Neil Gaiman published "Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" in 1988 and I just got around to reading it. As a longtime fan of the writings of both Douglas Adams and Neil Gaiman, this book appealed greatly to me.

I have read nearly everything written by both Adams and Gaiman, and I have returned to his "Hitchhikers" series multiple times.

In this book, Gaiman focuses mostly on Adams's most famous work, "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy," which began as a radio show that Adams later adapted into novel form. He expanded the novel to a trilogy and later to a 5-book series, which he jokingly called an "increasingly inappropriately named trilogy." A TV series, movie, a stage production, and a computer game provided different perespectives on the story of helpless and hapless arthman Arthur Dent who escapes the destruction of his home planet and embarks on a series of misadventures across space and time. Douglas Adams's input varied with each adaptation, as did the success of the final product.

Gaiman conducted extensive interviews with Adams and includes many quotes from the author; but he also includes perspectives from many collaborators.

The wit of Neil Gaiman rivals that of Douglas Adams, and he shows it off in this book's prose. "Don't Panic" is less of a biography than a peek into the writing style of Adams. Although the book focuses on Adams's Hitchhiker stories, we get a peek into some of his other works, including the Dirk Gently series, the Starship Titanic game, and the late humorist's unfinished stories collected in "Salmon of Doubt." I even learned of Adams's contributions to Monty Python and Doctor Who. Gaiman brings the reader into Douglas's creative process, including his infamous tendency to overcommit and miss deadlines.

It was a sad day when the world lost Douglas Adams, but this book helps to keep his memory alive.