Don’t Panic audiobook

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, whic

“Douglas just doesn’t go away. The years since his passing have been packed with celebration and reinvention, some of it great, some of it less so, but that’s fine, that’s how these things work. There has been much he would have been immensely proud to see (and hear), and one cannot help but be saddened by the fact that he is unable to. Ultimately, though, he has achieved the only immortality he would have wished for and we must count ourselves lucky to have enjoyed his company, even for too brief a time, and still enjoy his legacy. So long Douglas and thanks for all the words.”This book by Gaiman is a delight to Douglas Adams and H2G2 fans. Written much like behind the scenes making of a popular movie, this book covers the making of Douglas Adams (and H2G2, Dirk Gently and Last Chance to see) as one of the icons of humor writing and the subsequent evolution of the franchise.When I read H2G2 first way back in 2001-02 - I was blown over. I laughed till tears rolled down my cheek and literally fell off the chair laughing. By the time I finished the 4th book - I was feeling the worry of being let down and by the 5th book - though I was clearly a fan of Mr.Adams, I was defensive about why the book didn't work. In the process, I discovered the story of the series and found out why it was a trilogy in five parts. Over the years, I made sure to finish everything Mr.Adams wrote (I had a book of favorite quotes), heard the radio show online (Loved it!), watched the movies (Hated it!) and contributed a couple of articles on H2G2. The book made me relive the entire love and adoration as it talked about the evolution of the series and the personality of Douglas Adams. The man made the writing process seem like a pain and we find out he was completely dismissive of the concept of deadlines. He was possessive of his creation and the people involved in bringing his idea to life across the mediums had not-so-fond memories. It is not because of, but despite, all the chaotic efforts this cult classic lives on. A very toned down proper Gaiman makes himself invisible in this book and hence it remains a celebration of Douglas Adams. Was fun to revisit the book through the appendix chapters. For Douglas Adams fans.

Best reading experience in a long while! In a nice compact format Gaiman manages to convey a good biography of Adams as well as a great primer to all of his writing. Worth reading in it's own right and even if you haven't read HHGTTG or Dirk Gently. Or, so I think anyway. Really, how would I know? I read all of them an absurd number of times...Anyway, made me feel like a re-read and more than that, it made me feel like playing the notoriously hard Text Adventure again (and that's an accomplishment, because this game didn't only kill you off all the time - it did so always with an insult).If anyone wants to experience it or revisit, it's available in an online version here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/arti...Don't say I didn't warn you though, drink plenty of fluids and get some sleep once in a a while.

Don't Panic is mostly an overview of Douglas Adams' work from a "making of" standpoint, rather than looking into the works as texts, or being a biography of Adams. It's lively and interesting, and is a good overview of his creativity, his passions like computers and conservation... and his eccentricities that must have driven his co-workers nuts. It's less interesting after his passing, as various producers and writers try--and fail--to catch a spirit that has flown. The appendices are mostly skippable, but I did enjoy the character profiles and "How to Escape Earth," which was pieced together from Adams' wording on a marketing bonus item.I'll have to track down Last Chance to See, which I was unfamiliar with before listening to this production.Simon Jones' narration was fun to listen to. Jones himself is mentioned several times in the book, since his acting was a primary inspiration for the character of Arthur Dent, that he ended up playing on the radio and TV. Occasionally there was a hint of strangeness and lost time to it, since this is a 2020 production of a 2009 book, that in places calls back to Adams' work from over 40 years ago.

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.

An amazing book from an amazing author for an amazing author. It was hilarious, Interesting and easy to read.

A very good insight on Douglas Adams' process of creating The Hitchhiker's universe as well as his other works (such as his contribution to Doctor Who, Last Chance to See etc), everything that encompasses that, but also on DA's own character, work process and relation to other significant people (that some readers might have heard of through other books/movies/radio programs/TV shows but weren't aware of any connection). Moreover, there are some great excerpts from the books/radio programs and some bits that never made it into any story.

