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

Hi all

Just popped by to see how you are all getting on.

The Disney film hasn't been cast yet, and yes, it is going to be live action. Douglas has been working on the screenplay in Santa Barbara, but he comes back to London quite often and I email him pages from h2g2 on a weekly basis, so he does keep in touch with h2g2.

Well, if you learn anything - let us all know!

You see! We're so bored waiting that we're even starting to quote from his past books. Meanwhile, DNA is laughing his head off, because he knows that we'll buy whatever he writes no matter how long it takes him to write it. We may ridicule it, we may discover that it is only usefull for a coster, but we'll still buy it. Although, I have enough faith left for me to say that it'll probably come back. Now, what should we talk about? Oh, I know! How do you think Arthur, Ford, Trillian, and/or Arthur's daughter survived when Earth blew up? D'you think that Slartibartfast or Zaphod zipped past Earth in the nick of time?

I thought the whole point was everyone died. The End, Finished.
I want a new Radio Play series. That was far superior to the book - and Lintilla was a great character.

What is the point of getting ACTORS to play the parts? Surely Arthur, Ford, Zaphod, Slarty (dear, dear Slarty), Marvin etc should play themselves. Shouldn't they?

Er...I hate to tell you this, Addick, (so I'll break it to you gently) but all the characters, stories and events portrayed in the HHGTTG novels are entirely fictitious, and any resembleances to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. That is why they hired these strange people called "ac-toorsss". Strange that. Oh, and I believe that the sixth book should have completely new characters with guest appearances from the original crew...and then onwards, into the future, with H2G2 - The Next Generation. Or maybe not.

Well, originally DNA had intended to kill them off. But he's bringing out a sixth book, and in this book he will probably bring back the old characters because of fan pressure. I mean, fan pressure made Sir Arthur Conan Doyle bring Sherlock Holmes back to life, and it made L. Frank Baum continue "The Wizard Of Oz" books past book six. And all the hard work he put into cutting Oz off from the rest of the world . . .

Anyway, how can I find a script (or something) of the original radio series? I keep looking, but the only place I can find it is the Douglas Adams Shop.

Err...then why don't you buy it from the Douglas Adams shop? I bought the signed Illustrated H2G2 from it and it arrived okay...admittedly a couple of weeks later than it claimed it would arrive, and the cover was different to the picture on the website, but still...

Well, that's just it. If I get a signed copy, I won't want to open it, read it, look at it, use it, etc. I'm really weird about collectors items. If I get one, I wrap it up and put it on my bookcase for a few years before checking on its current value. That's why. Do you know of anywhere else?

Oh, right...I didn't realise it was signed...you live in the USA don't you...don't you have any major book stores there? In England we have several...Dillons...Waterstones...WHSmith...from all you can buy and order books. OR...if the book is actually available at all, it's be at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. If it's not there then it probably doesn't exist really and is therefore merely the figment of a deranged imagination...I'll check now.

I've actually owned books that aren't listed on Amazon. Is my life the product of a deranged imagination? I hope not. Well, yes I live in the US, and yes, we do have bookstores. Not nearly as many as I'd like, but we have a few. Books-A-Million, Dalton Books, Walden's Book Store, etc. But you're right. If it's out there, Amazon probably has it. Maybe Barnes & Noble, but I prefer Amazon.

So who gets to play the parts of the actors?

Who plays the actors? Oh, just anybody they drag off the street...

I'm still looking for a copy of "Young Zaphod Plays It Safe"... any suggestions?

hullo, Bluebottle!
I have two favorite places to go for hard-to-find, out-of-print, and rare editions of books:
Powells Books in Portland Oregon deals in both new and used books.
http://www.powells.com/

They currently list two [used] copies of 'The more than complete hhg; complete and unabridged.' This book contains 'Young Zaphod Plays it Safe'. [I know, cause I have the leatherbound edition of the same collection.] So hurry over there and see if it is still available. One is 14.95 and one is 15.00. Dunno why there is a .05 difference, but that's the way it is in the wonderful world of used books. Just search for 'Young Zaphod Plays it Safe'--that's what I did to find them.

Oh, and the second place is more for harder to find stuff: it is abebooks.com [formerly american book exchange]
http://abebooks.com
They actually index used books from over 5700 independent booksellers worldwide. The are based in Victoria, BC, Canada and sell online in North and South America, Europe, and Asia.. You can either buy from them or deal directly with the bookseller that has the title you want. I have used their service to locate titles and find out how much they are worth. And to find out-of-print dealers. I have never actually bought anything using their service, tho.

books, books, book, books
books, books, book, books
books, books, book, books
BOOKS!!!!!
[reminds me of one of my favorite drinking songs]

}:=8

Zaphod Plays it Safe is actually in a collection of Shorts including the (new) Pratchett short "Theatre of Cruelty" - "The Wizards of Odd" I think DNA actually updated ZPIS for this collection.

There is a very good review of this book at http://www.sfsite.com/12b/odd23.htm.

Go check it out.

Thanks - I'll have to go to Waterstones and see if I can find it!

So is YZPIS just a prelude, or something?

When I get a copy, I'll let you know.

Not precisely, I'm not sure where in the time line it comes, but it doesn't invlove any of the other characters (I think).

Anybody interested in a discussion about books generally? If so I've just set up a forum under the books article: http://www.h2g2.com/forumframe.cgi?forum=25085&thread=40110