Publisher Description

In Life, the Universe and Everything, the third title in Douglas Adams' blockbusting sci-fi comedy series, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Arthur Dent finds himself enlisted to prevent a galactic war.

Following a number of stunning catastrophes, which have involved him being alternately blown up and insulted in ever stranger regions of the Galaxy, Arthur Dent is surprised to find himself living in a cave on prehistoric Earth. However, just as he thinks that things cannot get possibly worse, they suddenly do. An eddy in the space-time continuum lands him, Ford Prefect, and their flying sofa in the middle of the cricket ground at Lord's, just two days before the world is due to be destroyed by the Vogons.

Escaping the end of the world for a second time, Arthur, Ford, and their old friend Slartibartfast embark (reluctantly) on a mission to save the whole galaxy from fanatical robots. Not bad for a man in his dressing gown . . .

Follow Arthur Dent's galactic (mis)adventures in the rest of the trilogy with five parts: So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, and Mostly Harmless.

Author Biography

Douglas Adams created all the various and contradictory manifestations of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: radio, novels, TV, computer game, stage adaptations, comic book and bath towel. He lectured and broadcast around the world and was a patron of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and Save the Rhino International. Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge, UK and lived with his wife and daughter in Islington, London, before moving to Santa Barbara, California, where he died suddenly in 2001.

In addition to Hitchhiker, He is also the author of the Dirk Gently novels: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul and the unfinished The Salmon of Doubt.

Review

One of the greatest achievements in comedy. A work of staggering genius -- David Walliams
Dazzlingly inventive -- Caitlin Moran
Fizzing with ideas . . . Brilliant -- Charlie Brooker
I haven't known many geniuses in my life. Some brilliantly smart people, but only a tiny handful would I class as geniuses. I would class Douglas, because he saw things differently, and he was capable of communicating the way he saw things, and once he explained things the way he saw them, it was almost impossible to see them the way you used to see them -- Neil Gaiman
It changed my whole life. It's literally out of this world -- Tom Baker
Really entertaining and fun -- Michael Palin
Hitchhiker's is packed with that unique energy, all barmy and bristling and bold. This book can be witty, iconoclastic, godless, savage, sweet, surreal, but above all, it dares to be silly. Fiercely, beautifully silly -- Russell T. Davies, writer and producer of Doctor Who
He had almost a Wodehousian style and some of his phrases and jokes entered our language. He changed the way people spoke -- Stephen Fry
There has never been another writer remotely like Douglas Adams. He discovered a completely new genre – scientific wit – and having discovered it he raised it to dizzying heights -- Tony Robinson
Quite good I suppose, if you like brilliantly entertaining books written with a touch of imaginative genius -- Griff Rhys Jones
Very occasionally a book comes along that changes the way you laugh and what you laugh about -- Richard Dawkins
One of the world's sanest, smartest, kindest, funniest voices * Independent on Sunday *
Sheer delight * The Times *
Magical . . . read this book * Sunday Express *

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