If you have ever stood in a field staring up at the myriad stars in the night sky and wondering just how it came to be that the humanoid life-form known as Douglas Adams managed to dream up such infinitely improbable adventures, or if you have ever stood in front of a vending machine that has just provided you with a plastic cup filled with a liquid that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea, then in all likelihood you will enjoy this book.Neil Gaiman has taken time off writing his own fantastic adventures to share with us his research into the life and times of Douglas Adams. I for one am very glad that he did as the story he so masterfully unfolds is both sympathetic and enlightening. Gaiman manages to shed not a little light on Adams' creative process and life, from the rigors and panics of his early days of script writing for Doctor Who then the Hitchhiker's radio series all the way through to the very end of his career. Gaiman does a marvelous job of not only telling the tale but also revealing something of the man who said, 'I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.'Adams was a unique writer and a comic creator of genius. He died all too young, but this book is a great tribute to a life fully-lived and to a very human humanoid.

All things Hitchhiker Guide and more. Told in only the way Neil Gaiman can do!

The Douglas Adams story continues , at this point I am just fanboying, read this if you like Douglas Ideas and humor. Actually, just read Douglas Adams for humor. There is also a lot of observation on the skill of writing and applying humor, which are to me, very valuable. Since I can’t do both. Also, if you ever want to start the hitchhikers galaxy, listen to the audiobook, it is the way Douglas Adams had intended it to be consumed. The book came after.

Written much in the style and humor of the author it honors, Neil Gaiman’s "Don’t Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy" is a wonderful treat for fans of “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” and its author. The book contains supporting material from Douglas Adams himself, as well as his own words as compiled from Gaiman’s interviews with him, as well as a tireless search of the media.Adams early aspirations were toward the stage. He saw John Cleese perform while at Cambridge and thought to himself, “I can do that… I’m as tall as he is” (page 7). Gaiman connects for the reader Adams early work with the work that would become The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. While working with Graham Chapman after the days on Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Adams amassed ideas he thought either too good to discard or too interesting to forget and they would make up elements of his later masterpiece. The Adams that Gaiman outlines for us very much worked on instinct and inspiration. Douglas said that he “Didn’t so much like writing as having written (Page 7)."Don’t Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy" is a fanboy love letter to an author known and admired. There is, after all, a reason a day is dedicated to this internally best-selling author. “Don’t Panic: Douglas Adams and the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” is a wonderful reference for any fan of Douglas Adams and gives us a true insight into his process, his insecurities, his challenges and ultimately his success. Written in the light and thought-provoking style of its subject, I am now inspired to go out and snap up everything Nail Gaiman has ever written.On Page 59, Gaiman lists three opinions of why "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy" was so successful. The consensus seems to be that it’s because it’s not like nothing the reading public had ever seen before. As someone who first read Adams as a teenager and has been searching for like authors for the better part of my life, I believe this perfect style of brilliance and madness is so hard to produce that we’ll see it infrequently as time goes on. Adams is lost to us now. Jasper Fforde remains, and up and coming authors like Ford Forkum as well, but catching the magic in the bottle that was Adams is elusive. "Don’t Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy" was a sheer delight to read and to remember the man that was Douglas Adams.

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 played the Dish of the Day, a bovine creature which implores diners to eat it.” (80). Ford Prefect – Ford Prefect! was “a reaction against Dr Who, because Dr Who is always rusing about saving people and planets and generally doing good works, so to speak; and I thought the keynote of the character of Ford Prefect was that given the choice between getting involved and saving the world from some disaster on the one hand, and on the other hand going to the part, he’d go to the party every time, assuming that the world, if it were worth anything, would take care of itself.” 162. A poignant reread, ten years after we lost DNA.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is one of those things that won't fade away. In large part, the future bestseller Neil Gaiman suggests in this work first published in the mid-1980s that Hitchhikers status in popular culture is because of its creator: the late, much-missed Douglas Adams. Charting the course of Adams's life, career, and legacy, Gaiman (along with eventual updaters David K. Dickson, M.J. Simpson, and Guy Adams) takes readers on a journey. One that charts how an aspiring and thinking he had washed-out comedy writer/performer created and expanded across multiple media the Hitchhikers series. More than that, Don't Panic covers everything from Adams's script work on Doctor Who to Dirk Gently and the non-fiction Last Chance to See, to name but a few of the projects covered. Even more remarkable for a book written by four writers across nearly three decades, it comes across pretty much seamless, not to mention in a pastiche style of its subject's writing style. The result is a first-class read for fans of Adams's work, offering plenty of insights into his books and scripts, not to mention the man himself.