Product Description
At last in paperback in one complete volume, here are the five classic novels from Douglas Adams’s beloved Hitchiker series.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is saved by Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised Guide. Together they stick out their thumbs to the stars and begin a wild journey through time and space.

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Facing annihilation at the hands of warmongers is a curious time to crave tea. It could only happen to the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his comrades as they hurtle across the galaxy in a desperate search for a place to eat.

Life, the Universe and Everything
The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky– so they plan to destroy it. The universe, that is. Now only five individuals can avert Armageddon: mild-mannered Arthur Dent and his stalwart crew.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Back on Earth, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription conspires to thrust him back to reality. So to speak.

Mostly Harmless
Just when Arthur Dent makes the terrible mistake of starting to enjoy life, all hell breaks loose. Can he save the Earth from total obliteration? Can he save the Guide from a hostile alien takeover? Can he save his daughter from herself?Amazon.com Review
It's safe to say that The Hitchhiker's Guide to theGalaxy is one of the funniest science fiction novels everwritten. Adams spoofs many core science fiction tropes: space travel,aliens, interstellar war--stripping away all sense of wonder andrepainting them as commonplace, even silly.

This omnibus edition begins with The Hitchhiker's Guide to theGalaxy, in which Arthur Dent is introduced to the galaxy at largewhen he is rescued by an alien friend seconds before Earth'sdestruction. Then in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe,Arthur and his new friends travel to the end of time and discover thetrue reason for Earth's existence.In Life, the Universe, andEverything, the gang goes on a mission to save the entireuniverse. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish recounts howArthur finds true love and "God's Final Message to HisCreation." Finally, Mostly Harmless is the story ofArthur's continuing search for home, in which he instead encountershis estranged daughter, who is on her own quest.There's also a bonusshort story, "Young Zaphod Plays It Safe," more of avignette than a full story, which wraps up this completist's packageof the Don't Panic chronicles.As the series progresses, its wackierelements diminish, but the satire of human life and foibles is everpresent. --Brooks Peck ... Read more

Customer Reviews (531)

Douglas Adams:Genius
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is a crazy book that only Douglas Adams could create.
Arthur Dent is an average man with an average life until he meets Ford Prefect and learns that the world is about to explode. Arthur Dent then learns that in space, all you need is a towel, and the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and you're good to go! Arthur Dent meets a lot of other people and sees many new planets.They are off in search of the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. They have to face off many different aliens and other creatures.
I recommend this book to people ages 12 and up, because kids any younger won't understand the comedy and adults will understand it the best. But anyone can understand most of the comedy and will laugh. I couldn't drop the book until I was done with it, and even then I didn't want to let it go.
This is a book you would like if you just read a sad, depressing, book or need some laughs. I always need a book like that so I always come to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

If you liked this book there are three more to go in this hilarious series. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, The Universe, and Everything, and So Long and Thanks for all the Fish.

A must read
Short and simple, if you have not read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, read it.If you have, read it again.So clever and fun, and a quick read.I love Douglas Adams for giving us this series.

The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 1: Feeling Lucky

We need more humor in science fiction."The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide" fits the bill.Humor is a serious thing . . . so laugh!

HUH?
some parts were funny, but mostly it was dry british humor with really stupid characters. If you like monty python you might like this. I hate monty python and only gave it two stars because I think one stars are reserved for the stuff that makes me violently ill. this only made me moderately ill

A book to come back to again and again
There's probably not much more to be said about this book and it's hard to imagine that there are many literate people over the age of about 25 who won't have encountered this story, the first in Douglas Adams's 'trilogy' (in five parts) of books, in one form or other - it's generally accepted to be a classic, of course.

I received a slightly abridged audio version of this book when I was about 12 or 13 and absolutely loved it and I still love it now. I've since read it in full and, whilst the book is short and easy to read, it just works wonderfully on many different levels because it simply overflows not only with wit and memorable dialogue but, most importantly, with ideas - ideas of all kinds - including numerous allusions to some of the things that we know Douglas Adams was interested in (i.e. science and religion) and one just can't help but keep coming back to it again and again.

