possible to get hold of): https://www.amazon.com/Last-Chance-See-Douglas-Adams-ebook/d... [1] http://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Primary-Drama...
on “Today is Towel Day” ↗Beautiful article. Those that liked this, will probably also enjoy what I consider maybe Douglas Adam's best book: "Last Chance to See": https://www.amazon.com/Last-Chance-See-Douglas-Adams/dp/0345... There's a also a companion BBC Radio series (which I haven't heard) and a later follow up by BBC TV, with Stephen Fry, which is pretty…
on “Inside the Frozen Zoo That Could Bring Extinct Animals Back to Life” ↗