Don't Panic: Douglas Adams and the "Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" [Hardcover]

SFX Magazine Review 2004: "Don't Panic works as a lean and focused Adam's biography as well as a complete fanboy's trawl through the history of the franchise."

Deserves as much cult success as the Hitchhiker's books themselves.

Droll and informative ... indispensable.

Indispensable ... a treasure trove of quotes and anecdotes.

Full of fun.

Neil Gaiman's superlative HHGTTG guide ... probably the best book currently out there about Douglas Adams.

5-Star Review- "...a complete fanboy's trawl through the history of the franchise."

"It's all devastatingly true - except the bits that are lies. - Douglas Adams
Don't Panic celebrates the life of an ape-descended human called Douglas Adams who, in a field in Innsbruck in 1971, had an idea.
This is also the story of what that idea became: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - the original radio series which started it all, and the five book trilogy', the TV series, almost-film, computer game, towel and website that followed. Acclaimed author Neil Gaiman also tells the whole story of Liff, the Universe of Dirk Gently, and everything else Douglas ever worked on.

As co-author of the latest edition of this book, it behoves me to explain precisely who did what, as there seems to be some confusion among both readers and reviewers.

Don't Panic was first published in 1988 (subtitled: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion). That book (which in terms of this edition is chapters 1-22 and all five appendices) was by Neil Gaiman.

In 1993, the book was updated (and the subtitle altered). Four new chapters (23-26) were added, written by David K Dickson (who should not be confused with the actor David Dixon from the Hitchhiker's Guide TV series).

This third edition, published in 2002 one year after Douglas Adams' untimely passing, was updated yet again, this time by myself (MJ Simpson). I wrote chapters 27-30 and also had the depressing job of altering much of the previous text to the past tense.

For contractual reasons, only Neil's name can be shown on the cover, but David and I are credited with 'Additional material by' on the title page. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

NEIL GAIMAN is one of the world's most critically-acclaimed comics writers, and a New York Times bestselling novelist. His work includes the multi-award-winning Sandman graphic novel series, the television series Neverwhere, and the novels Stardust, American Gods, Wolves in the Walls and Coraline.