There are so many memorable bits to this book, bits of which I'm regularly reminded as I go through life; indeed, the vivid description, of Ford - "The sweat stood out cold on Ford Prefect's brow..." - immediately prior to his and Arthur's close encounter with 'the third worst poetry in the universe', is inevitably brought to my mind whenever a Meatloaf song comes onto the radio. Other episodes that are always available for rapid recall include Arthur's account of his visit to the display department of the local planning office, the descriptions (as provided by the 'Hitchhiker's Guide') of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal, and of why it's important to carry a towel with you, as you 'hitchhike' round the galaxy, to the curious last words of a bowl of Petunias and, of course, the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything.

This book is now practically a cornerstone of popular culture, certainly in the UK, and every child should read it as soon as they're old enough to comprehend it. Long may it continue to be read and loved and reread, the world over. ... Read more

Product Description
Facing annihilation at the hands of the warlike Vogons? Time for a cup of tea! Join the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his uncommon comrades in arms in their desperate search for a place to eat, as they hurtle across space powered by pure improbability.

Among Arthur’s motley shipmates are Ford Prefect, a long-time friend and expert contributer to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; Zaphod Beeblebrox, the three-armed, two-headed ex-president of the galaxy; Tricia McMillan, a fellow Earth refugee who’s gone native (her name is Trillian now); and Marvin, the moody android. Their destination? The ultimate hot spot for an evening of apocalyptic entertainment and fine dining, where the food speaks for itself (literally).

Will they make it? The answer: hard to say. But bear in mind that The Hitchhiker’s Guide deleted the term “Future Perfect” from its pages, since it was discovered not to be! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (132)

Douglas Adams reading his own book... fantastic!
Douglas Adams was such a fantastic author, and to hear him read his own work, it is outstanding!Who better to portray the voices of the characters he himself created than the author himself.This one picks up right away, he read with such personality and enthusiasm.A much better way to experience the book than just reading, I very much believe.

How funny?
I finished this book a few days ago but couldn't write the review until now.Why?Because every time I would think about the book for the first few days I would start laughing and couldn't type.

Not quite as good as the first but still great.There are few humors books and writers out there as good as Adams(').

Enjoyable, but not so much as the first
Like its predecessor, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," "Restaurant" is a very quick and easy read. Douglas Adams' writing style is light and entertaining, containing just enough words to let you know what's going on, rather than going on and on describing each and every detail. In this way, the story flows along quite nicely. However, I didn't find this book to be nearly as enjoyable as the first. While the characters are still the same as they ever were -- Arthur mostly clueless; Trillian very patient and caring; Zaphod arrogant and a little insane -- it just wasn't as comical as the first story. Don't get me wrong, the humor is still there. Ford Prefect's theories on humans still made me smile, and the chapter (which was just one page) on presidents and rulers struck me as so hilarious that I read it again. But, I didn't get that sense of random silliness with subtle social commentary that I got out of the first one. On another note, I do love Adams' creativity. When I read the phrase "at the end of the universe," I thought it meant in space, not time. How clever that it meant the end in time! Time travel is always a fascinating addition to any science fiction story. :)

Poor Marvin
I understand why my dear friend, Marvin is so depressed. No one cares about him! They forget him for millions of years or ask him to sacrifice himself for so they can live. It's all rather depressing. Being a robot is no reason to take him for granted.As he has clearly expressed, he has feelings too.

That said, I'm thrilled that I am a vegetarian.The idea of your dinner coming to talk you made me ill. I don't care if the meat wants to be cooked, it's just another example of humans trying not to feel guilty for torturing animals.

Rants aside, I am enjoying this series.Mr. Adams dry wit and humor continue to amaze me.

