By Douglas Adams
Harmony Books, 1979, 215 p., Fiction
"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun." (pg. 1)
Thus opens Douglas Adams humorous satire on life, politics, philosophy, science fiction, or anything that has a high improbability of appearing suddenly and disappearing. The story follows Arthur Dent, an unremarkable citizen of Earth, and Ford Prefect, an alien who has been stranded on Earth for fifteen years; as they traverse the Galaxy with the Zaphod Beeblebrox,who has two heads (though he is not any smarter than a perfectly normal person with one head), and Trillian, a beautiful and intelligent former citizen of Earth.
Adams hilarious novel was originally produced as a radio show by the BBC and only later was it turned into a five book trilogy (yes a trilogy that was composed of five books), a theater production, video game, TV series, and a movie. Though some may find his novel to mind boggling and say it makes no sense, (and perhaps nonsense is the point), Adams has a talent for arranging words in such a way that the reader may find themselves laughing even if they can't really understand what they just read. There are also moments when - if one really focus on a sentence and peeks beyond the humor - the reader will find something profound or universally true. In short, it is the language, the way that words are used, that makes this book great. This would be a great read for someone who wants a good laugh, loves outer space, is a Doctor Who fan, or has ever wondered what is the answer to the meaning of "Life, the Universe, and Everything." (pg. 170)
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