The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 25th Anniversary Edition - Hardcover

by Douglas Adams (Author)

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "Extremely funny . . . inspired lunacy . . . [and] over much too soon."--The Washington Post Book World

SOON TO BE A HULU SERIES - Now celebrating the pivotal 42nd anniversary of the original radio show on which the book was based.

Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read

Seconds before Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.

Together, this dynamic pair began a journey through space aided by a galaxyful of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian (formerly Tricia McMillan), Zaphod's girlfriend, whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; and Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he's bought over the years.

Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? For all the answers, stick your thumb to the stars!

Praise for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

"A whimsical oddyssey . . . Characters frolic through the galaxy with infectious joy."--Publishers Weekly

"Irresistable!"--The Boston Globe

Front Jacket

How shall we begin?
This is the story of a book called" The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy--not an Earth book, never published on Earth and, until the terrible catastrophe occurred, never seen or even heard of by any Earthman. Nevertheless, a wholly remarkable book.
or
This is the story of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a number-one best seller in England, a weekly radio series with millions of fanatic listeners, and soon to be a television spectacle on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
or
This is the story of Arthur Dent, who, secnds before Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, is plucked off the planet by his friend, Ford Prefect, who has been posing as an out-of-work actor for the last fifteen years but is really a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Together they begin a journey through the galaxy aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, with the words don't panic written on the front. ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.")
In their travels they meet:
-Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch President of the Galaxy
-Trillian--Zaphod's girl friend, formerly Tricia McMillan, whom Arthur once tried to pick up at a cocktail party
-Marvin--a paranoid android, a brilliant but chronically depressed robot
-Veet Voojagig--former graduate student obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years
To find the answers to these burning questions: Why are we born? Why do we die? And why do we spend so much time in between wearing digital watches?read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. But remember . . . don't panic, and don't forget to bring a towel.

Author Biography

Douglas Adams was born in 1952 and created all the various and contradictory manifestations of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio, novels, TV, computer games, stage adaptations, comic book, and bath towel. He was born in Cambridge and lived with his wife and daughter in Islington, London, before moving to Santa Barbara, California, where he died suddenly in 2001.