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38th out of 50 books
—
228 voters
Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion
by
Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author)
Told in the same fanciful, irreverent style as the Hitchhiker trilogy, with scraps of scripts, letters and comments from Adams, Don't Panic is the perfect companion to one of the most successful series in publishing history.
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
May 1st 1988
by Pocket Books
(first published January 1988)
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Very enjoyable for Douglas Adams fans. A bit dated at this point (written in '88) but the history on Adams' life and works is still relevant. Plus having one of my faves write about another is just too fun. I miss Douglas, his death in 2001 at age 49 was just a huge loss.
Sep 14, 2007
Tracey
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
any Douglas Adams fan who knows where his/her towel is
I received Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as a birthday present & eagerly devoured it this week. Equally a biography and an examination of Adams' body of work, the original version of Don't Panic was written in 1987 by Neil Gaiman, with additional chapters added by David K. Dickson in 1993 and an overhaul with final chapter in 2003 by MJ Simpson. It is a credit to all three of these writers that the voice of the work is consistent throughout - and sound...more
I had to choose a book to read for a school assignment involving non fiction books. I chose Don't Panic, and never regretted the decision once. Written by Neil Gaiman, and added onto by others over the years, Don't Panic uses humor to assist in giving the information that is required to call a Biography a Biography. I found this book easy to get into, and rather enjoyable to do so. The book uses excerpts from Adams' works, and includes interviews with Adams himself, amongst others who we're impo...more
This was, oddly, the very first Neil Gaiman book I read. It was in the Hazen High School Library and it said “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” on the cover, and that was good enough for me.
The connection between H2G2 and Doctor Who is no surprise, and yet it’s really quite surprising. The third book in the five part trilogy? Had its genesis as a Doctor Who script. (95). The actress who played Trillian in the television show was married to “Peter Davison, the fifth and blandest Dr Who. He playe...more
The connection between H2G2 and Doctor Who is no surprise, and yet it’s really quite surprising. The third book in the five part trilogy? Had its genesis as a Doctor Who script. (95). The actress who played Trillian in the television show was married to “Peter Davison, the fifth and blandest Dr Who. He playe...more
Jan 17, 2010
Jason_W.
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
8th-grade-ir-book-rick
This book is about a man named Arthur Dent. He and his Betelguese friend Ford were on the planet Earth. Until the Vogons came over to build a bypass. Ford transport themselves into the ship to save themselves but are soon found. They then have to try to survive in the vast universe where Ford's half friend and ex president Zaphod and an Earthling, Trillan who Arthur met before, have arrived and then became a part of this journey for a question that the highest tech computers took millions of yea...more
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Feb 08, 2013
Nicole
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorites,
nonfiction
I'm so glad I finally got a copy of this book (thanks, Mom!). I love h2g2, and this book is a great look at how all its various incarnations came to be. It also gives a good glimpse of Douglas Adams as a person and an author, which I appreciate since I'll never get a chance to meet him.
And Gaiman's writing is excellent--a perfect blend of reverent and realistic. It's clear Gaiman appreciates Adams' work as an author, but the book doesn't shy away from pointing out how he was probably frustrating...more
And Gaiman's writing is excellent--a perfect blend of reverent and realistic. It's clear Gaiman appreciates Adams' work as an author, but the book doesn't shy away from pointing out how he was probably frustrating...more
Although I loved Hitch-hikers guide when I read it, and still do, I would have never picked-up this book if it had been written by anyone else. I really wouldn't think I'd care about all the trivia about the different versions that have appeared over the years - radio shows, TV, books, film. But I like Gaiman's style. He keeps it interesting.
It turns out that it was somewhat interesting to see the creative process at work. The first two books were better than the next two because it was fresh a...more
It turns out that it was somewhat interesting to see the creative process at work. The first two books were better than the next two because it was fresh a...more
I can't decide on a star rating for this one. I love the Hitchhiker's series, I love Neil Gaiman, but somehow I didn't love this book, or even like it particularly. It was ok, so I could give it a 2 star rating (as that's what 2 stars is defined as here on GoodReads), but I feel like going down that far is a little insulting to both Gaiman and Adams.
