alt.fan.douglas-adams FAQ
Nathan Torkington
Here's what *should* have been posted at the start of the month ...
Subject: alt.fan.douglas-adams FAQ
From: gn...@kauri.vuw.ac.nz (Nathan Torkington)
Maintained-by: gn...@kauri.vuw.ac.nz <Nathan Torkington>
FOREWORD
Buy "Don't Panic" by Neil Gaiman. It is the best guide to 'The Guide'
that is around. Relevant details are :
TITLE: Don't Panic
SUBTITLE: The Official Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion
AUTHOR: Neil Gaiman
PUBLISHER: Titan Books Ltd,
58 St Giles High St
London WC2H 8LH.
PAGES: 182pp.
ISBN: 1-85286-013-8
PRICE: UK price L3.95.
(with appropriate salaams to Scott Telford (s.te...@ed.ac.uk) for
kindly posting this data so that we may all benefit from his
great knowledge and wisdom)
TOPICAL INDEX
1. What are all the books Douglas Adams has written?
2. What are they all about?
3. What "Dr. Who" shows did Douglas Adams [co]author?
4. Where can I find the HHGTTG tapes/albums/CDs?
5. Hey - 6 times 9 ISN'T 42!
6. But 6 times 9 IS 42 in base 13!
7. Can someone explain the ending to "Dirk Gently's Holistic
Detective Agency"?
8. Why don't we start a "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe"
ourselves?
9. Doesn't "the long dark teatime of the soul" appear somewhere in
another book?
10. What's this business about the monkeys?
11. What was the song that Arthur plays for Fenchurch?
12. What was the short story about Zaphod?
13. Does Douglas Adams like Macs?
14. What computer games has Douglas Adams written?
15. What's the business with the barrister?
16. What is the order of the numerous Guide books/records/shows?
17. Who else writes like Douglas Adams?
18. If I ring the Islington telephone number, do I get Deep Thought?
(ULTIMATE) QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1. What are all the books Douglas Adams has written?
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
"The Restaurant at the End of the Universe"
"Life, The Universe, and Everything"
"So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish"
"Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency"
"The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul"
(with John Lloyd) "The Meaning of Liff"
(with John Lloyd) "The Deeper Meaning of Liff"
(with Mark Carwardine) "Last Chance to See"
(with foreward by Geoffrey Perkins) "The Complete Radio Scripts"
(with lots of others) "The Utterly Utterly Merry Comic Relief
Christmas Book"
"The Hitchhiker's Trilogy" (a collection of the first 3 books)
"The Hitchhiker's Omnibus" (a collection of the first 4 books)
"The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide" (leather-bound omnibus
which features the short story "Young Zaphod Plays It Safe")
2. What are they all about?
Buy them and find out.
Essentially "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", "The
Restaurant at the End of the Universe", "Life, The Universe, and
Everything" and "So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish" form a
trilogy in four parts about one man's travels through the universe
after (and before) the Earth is accidentally destroyed.
"Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" and "The Long Dark
Teatime of the Soul" form a loosely-bound series. They are
detective stories after a fashion.
"The Meaning of Liff" and "The Deeper Meaning of Liff" are
dictionaries, which give meanings to words which formerly spent
their lives loitering about at the top of signposts. "Deeper" is
an expanded form of "Liff", with some definitions changed, and
others omitted all-together.
"Last Chance to See" was written after Douglas Adams went around
the world with Mark Carwardine, a zoologist, looking at
near-extinct species. It is humourous, and non-fictional.
"The Complete Radio Scripts" is (surprise, surprise) the
Complete Radio Scripts to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
radio series.
3. What "Dr. Who" shows did Douglas Adams [co]author?
"City of Death", "The Pirate Planet" and "Shada". Shada was never
screened. City of Death and Shada were worked over and became
"Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency".
He also wrote a treatment (plot synopsis) for a film called "Dr Who
and the Krikkitmen". It was never made into either a film or a TV
show, but most of the pertinent plot points reappeared in "Life, The
Universe and Everything."