A brilliant zany sequel with plenty of laughs
While the quality slips a bit from the first book to the second, this is still a delightful read that made me laugh many times.There isn't much of a story - the main characters go out to eat and travel through time and cruise around the galaxy and meet the dude who runs the Universe.A movie version would be terrible, as the story zooms around at a breakneck pace to nowhere and just stops on the last page, but it's beautiful as a book, where scene changes are just excuses to drop in a new set of jokes and wry observations about life.My favorite part of the book is the spaceship full of middle management types who aren't valued (rightfully so), so they're sent off to colonize a new planet, where they play pointless war games, do marketing research, and hold endless committee meetings.Along the way, one of them gets to subject two of the main characters to the most amazing interrogation ever.The rest of the book is good, but scenes with these characters bring everything to a new level of hilarity for me. ... Read more

Product Description
The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky above their heads–so they plan to destroy it. The universe, that is. Now only five individuals stand between the killer robots of Krikkit and their goal of total annihilation.

They are Arthur Dent, a mild-mannered space and time traveler who tries to learn how to fly by throwing himself at the ground and missing; Ford Prefect, his best friend, who decides to go insane to see if he likes it; Slartibartfast, the indomitable vice president of the Campaign for Real Time, who travels in a ship powered by irrational behavior; Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed, three-armed ex-president of the galazy; and Trillian, the sexy space cadet who is torn between a persistent Thunder God and a very depressed Beeblebrox.

How will it all end? Will it end? Only this stalwart crew knows as they try to avert “universal” Armageddon and save life as we know it–and don’t know it! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (122)

Number One Book in America (in my opinion)
*"What are you doing?"
"Thinking"
"Do you always breathe like that when you are thinking?"
"I wasn't aware that I was breathing"
"That's what worried me"

Life the Universe and Everything is a hilarious book that will keep you guessing all the way through it. I could not put this book down for days because Douglas Adams captures you with his unique humor in every page. Arther (the main character) and Ford (his friend from space) are tossed around on plenty of planets and sucked through an eddy in space and time. Overall they are roughing it. The humor in this book is subtle and somewhat strange. For example, Marvin the depressed robot who gets confronted by a mattress on a planet called Sqornshellous Zeta, and the mattress asks him if he is happy (which he is not, nor will he ever be happy). The book starts out with Arther Dent who is currently stranded on prehistoric Earth. Then Ford comes and starts a conversation that you will remember for the rest of the book. This book is a must read. If you've read the first two books this book will not let you down. So go read it!

*Extract from Life the Universe and Everything

Nothing like hearing the thoughts as the author meant them to be
I love the audio books read by the book's own author, and this is one of the perfect examples why.When you hear all of the inflection and personality that Adams put into each character, you know what he meant by each line, by each character.It is lovely to hear him giving life to his own creation, and it is nice to still be able to hear his voice in this way.We all miss you, Mr. Adams!!

Really not that exciting
I was disappointed with this book, and really don't understand all the hype over it. Out of the first four books of the "trilogy in five parts" (I haven't read the last one yet), this one is by far the least engaging. As short as it is, it took me three days to read it because I found it difficult to absorb. There is a mere skeleton of a plot line, which might have taken all of five pages to tell if not for all of the meandering and weaving around the story line. Much of what happens throughout the story has little to do with what the characters set out to accomplish. I know that this is characteristic of the Hitchhiker series, but at least in the other books, the meandering and going off on tangents leads to a funny occurrence, or is at least humorous in itself. I didn't get anything like that out of this book. While there are a few funny lines in it, it hardly stands out in my mind as a good read.

I found a small lake that thought it was a gin and tonic
The beginning of this book has a passage that is without a doubt the funniest thing that I have ever read, and will probably never be equaled. I've read it so many times that I can recite it nearly word-for-word, and yet I still have trouble getting the words out because I'm laughing so hard.

This isn't my favourite of the trilogy, but, as they all are, it is eminently and endlessly readable.

Not quite as good as the first two...
I really and truly love Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I recommend the books to almost everyone I know and I haven't let anyone down so far. I will still certainly recommend the books in the series to just about anyone - but this one in particular was not quite as good as the first two in the series.