I guess my problem is that it just wasn't very interesting. I've never read a word about Hitchhiker's outside of the books themselves, and still th...more
I guess my problem is that it just wasn't very interesting. I've never read a word about Hitchhiker's outside of the books themselves, and still th...more
It might surprise you to learn that Neil Gaiman is my favourite author. It probably won't. What may suprise you is that Douglas Adams is not far behind him, and so this book was an opportunity not to be missed. It should be mentioned that Gaiman's magic touch for prose doesn't come into play here, but what does is that frustrating adn turbulent life of one of the funniest men ever to live it. Gaiman's research is thorough and fascinating, and ticks all the boxes of a biography:
Fascinating life s...more
Fascinating life s...more
A pretty comprehensive look for the inquiring Hitchhiker's fan at the early years of Douglas Adams, his struggles to become a paid writer, and the snowball that is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Discussing things outside the purview of mainstream H2G2 fans, like the computer game, the Dirk Gently novels, Starship Titanic, the H2G2 radio show and the H2G2 record (oddly, not the same recordings at all), and thankfully stopping short of the tepid Hollywoodization of the whole thing. Perhaps...more
This book is half a biography of Douglas Adams and half an insider scoop on how the various versions of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" came about. Published in 1988, obviously it is missing a lot of the later stuff, but it makes for an entertaining read. I learned a lot, including the closer-than-I-suspected links between H2G2 and "Doctor Who" (did you know that "Life, the Universe, and Everything" began its life as a "Doctor Who" script?), and I think that next time I pick up this "tril...more
I gave it to chapter 10 to get interesting and new. At chapter 8 it did. A lot of the info in there was present in a more entertainly written form in THE SALMON OF DOUBT, but as I got deeper into the book there was more about behind-the-scenes Douglas Adams, his mad ideas that either do or should work, and of course there's the factor that Neil Gaimnan wrote it. More of his voice comes out later in the book and you get a wonderful writer saying wonderful things wonderfully about a wonderful idea...more
Thanks to my mother for this Christmas present of the latest (September 2009) revised edition of the 1988 original covering the history of Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Neil Gaiman interviewed Douglas Adams and many of his friends and colleagues to get the dirt/interesting nuggets of how the radio play came about and its metamorphosis into a book, a vinyl LP, a TV show, a towel, a stage play, more radio shows and, after Adams's untimely death, a movie. While he became r...more
When I ordered this book I wasn’t really expecting this kind of amazing compilation of materials and I loved being able to read some of the original cut scripts and here about ideas which were later discarded. I have listened to the radio series and watched the TV series and I really likes Gaiman’s portrayal of the behind the scenes drama, as well as some sneaky information on how they got it all done. I also love the snippets we get about Adams working style (disorganised) and his personal life...more
Full disclosure on this one: my library system did not have this book so I had to inter-library loan it, and the copy they came up with for me is a first edition. They've since published an updated version of the book, re-titled Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which was published about four years after Adams's death in 2001. It probably has all sorts of extra chapters about the seventeen years of Adams' writing and fan activity since 1988, and of course, hi...more
This book is totally excellent. I spent a lot of time annoyingly reading bits and repeating interesting facts to my boyfriend. Gaiman tells the story of Hitchhikers with such honesty and fondness that even those with a passing interest in the series will find themselves sucked in.
Unfortunately the updated chapters (not written by Gaiman) drag on a bit and lack the interviews which make the rest of the book so rich.
This is an absolute must-read for die hard fans of Adams' work. I loved it.
Unfortunately the updated chapters (not written by Gaiman) drag on a bit and lack the interviews which make the rest of the book so rich.
This is an absolute must-read for die hard fans of Adams' work. I loved it.
