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Don't Panic

Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

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About this listen

Now in audiobook for the first time ever! Read by Simon Jones, the original “Arthur Dent,” and written by #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, Don’t Panic is the definitive chronicle of all things Hitchhiker!

First published in 1986 and updated several times since, Don’t Panic is in an in-depth exploration of Douglas Adams’s cultural phenomenon The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – from its beginnings as a UK radio series, to its expansion into a wildly popular book trilogy, and onto incarnations in various media including stage, records, film, computer games, and even, um, tea towels. Don’t Panic was the first book by internationally bestselling author Neil Gaiman, written early in his writing career when he worked as a freelance journalist in his native England. Voiced by renowned actor Simon Jones – “Arthur Dent” himself – and with a new introduction written and read by Neil Gaiman, Don’t Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy audio edition is the ultimate version of this beloved work.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

 Literary History & Criticism Social Sciences Comedy Funny
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An interesting, poignant and loving portrayal of a man and the inner madness he was able to share with his understanding nation and less understanding universe. I am eternally grateful for the inate britishness that led me here.

Intensely and warmly amusing and informative

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Listening to Arthut Dent reading Neil Gaiman writing about Douglas Adams has to be the ultimate comfort listen. I read the original version in 1993, and it's good to revisit, having read other biographies of DNA in the meantime.

Wonderfully meta

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I was a Douglas Adams fan- or, specifically, a fan of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (HHGTTG)- for decades before I became a Neil Gaiman fan. Now I love them both, because who doesn't love Neil Gaiman? With that said, this book very much screams "early work" at the beginning, but is still both interesting and good.

More problematic are the sections written after the untimely death of Douglas Adams. It seems at times that Gaiman is trying to write in Douglas Adams' voice, trying to make the same jokes that Douglas Adams would have made. I'm not sure if this is deliberate, and Neil Gaiman may in fact be more qualified to try to do this than nearly anyone on the planet, but it still doesn't quite work for me. The later parts of the book also delve heavily into the author's opinion, while presenting them as fact. I also felt like some sections, especially towards the end of the book, were a bit like listening to movie credits read aloud.

One question that kept occurring to me throughout the book was why so much time is spent talking about Dirk Gently when the book is ostensibly about the HHGTTG.

With that said, this book was greatly enjoyable, and I learned a lot that I had not previously known about both HHGTTG and Douglas Adams.

Mostly Harmless

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As a lifelong fan of Douglas Adams, I loved this book. very well written and narrated.

loved this book very much

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Utter rubbish. It’s a good job this is a free trial otherwise I’d be demanding my money back.

Not the story I was expecting

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