h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thanks, Dmitri. It's nice to have someone appreciate that there's more to the job than just proofreading.

Good editors seem to be lacking nowadays. I think I mentioned it in one of my articles. I often wonder: why did the editor not tell the author this or that, and it has happened frequently with contemporary literature - so I guess they don't have editors. They may be a dying breed.

I know that the first three Harry Potter books were well edited and the fourth one was awful with lots of extraneous material which should really have been cut out. The story is that Rowling was now famous enough that she could do whatever she liked and ignored her editor.

That's why I stopped reading after the fourth book. You know, I think you're right there, Gnomon.

Oh, I never thought of that, Gnomon. That just might explain why the most recent books I listened to were so awful stylistically. The author is very popular here. Maybe he ignores his editor, too.