Douglas Adams 
Who?
Don't know Douglas Adams? Shame on you, then! Douglas was a writer. He is the author of the famous Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy series, which is a four-part trilogy consisting of five parts. (that's right). He also wrote two full novels about his inimitable character Dirk Gently. Adams' style is remarkably funny, if you can dig his humour that is. Most can. Like no other, he knows how to twist and bend plots and rules to suit the needs for his characters. Events in his book are often so improbable that they seem completely logic. Or at least they do when he presents them.
I could copy/paste a whole biography about him here, and you would probably just skip it because nobody really cares where anybody else grew up. I can not, however, help myself to express my sense of loss about his death in may 2001. A great author is in my humble opinion lost at a much to early age. Douglas Adams, if this ever reaches you: 1. ha-ha, you were wrong. 2. Hope you brought your towel to wherever it is you are. 3. Thank you for your precious gifts to humankind.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy
Or, for short, HHGTTG. Originally the HHGTTG was a radio play written by Douglas Adams, broadcasted on the BBC. Later on Adams rewrote it into a book, a computer game, a tv-show and there were also plans for a movie. Talk about a long history for a quite simple radio play. But then again, it was one hell of a radio play. The book was comprised of a 5 part trilogy. According to Douglas there were 5 parts in the trilogy due to his bad arithmetics. Actually, only the first book was called HHGTTG. The complete set of books is:
- The Hitchhicker'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
- Mostly Harmless
HHGTTG is about a couple of different characters: Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Trillian and of course Marvin the Paranoid Android (it is believed that Radiohead indeed based their album 'Paranoid Android' on Marvin). Ford is a researcher for the wholy remarkable book 'Hitchhickers Guide to the galaxy', which is exactally what the title says. Arthur gets rescued by Ford who hitches a ride from a Vogon starship just as the earth gets demolished by the Vogons to make way for a new hyperspatial express route. Things do not get better from there.
E-books
Before you continue, I would like to ask you this: If you enjoy reading Douglas Adams please consider buying his books. I provide the following links because that is exactely how I found out about Adams, and I am now a enormous fan of his works. I have all his books in my possesion as well as the original radio play audio's. So these links are only provided as an introduction into his works. They're to long to read on-screen anyway
Radio broadcasts
Here are downloads for all the radio broadcasts from phrase 01 (the earliest broadcasts) to Phase 5:
Temporary unavailable
Video Game
There also exists a video game of the Hitch Hicker's guide. It's an old-style textoriented adventure and, in my honoust oppinion, it's not very good. But if you're a fan, this shouldn't be missing from your collection. You can download it here:
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Video game
Buy
If you enjoy Douglas' books, why not buy them. Believe me, you do not want want to read the whole five parts of the HHGTTG trilogy on your screen. It's over 500 pages. You probably also do not want to print them; It's cheaper to just buy a printed book. Here's some info on the books:
The Ultimate Hitch Hicker's Guide to the Galaxy
| Title: | The Ultimate Hitch Hicker's Guide to the Galaxy |
| Author: | Douglas Adams |
| ISBN: | 0-345-54374-3 |
| Price: | E 20,- (approx.) |
Contents:
- Foreword: What was he like?
- Introduction: A guide to the Guide
- The Hitch Hicker'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
- Young Zaphod Plays it Safe
- Mostly Harmless
Dirk Gently
Dirk Gently, one of Douglas Adams' characters, is a detective who follows his own laws (of physics) when solving a case. This, however improbable, always keeps him on the right trail. Following someone for a client, but he doesn't know who exactelly to follow? No problem for Dirk; he just follows a random person. (which, as it turns out, is just the right one to get him on track).
Buy
The Dirk Gently Omnibus
| Title: | The Dirk Gently Omnibus |
| Author: | Douglas Adams |
| ISBN: | 0-434-00919-9 |
| Price: | E 20,- (approx.) |
Contents:
- Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
- The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul
