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 sounds suspiciously (to me) like Douglas himself.

The work is roughly chronological, tracing the development of the Hitchhiker's Guide material through the original radio show, play performances, audio recording & television show, to the increasingly-inaccurately-named trilogy, computer game and still-to-be-hoped-for movie. Adams' early ventures into the media (including two walk-on parts in the last season of Monty Python's Flying Circus) are also discussed, as well as other projects like Last Chance to See and The Meaning of Liff. Dirk Gently rates a chapter or two, as does Adams' forays into computer gaming and the World Wide Web. The final chapter is appropriately called "A Sort of Apres-Vie". :^(

The appendices are a wonderful addition - the original synopsis of Hitchhikers', an analysis of the variant texts, a Who's Who of the major characters from the series, "How to Leave the Planet" and an excerpt of the film treatment of "Doctor Who and the Krikketmen" (Oh yes - Adams was involved in the Doctor Who series, as well...)

This book made me smile, albeit through the occasional tears - I was fortunate enough to attend a talk and book signing with Douglas Adams back in 1995 - and Gaiman's characterization of DA as "serious and funny and faintly baffled" was spot on. I would recommend Don't Panic to any Douglas Adams fan who knows where his/her towel is.

Entertaining and interesting

Over thirty years ago, a young journalist named Neil Gaiman (you may have heard of him since in other contexts) was given access to Douglas Adams, his life, his files, his unpublished outtakes, and many of his friends and coworkers, to write a highly entertaining account of the creation of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy--the radio show, the six books of the "trilogy," the movie, the games. This is a fascinating look inside how Adams worked, and just how chaotic his creation process was at its best.

Because yes, all his most creative work was done in at atmosphere of chaos and looming deadlines.

And in a time when radio had already become largely a domain of music, news, and talk, he did his best work for radio, and drew in listeners as few if any other entertainment writers and creators could do for radio. This included, of course, not just Hitchhiker's Guide, but his wonderful nature program about endangered species, Last Chance to See.

This book is its own wild romp, while also giving due attention to Adams's struggles, depression, and frustrations. It's been updated several times since its origial publication, and access to Adams's files provides considerable insight into his working process. The unpublished outtakes and early versions also give us a view of how Hitchhiker's Guide developed, and the happy disregard for continuity and consistency that might have sunk many other creative works, but but gave life and vitality to the Guide in its many forms.

It's a wonderfully enjoyable and informative book, and I can't really do justice to it. Just read it, okay?

I bought this book.

I found Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy to be very informative and highly entertaining. It helps that I have enjoyed many incarnations of HHGTTG over the years (I would love to listen to the original BBC radio series), find Douglas Adams' work & life to be fascinating, and absolutely love anything written by Neil Gaiman, one of my all-time favorite authors.

Биография на Дъглас Адамс, съсредоточена предимно в написването на „Пътеводител на галактическия стопаджия“, адаптациите за радиото и големия екран, както и за нейните продължения и за сериала „Доктор Кой“.
Разочарована съм от тази книга, съставена с информация за радиопредавания, монтажи, филми и факти за сценарии. Информацията не ми обогати знанията по никакъв начин, нито пък е поднесена увлекателно, за да ми стане интересно. Заспивах от скука и дори някои смешни цитати не ме спасиха от отегчението. Харесаха ми отговорите на Дъглас Адамс в главата за писмата, които е получил от фенове и приложенията на книгата, в които се разказва сюжета на „Пътеводител на галактическия стопаджия“ и епизод от сериала „Доктор Кой и роботите от Криккит“, написан от Дъглас Адамс.
Мислех, че Нийл Геймън ще поднесе смешно историята, но стилът му на писане не ми допадна със суховато поднесената информация. Трябва да си невероятен фен на писаниците на Дъглас Адамс, за да успееш да прочетеш тази книга.

