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| The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | 
 enlarge | Author: Douglas Adams
Publisher: Del Rey
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $0.01
You Save: $13.94 (100%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (196 reviews)
Sales Rank: 692848
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.6
ISBN: 0345418913
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780345418913
ASIN: 0345418913
Publication Date: June 23, 1997
Release Date: June 23, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Don't panic! You're not timetripping! It's the tenth anniversary of the publication of Douglas Adams's zany, best-selling novel, and to celebrate Harmony is reissuing a special edition of this cult classic!
By now the story is legendary. Arthur Dent, mild-mannered, out-to-lunch earth-ling, is plucked from his planet by his friend Ford Prefect just seconds before it was demolished to make way for a hyper-space bypass. Ford, posing as an out-of-work actor, is a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Together the gruesome twosome begin their now-famous inter-galactic journey through time, space and best-sellerdom.
For Hitchhiker fanatics (you know who you are!) who've read the books, seen the television program, and listened to the radio show, as well as newcomers to Douglas Adams's unique universe -- remember -- don't panic, don't forget to bring a towel, and don't forget to celebrate The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's tenth anniversary by wearing your bathrobe.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 191 more reviews...
 Hilarious Sci-Fi November 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I read this book on my Amazon Kindle. To start with, the Kindle version seemed to have a few conversion mistakes in it. When there was text in italics, which happens a lot in this book, two words were sometimes joined together. It's like the space would be missing between them. Not a huge deal, but kind of annoying when reading.
The story was fantastic. I thought it was really funny at points. I don't think I've read a book before that had as many funny moments as this. I enjoyed the book far more than the movie which I had seen a couple years ago.
The story did wrap up very quickly, though, and seems to continue into another book which I haven't read yet. I was expecting the story to continue on, and then it just ended.
The end of the book contains a long look at the making of the movie. I skimmed the beginning of this and then quit reading it because it didn't interest me very much.
Overall, though, for the price on the Kindle this is definitely worth reading if you haven't read it yet.
 Hitcher's Guide to the Galaxy July 31, 2008
Really enjoyed the book. Got this one for a birthday gift and the young person was elated!
A Must Read July 17, 2008
It's a great book of humor. Picks at mankind's silly "fads" and "governmental" way of doing things and turns it all into one gigantic (inter-galactic) joke. This should really be made into a must read for High Schoolers.
 A short, simple, silly, spoof of space sci-fi July 16, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
As this outlandish story begins, earthling Arthur Dent, lying in front of a bulldozer about to demolish his house to make room for a byway, doesn't realize that finding a new home is the least of his worries. After convincing him to leave his post to share a drink, his unintentionally conspicuously-named alien (unbeknownst to Dent) friend of five years, Ford Prefect, plies him with drinks and then shares the big news - the earth is about to be demolished to make way for...an intergalactic byway. Fortunately, Prefect is able to save them both from demolition, after which they become space travel companions. Defying what appear to be insurmountable odds, the two are able to survive certain death and spend time with former acquaintances. During their journey they learn what Prefect has been missing during the 15 years he was stranded on earth, as well as the meaning of life and how the earth was first formed. A central part of the plot is the existence and content of the guide that Prefect was working on when he got stuck on earth, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It contains helpful information on a variety of topics for galaxy travelers like this, (p 76) "Space...is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mind-bogglingly big it is." This short novel provides a sometimes silly, frequently funny look at alien-human interaction but is probably better for fans of space-related science fiction than average readers. Similar: Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein and Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle. Also good: The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.
An endorsement from an unofficial member of The Amalgamated Union of Philosophers, Sages, Luminaries and Other Thinking Persons June 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was a graduate student in philosophy when Hitchhiker first came out. Either because I was overwhelmed with school work, or because I (foolishly) thought I was too brainy for Douglas Adams' little gem, I breezed through about half of it, concluded that it was crap, and tossed it aside. (Shades of Majikthise!)
Now, some 30 years later, I've given it the serious read it deserved all along, and discovered why Hitchhiker has so many fans. It's hilarious, of course; Adams' talent for weaving together non sequiturs is unparalleled. It's incredibly imaginative, marrying the best of cosmology with the (intentional) worst of pulp science fiction. Best of all (at least so far as I'm concerned), it's extraordinarily philosophical, chock-full of logical jokes and wonderfully paradoxical arguments. But it makes its philosophical points parabolically, and with such a whimsical and funny touch, that the depth can easily be missed.
Some examples: the hilarious logical conundrum involving identity and substitution in which Ford Perfect entwines the bulldozer-happy Mr. Prosser; the famous Babel Fish demonstration of the nonexistence of God; the sly allusion at the end of Chapter 9 to design arguments for the existence of God; the sperm whale's discovery of impermanence in life and personal identity; the parable about searching for undiscoverables that features Veet Voojagig's search for Planet Ballpoint Pen; the ontological nature of a world in which improbabilities become probable; the wrangle between humanists and technicians; and of course Deep Thought's search for the meaning of everything--which, among other issues, invites readers to think more about the propriety of questions than the virtue of answers.
Even though it's taken me 30 years, I'm glad I've finally rectified a serious failing in my education by reading Hitchhiker. And now, on to the greatest test of all: using it in the classroom as a text! I can't wait.
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