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Comparing The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

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Comparing The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
An aspect that makes The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy different from many other notable works of literature, is that it was never intended to be a book. As previously mentioned, he first began the writing process while working as a radio scriptwriter. The first ideas for the book came from a trip to Austria, while lying in an open field he began thinking of the book’s characters. The very first episode of the series was broadcast on the eighth of April in 1978, and it was a huge success. The second episode did just as well, earning Adams a loyal and growing fanbase. By the sixth episode, he was being approached by publishers and was offered a job at BBC Radio 4 as a producer. Growing bored of the job, he left after a couple months to instead …show more content…
It sold extremely well in other European countries, and even more surprisingly in the United States. With about 15 billion copies sold in America, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand combined. He also became the youngest author to have received the Golden Pen Award for his book. ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ moved on to become a television series, a record album, a computer game and also theatrical plays as previously mentioned. The latest adaptation, a film version of the book, was released in 2005. Adams did not live to see the movie due to his unexpected death in 2001 in California. (Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica) He left behind many of his unfinished short stories, essays, exclusive chapters to his upcoming books that were published in The Salmon of Doubt in 2002 by his wife, Jane Belson. (“DNA/Salmon of Doubt”) Still, his greatest legacy continues to be The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy. The 24th number spot in the Waterstone’s Books and Channel list of the 100 greatest books of the century. So what exactly made this book so great? The characters? Plot line? Satire? That question, along with many others can be found in the pages of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “The answer to the great question...of life, the universe, and everything...is forty-two.” (Adams

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