Neil Gaiman's Don't Panic succeeds in so far as the author manages to capture the humor of the late Douglas Adams. It lacks depth as a biography but more than blankets the various aspects and versions of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (H2 G2 ) as well as the five book trilogy. It is correctly described in one of the other reviews as the hyper-extended bonus feature that was too long to include on any of the CDs or DVD versions of the radio broadcasts, televisions shows and unfortunately the Disney movie.

If you have come looking for this book and have read this far my assumption is you are a Douglas Adams fan. H2 G2, Dirk Gently or possibly Dr. Who fans constitute the target readership for this book. Granted Douglas Adams had a very slight association with the Monty Python's crew; more of common friendships than creative participation but none of this qualifies Don't Panic for a general audience.

That portion of the book that is about Douglas Adams is clearly intended as a friends and family type biography. That is, one that is more affectionate than analytical or critical. A very large portion of the discussion of Adams the writer centers around his inability to meet any deadlines which is nothing new for people who know about Adams's history. Daiman does do a decent job of explaining Adamns and missed deadlines by providing the additional context of Adams; too often self-inflicted complex life.

Gaiman succeeds as an apologist for Douglas Adams and is someone who can speak in a voice very much like Douglas Adams. I have read as much of Adams published works as are available in America. I own and enjoy the original radio series and the original television series of H2 G2. So I was interested to get to read about the intimate background on most of what occurred in the making of -- to include electronic games and live performances.

My conclusion is that this is a fan's book. There may be some other audiences such as those who collect biographies of writers or who wish to know more about the creative / production process in any of several media. The ironic /humorous tone makes for easy reading but one can get somewhat bogged down in details.

As much as I once enjoyed Douglas Adams, I always had a nagging suspicion that hhttgg was lightning in a bottle.

This book sorta confirms that.

It’s a good recounting of all the history of Douglas Adams and his various projects. But it’s not life changing.

This was quite good fun to read, but only in small doses, so I took my time over it. Very much one for the fans. In a way it's a study of the evolution of an idea that kept growing and changing over the years and in the various media.

This was interesting, at first. However, I should add this to a very short list of books (2) that I decided to not finish. Unless you are a super fan of Douglas Adams, or maybe someone that likes to read about the creative process of writing, producing TV shows and movies, this book may not very interesting. I was able to get through about 67%, before I gave up.

Interesting for the process of growth and change and evolution of a media property. Feels a little laboured in parts as it tries to echo the humour of the source.

“Без паника” – почит към Дъглас Адамс и неговото писане (и неписане): http://knigolandia.info/book-review/b...

“Без паника” е много различна от стандартна биография, като е важно да уточня, че преводът е по нейното последно преработено издание от 2009 г., така че стига и до напускането на почти безобидната ни планета от страна на Адамс. Изпълнена е със забавни истории за писателя, но пък и с тон информация как се прави телевизия и радио в Англия преди твърде много десетилетия, което не е чак толкова интересно – затова и честно (не твърде издателски) помолих Дамян да напише на предната корица, че в книгата е всичко, което искате – или не искате – да научите за Адамс. Но повечето неща ще искате, или поне аз исках. Исках да знам къде е учил, как е градил стила си, какви преживелици е имал и как са го отвели до идеята за “Пътеводителя” (избълбукала там на една поляна по собствените му дум), защо трилогията книги е всъщност от пет толкова различни части, нещо за другите му книги, интереси, сред които се отличава най-важното му хоби, което го вълнува от дете: да не пише.

CIELA Books
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/b...