4. Where can I find the HHGTTG tapes/albums/CDs?
The canonical address is:
BBC World Service Mail Order
Room LG26 NE
Bush House
Strand
London WC2B 4PH
Tel: (071) 257 2575
Fax: (071) 497 0498
The prices from there are:
Box Set: 6 Audios - #21.70 (English Pounds)
6 CDs - #34.76
5. Hey - 6 times 9 ISN'T 42!
Yup.
6. But 6 times 9 IS 42 in base 13!
Yes, and we don't want to know about the implications for the
number of fingers on Golgafrinchans, nor their distribution.
Douglas Adams actually mentions this in his "Complete Radio
Scripts" books.
7. Can someone explain the ending to "Dirk Gently's Holistic
Detective Agency"?
Here are two postings which explain it best:
From: bh...@mundil.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Brendan Hack)
Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1991 23:08:13 GMT
First of all you need to know something about Coleridge. There was
never a second part of the poem _Kubla Khan_. Yet, at the end of
Chapter 6 when The Director Of English Studies is reading _Kubla
Khan_ the book says `The voice (that of the director of english
studies) continues, reading the second, and altogether strange
part of the poem.'
In the book, _Kubla Khan_ has a second part. The book is not
actually set in our existance. It is set in an existance in which
the second part of _Kubla Khan_ exists. This second part of the
poem tells the ghost about the existance of the time machine and
how to travel back and stop the ship from exploding. As we well
know the explosion of the ship is what caused life to begin on
this miserable little planet of ours. When Dirk and Reg realised
this they simply went forward in time to when Coleridge was
writing the second part of _Kubla Khan_ and stopped him. Dirk just
interrupted him and talked so much that Coleridge forgot what the
second part was going to be about and therefore could not finish
it! This change of history sent reality back into our perspective
and the human race lived on (Yay, yippee!).
Quite simple really.
From: Torst...@eos.ericsson.se (Torsten Lif)
The second part of KK was written by Coleridge *while possesed by
the ghost* and is the ghost providing info, not the other way
around. I think the info is about the ship that is still in orbit
around Earth.
By confusing Coleridge (and introducing the albatross that then
appears in the Ancient Mariner), Dirk got rid of the directions to
find the orbiting spaceship (which they also sabotaged, but not
until Reg had stolen some music [by bringing Bach there?]). Since
they aparently had access to suitable explosives (the spaceship
blew up in such a spectacular fashion that it could be seen from
Earth), maybe it was also they who sabotaged the ghost's shuttle
so that it all got started, too?
8. Why don't we start a "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe"
ourselves?
We have. Currently two are extant - PGG (Project Galactic Guide)
which is for 'real-life' entries only, and ANG (AlterNet Guide)
which accepts entries on anything. Both guides have similar format
for entries, and programs to view these guides are reportedly in
the works.
Check out the newsgroup alt.galactic-guide, where PGG is alleged
to be happening. The person to contact is the Editor-In-Chief,
Supreme-God-Over-All-Beings and Leader-of-The-Hack, Paul Clegg
(cle...@aix.rpi.edu). After long and protracted discussions on
which format is best for this, a decision was reached and I wasn't
interested enough to record it for posterity. Contact Paul for
information.
For ANG information, don't even think of writing to the editors
at ma...@dip.eecs.umich.edu (Mark Anthony Young). They will
ignore your letter for three years, before replying in a scornful
tone that they don't like your kind and if you ever put your
little electronic nose near their Guide, they'll have the top two
hundred litigious copyright lawyers in the galaxy after your butt.
But it might be better than languishing in ignorance until the
universe ends.
There is also a paper-based list, maintained by David Hodges. It
is used to raise money for charity and has been approved by
Douglas Adams. You can buy copies (for charity), it is very
large, and would be tremendously illegal (and most would find it
immoral) to put on the net. Contributions to this can be sent to
a...@doc.ic.ac.uk (remember to say they're for David Hodges as this
isn't his account).
9. Doesn't "the long dark teatime of the soul" appear somewhere in
another book?
Yes. In Chapter 1 of "Life, the Universe, and Everything".
Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged is described as being
eventually ground down by the Sunday afternoons, and "as you stare
at the clock the hands will move relentlessly on to four o'clock,
and you will enter the long dark teatime of the soul."