A short look at the story behind one of the best book series, and one of the funniest authors, I've ever read. And it's written by one of my other favorite authors and major inspirations. So it feels odd that I didn't enjoy this book all that much. It's mostly a series of anecdotes that functions pretty well as a chronology of Douglas Adams' career, but didn't give me much insight into his writing process (other than it occurring at least several weeks after his deadlines), or how exactly H2G2 g...more
This book was not as entertaining or funny as I expected from the topic AND the author. However, if you are a fanatic of H2G2... you should pick this up. A large portion of the book is taken from interviews Neil Gaiman did with Douglas Adams, so hearing Mr. Adams talk about his work in his own words is interesting. But it wasn't what I thought it would be. In this case, the whole is less than the sum of its parts.
Even though I don't really enjoy biographies I thought I'd give this a shot since I love Hitchhiker's Guide and Neil Gaiman. Unfortunately the book didn't hold my interest and I didn't end up finishing it. I don't want to say it was a bad book (because it's not) and it did mention some interesting things about Douglas Adams that I didn't know, it just wasn't my thing.
Dec 10, 2010
David Melbie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
People who panic!
Recommended to David by:
I'm a big fan of these guys!
I first knew of this book after reading Salmon of Doubt, the posthumously published novel by Douglas Adams. This book first appeared in 1987. This is the third edition, which I am assuming has the new material inserted throughout. . .
. . . I'm a big fan of both of these authors, so this was a delightful read. --From A Reader's Journal, by d r melbie.
. . . I'm a big fan of both of these authors, so this was a delightful read. --From A Reader's Journal, by d r melbie.
Interesting biography of Douglas Adams that includes some anecdotes and versions of his work that I hadn't read before. The thing that stood out the most for me is the fact that Adams was a world-class procrastinator and always turned in everything late, yet managed to achieve fame and fortune nonetheless. It gives us all hope.
Feb 04, 2013
Jasper Manning
added it
I was happy to find out that Douglas Adams went through so much trouble while writing his books. I'm not a sadist, but I'm also struggling a lot with my writing projects, and it's comforting to know that it's just something that a person needs to get used to if he/she wants to be a writer.
I am a huge Douglas Adams fan, having read through the complete canon more than once (except for The Salmon of Doubt, which only sort of counts). It has been awhile since I last read any of his books or listened to the radio programs but reading this book brought back so many fond memories and made me want to get them all out and read them again (it did in fact inspire me to at least get out my old mp3's of the radio series and listen to them all, and the television series is now in my Netflix q...more
I'd read the original version of this book back in the 80's hadn't thought about it until my friend mentioned recently that Neil Gaiman had actually written it! It was so interesting to re-read this updated version at a completely different place in my own life, I really got a lot from it. Of course it's also sad to once again be reminded that Adams didn't live nearly long enough. If you love his books, this is a must read.
Entertainingly written "everything you want to know about The Book." A little dated now, because Douglas' story wasn't over when it was written. But I quite enjoyed it, and would recommend it for the Adams fan.
Well-researched and informative. Also entertaining. A bit rushed toward the end, where, in the new edition, other authors have written updating chapters. Gaiman was the perfect writer for this project.
I really miss having Doug Adams around and looking forward to his next book. He is one of my favorite authors, so when I heard about this book, written by Neil Gaiman, another of my favorite authors, I was excited to read it. It's informative and well-written but not as entertaining as I thought it would be or as funny. There were a few fact revealed that I had not been aware of, but I think I was looking for more insight into the author or the characters he created, or how he developed his idea...more
This book is a very pleasant stroll through Douglas Adams' literary biography. There's not much in it that I didn't know already but Gaiman's tone is so engaging that I didn't mind hearing it again.
A great look behind the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the man who wrote it. What an added bonus to have it written by Neil Gaiman -- a funny and insightful writer. It actually sparked me to read another bio -- I hope I am not let down.
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