This is an authorized biography of Douglas Adams, the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in (nearly) all of its iterations. This is the updated biography, originally published in the 1980's and since re-published in e-book form in 2018. However, it doesn't seem to have any new information past 2010 that I can find. It was a fascinating read, even for someone who has never heard any of the radio series (though now I want to hunt them up) or seen the television show (which sounds like it would be a fun afternoon to binge-watch, assuming I could get a hold of them), though I did see the film when it came out in theaters and, subsequently, read the books. Or most of them, anyway.
This book focuses itself, mainly, on Adams' working life. There is very little about his personal life, or his early life, beyond what is necessary to make a comprehensible narrative out of his life's events. That said, the book is organized more by project than it is in any sort of timeline (right up until it covers - spoiler alert! - Adams' death. I would have liked a better framework to reference to help me understand the order of events better, but if you are looking for pocket-sized reference chapters discussing all of Adams' various (and highly varied) projects, this is an excellent guide.
One who reads this must have at least a passing affection for Hitchhiker's, though it doesn't have to be much (see my experiences, above.) Neil Gaiman does an excellent job of capturing Adams' humor while not attempting to emulate or copy his voice. It made the biography all the more pleasant to read.
I read this book in e-book form for free (kind of), on loan, through Amazon Prime Reading.
I would recommend this book for Douglas Adams fans in of a middle-school reading age and older. There is no graphic language, violence, or sex. Three stars.

Вот я даже не знаю, можно ли найти эту книгу целенаправленно. Мне кажется, Гейман написал специально что-то незаметное и спрятал книгу в темных каталогах книжных магазинов. Или может быть я сужу по себе... "История создания книги «Автостопом по Галактике» попалась мне совершенно случайно. Я прочитал весь цикл "Автостопа" Дугласа Адамса и захотел скупить все остальное, что написал этот замечательный автор. И вдруг на глаза попадается "Автостоп", но почему написанный Нилом Гейманом. Странно, правда? Гейман решил переписать нетленку что ли? А нет, как оказалось, в молодые годы Гейман работал обычным журналистом, и как-то раз по заданию редакции он познакомился с Дугласом Адамсом, брал у него интервью, собирал разные вырезки. А теперь вот решил весь собранный материал издать отдельной книгой, чтобы мы узнали, с чег8о написал автор и как развивал уникальную вселенную "Автостопа".
Что собой представляет книга? Поэтапная биография и самого Дугласа Адамса и его популярного цикла. Немного детства, немного первых неудачных опытов найти свое профессиональное место. Удивительно, но оказалось, что я ничего об авторе не знаю (хотя почему-то был уверен, что знаю много). Адамс дружил с Джоном Клизом и даже писал несколько сценариев для позднего Монти Пайтона. Как это прошло мимо меня? Многие, в том числе и я, были уверены в том, что сначала была книга, а только потом пошли радиопостановки и фильмы. А вот и совсем нет! Сначала как раз было радиопостановка. которая произвела настоящий фуррор среди слушателей и любителей фантастики. И только потом, когда Дугласу предложили написать книгу умные люди, он начал над ней работу. И как же тяжело ему далось письменное творчество! Все переписывалось сто раз, сроки постоянно срывались... И в это трудно поверить, потому что так все складно написано у Адамса, как будто с ним все время пребывала самая лучшая муза из всех существующих.
Что хорошего в книге - подробная информация о том, как занимался Дуглас Адамс занимался творчеством. С кем встречался, чем вдохновлялся, какие были проблемы. Я действительно не знал, что для Англии это был культовый автор, похороны которого даже транслировали онлайн на BBC.
Что не очень хорошего - мне не хватало в книге интересных, необычных историй из жизни автора. В книге огромное количество упоминаний совершенно неизвестных имен, которые в какое-то время приложили свои усилия к популяризации "Автостопом по галактике". Кто озвучивал, кто играл, кто заменял, кто был секретарем, кто-то просто мимо проходил. но сделал важное замечание. Местами очень сухо.
Очень познавательная книга. если вам нравится то, что делал Дуглас Адамс. От Геймана тут ничего нету (это если вдруг кто клюнет именно на автора книги, а не на то, про кого она написана). Чисто для фанатов. И спасибо за проделанную работу (чуть было не написал "рыбу"), Нил. 7/10