10. What's this business about the monkeys?
It is said that if you get an infinite number monkeys at
typewriters, eventually one will bash out a script to Hamlet. If
you want to discuss probability, quantum physics or anything else
that has nothing to do with Douglas Adams, bugger off to another
group.
11. What was the song that Arthur plays for Fenchurch?
Dire Straits' "Tunnel of Love" from "Making Movies".
12. What was the short story about Zaphod?
The short-story "Young Zaphod Plays it Safe" originally appeared
in "The Utterly Utterly Merry Comic Relief Christmas Book", which
was edited by Douglas Adams and Peter Fincham. It was published
by Fontana in Great Britain in 1986. The story also appeared in
"The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide".
13. Does Douglas Adams like Macs?
Douglas Adams does indeed like Apple Macintosh computers, and at
one stage lived with one in Islington. He wrote a review
of Microsoft Word for the Macintosh in MacUser magazine (September
1987, page 144).
14. What computer games has Douglas Adams written?
With Infocom's Steve Meretzkey (who no longer works for Infocom
after their takeover by Mediagenic), he has written "The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and "Bureaucracy". He also
started work on another game, where the emphasis was to be on
creating a virtual reality in the adventure, but petered out after
his partner lost interest.
The games are available from Virgin Mastertronic (a budget games
house in the UK). Their address is :
Customer Services
Virgin Mastertronic Ltd
16 Portland Road
London W11 2LA
Tel: 071 - 727 8070
15. What's the business with the barrister?
After nearly a decade of saying in his blurbs that he was nearly
married to a lady barrister, on November 25 1991 Douglas Adams and
Jane Belson tied the knot in a quiet ceremony at Finsbury town
hall in London. Bad luck, ladies. They will live in Islington.
16. What is the order of the numerous Guide books/records/shows?
1978: Fits 1-6 of the radio series were aired.
: Fit 7 (The Christmas Episode) aired.
1979: Pan Books releases "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The
Galaxy" book in Britain (expanded Fits 1-4).
: Double album released (contracted Fits 1-4).
1980: Fits 8-12 of the radio series were aired.
: Pan Books releases "Restaurant at the End of the
Universe" in Britain (contracted Fits 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 5 and 6).
: Harmony Books releases the first book in the United
States.
: Second record album recorded (expanded Fits 5 and 6).
1981: Six television episodes aired by the BBC, based on
Fits 1-6 (used revisions made in the books).
1982: Harmony Books releases the second book in the
United States.
1982: "Life the Universe and Everything" released
simultaneously in Britain and the United States.
1984: "So Long, And Thanks for All the Fish" released
simultaneously in Britain and the United States.
1992: ??"Mostly Harmless" released??
17. Who else writes like Douglas Adams?
Quite simply, nobody. However, if you like Douglas Adams' style
of humour, you might appreciate books by:
* Neil Gaiman
* Terry Pratchett
* Tom Sharpe
* P J O'Rourke
* P.G Wodehouse
18. If I ring the Islington telephone number, do I get Deep Thought?
No, you get the people who *now* have that phone number very
annoyed. Please don't do it - Douglas Adams asks that you don't
in a note in the "Radio Scripts" book.
Brian Issleb
Nathan Torkington
Last-modified: 04Apr92
Maintained-by: gn...@kauri.vuw.ac.nz <Nathan Torkington>
Changes: 8 17
FOREWORD
TOPICAL INDEX
(ULTIMATE) QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Yup.
Quite simple really.
From: Torst...@eos.ericsson.se (Torsten Lif)
We have. PGG (Project Galactic Guide for long) accepts entries on
real-life subjects, as well as unreal-life subjects. A reader for
the guide is available, as
vela.acs.oakland.edu:/pub/swbaker/guide.zip
Don't forget binary mode, ftp outside of business hours and contact
swb...@vela.acs.oakland.edu if you have any questions.
