The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

By Douglas Adams

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. 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. . . .

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Published Jun 23, 1997

209 pages

Average rating: 7.57

686 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

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Readers say *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy* is a wildly imaginative, humorous sci-fi classic blending British wit with sharp social commentary....

Reney427
8/10 stars
Adding to our bookshelf
Khris Sellin
10/10 stars
Don't know why I waited so long to read this classic. Such a fun read.
natalietriano
5/10 stars
This type of book is not usually my speed, but it was funny. Very dry British humor and all around ridiculous, which made it entertaining.
GretaG65
10/10 stars
Always wonderful to revisit this classic. I've lost count of the number of times I've read it. I still laugh every single time!
hershyv
8/10 stars
I should have enjoyed this more, but I just read it at the wrong time, so I’m leaving a benefit-of-the-doubt kind of rating for now. I’ll read again on another brighter day – based on that, I’ll update the review and maybe even the rating.

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