The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Douglas Adams

Random House Worlds · Paperback · June 23, 1997

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Extremely funny . . . inspired lunacy . . . [and] over much too soon.”—The Washington Post Book World Now celebrating the pivotal 42nd anniversary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy!

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Who it’s for
A playful voyage through a universe where logic, time, and physics all get a little wobbly.
Themes
Cosmic absurdity, The search for meaning
Genres
Funny Sci-Fi, Satire, Sci-Fi Adventure

About this book

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Extremely funny . . . inspired lunacy . . . [and] over much too soon.”—The Washington Post Book World Now celebrating the pivotal 42nd anniversary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy! Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read It’s an ordinary Thursday morning for Arthur Dent . . . until his house gets demolished.

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The Earth follows shortly after to make way for a new hyperspace express route, and Arthur’s best friend has just announced that he’s an alien. After that, things get much, much worse. With just a towel, a small yellow fish, and a book, Arthur has to navigate through a very hostile universe in the company of a gang of unreliable aliens. Luckily the fish is quite good at languages. And the book is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy . . . which helpfully has the words DON’T PANIC inscribed in large, friendly letters on its cover. Douglas Adams’s mega-selling pop-culture classic sends logic into orbit, plays havoc with both time and physics, offers up pithy commentary on such things as ballpoint pens, potted plants, and digital watches . . . and, most important, reveals the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything. Now, if you could only figure out the question. . . .

Cosmic Nonsense

A playful voyage through a universe where logic, time, and physics all get a little wobbly.

Come here for

  • Absurd cosmic comedy with ordinary things in its sights
  • A cheerful reminder not to panic

Expect

  • Pithy asides on pens, plants, and digital watches
  • Unreliable aliens and a fish with a knack for languages

Where it sits

Funny Sci-Fi100%
Sci-Fi Adventure65%
Satire49%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Action & Adventure
  • Funny Fiction
  • Sci-Fi Adventure
Authors
Douglas Adams
Publisher
Random House Worlds
Published
June 23, 1997
Format
Paperback
Theme
Cosmic absurdity · The search for meaning
Reading lane
Action & Adventure