Check out the newsgroup alt.galactic-guide, where PGG is alleged
to be happening. The person to contact is the Editor-In-Chief,
Supreme-God-Over-All-Beings and Leader-of-The-Hack, Paul Clegg
(cle...@aix.rpi.edu). After long and protracted discussions on
which format is best for this, a decision was reached and I wasn't
interested enough to record it for posterity. Contact Paul for
information.
There is also a paper-based list, maintained by David Hodges. It
Polygon
>17. Who else writes like Douglas Adams?
> Quite simply, nobody. However, if you like Douglas Adams' style
> of humour, you might appreciate books by:
> * Neil Gaiman
> * Terry Pratchett
> * Tom Sharpe
> * P J O'Rourke
> * P.G Wodehouse
Hey, what about Grant Naylor? I think "their" <Red Dwarf> and
<Better Than Life> are very Adamian.
Peter
nancy norbeck `93
>gn...@kauri.vuw.ac.nz (Nathan Torkington) writes:
>
>>17. Who else writes like Douglas Adams?
>
>> Quite simply, nobody.
Ahem!!!
However, if you like Douglas Adams' style
>> of humour, you might appreciate books by:
>> * Neil Gaiman
>> * Terry Pratchett
>> * Tom Sharpe
>> * P J O'Rourke
>> * P.G Wodehouse
>
>
> Hey, what about Grant Naylor? I think "their" <Red Dwarf> and
><Better Than Life> are very Adamian.
>
>Peter
Ok, two things here:
1) I'd agree with Peter on this one. Though the RD books aren't
available in the US, those with luck/connections/willingness to call
UK booksellers *can* get them.
2) Maybe I'm being excessively literary here, but I can't agree with
the quoted statement from the FAQ. Perhaps for tthe majority of the
authors listed it holds true that they are similar to Adams and you
might like them. but as far as P.G. Wodehouse is concerned, well, he
was around and writing before Adams was even born, unlike the others,
and it's a documented fact that he influenced Adams greatly. So if
anybody's writing like anybody else here, Adams is writing like
Wodehouse, which means that there *is* someone else who writes like
DA. And to whom DA, and we, owe our gratitude for the influence of
style.
Sorry, just had to get my nitpick in there...(maybe there should be 2
categories: The Masters (DA and PGW), and the Wanna-Be's (the rest of
the crowd).
Nancy Norbeck
--
|Nancy Norbeck | "I know that look." "What look?" "The look that says |
|....................| you're going to be impetuous, vengeful, irresponsible,|
|nor...@bucknell.edu| and *stupid*!" --Lady Jane and Lovejoy, "Death and |
|....................| Venice" |
Ron O'Dell
><Better Than Life> are very Adamian.
No quotes -- Rob Grant and Doug Naylor >are< two people. They merged
their surnames into "Grant Naylor" as the author of the Red Dwarf
books, and the name of the Red Dwarf production company.
replies to kee...@deeptht.santa-cruz.ca.us
--
William R Ward <her...@cats.ucsc.edu>
I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning.
-- Proverbs 7:17-18
Sean Volke
>Sorry, just had to get my nitpick in there...(maybe there should be 2
>categories: The Masters (DA and PGW), and the Wanna-Be's (the rest of
I'm sorry, but I find it very hard to place Terry Pratchett in this category.
He's probably been around for as long as Adams and has a lot more to show for
it too(20+ books). I also find his writing to be generally of a higher quality,
although there are one or two exceptions.
Sorry, just had to get my nitpick in there...
>Nancy Norbeck
The Snail
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* ___ | *
* / \ THE | I am unquestionably,absolutely,certifiably *
* | O | SNAIL | insane !!! *
*__\___/_____\/_| How about you ? *
Karl Geppert
>nor...@mira.bucknell.edu (nancy norbeck `93) writes:
>I'm sorry, but I find it very hard to place Terry Pratchett in this category.
>He's probably been around for as long as Adams and has a lot more to show for
>it too(20+ books). I also find his writing to be generally of a higher quality,
>although there are one or two exceptions.
>
To quote more or less directly from Terry Pratchett (who was giving a talk to
the Melbourne Science Fiction Club while doing a recent promotion tour),
"Douglas Adams and I write in the same genre of fiction ... only I write more
of it"