I'm not sure what it was about this book that kept me from getting as into it as the first two. The plot was a bit more scattered for me which probably makes the main contribution to my slight disappointment. Not that the other Hitchhiker's Guide books are not scattered - this one just had a different feel.

I am curious to re-read the book though. When I started reading the book, I got through the first several chapters and my kindle wasn't able to save the last read page. I went back through and re-read the chapters I had already read and it was way more hilarious than I had thought the first time around. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up with a much better rating once I give it a second read.

Anyway, I most certainly recommend the book - just read the first two books first. They certainly would give a much better introduction to the characters than this installment.
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Product Description
Back on Earth with nothing more to show for his long, strange trip through time and space than a ratty towel and a plastic shopping bag, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription, the mysterious disappearance of Earth’s dolphins, and the discovery of his battered copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy all conspire to give Arthur the sneaking suspicion that something otherworldly is indeed going on.

God only knows what it all means. Fortunately, He left behind a Final Message of explanation. But since it’s light-years away from Earth, on a star surrounded by souvenir booths, finding out what it is will mean hitching a ride to the far reaches of space aboard a UFO with a giant robot. But what else is new? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (92)

An interesting book that does not disappoint.
So Long and Thanks for All The fish is an interesting book. by writing about the universe, Douglas Adams gives himself plenty of room to make up anything to put in the story because the characters do not need to abide by any laws of nature, physics, or any other hindering rules that prevent the entertaining, but slightlyconfusing, plot twists that give him his unique stye of writing. Like the other books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, the plot follows Arthur Dent on his adventures through the universe. Adams introduces some new characters, and retains some old ones. Adams' sense of humor carries on into this book..
In So Long and Thanks for All the Fish the story starts out with the protagonist, Arthur Dent, being back on Earth. Arthur is very confused because he had spent the last eight years of his life believing that the Earth was destroyed, but he is perfectly fine with thinking that those horrible years were just a bad dream. For the first time in a long time, Arthur is happy. He is on his home planet and has a girlfriend, Fenchurch. But then his life takes a sharp turn for disappointment when one of his old companions, Ford Prefect, arrives with a giant robot on a large, silver spaceship. Fenchurch, Ford, and Arthur set out to find God's Final Message of Explanation with an emotionally depressed robot named Marvin.
Douglas Adams expresses the theme that you cannot know everything about something. Whenever one of his characters thinks that they understand something they get completely and utterly proved wrong. It shows that becoming to cocky can be a bad idea. In the book, Arthur Dent doesn't even try to understand what goes on around him for fear of being wrong.
The most likely audience that would enjoy this book would be adults, but I would recommend it to anybody with a sense of humor. The plot takes a different track than Adams' other books. Some parts of the book were quite confusing, but still the story remains clear and easy to follow. Overall, this book shows good writing and humor, and an interesting plot. I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Weakest out of the trilogy
I'm a strong fan of DnA's style, but the stress he went through to write this part of the series really shows. The story reads in a disjointed fashion that has none of the characteristic charm of the hitch hiker series, we are left with never resolved gaps in the fabric of the author-reader continuum. Clearly this historic part of the series cannot be left out of any reader's journey through the hitch hiker series, but it must be read with an extra helping of patience and faith.

So long, and thanks for all the one-liners
For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed this installment of the Hitchhiker series.In fact, out of the first four books (as I haven't read the last one yet), I'd say it is second only to the original book.It is a short but satisfying read, in part because this is the first book with some actual character development.Arthur, for once, is not portrayed solely as some clueless, bumbling oaf that only cares about tea.He takes some initiative and follows through with the plans he makes.I also liked the introduction of Fenchurch into the story.Unlike Trillian, the only other significant female character, who is mostly just along for the ride, Fenchurch is curious and inquisitive and adds more to the story.I also liked the flow of this story.There was much more meat in the narrative, and less random silliness.While the randomness makes for good humor, it can get redundant, so I liked the way this book contrasted with the others in the series.The only thing I didn't like was the fact that some questions remained unanswered... Where did the dolphins go, exactly, and why were three specific people given the "So Long" bowl?Why didn't the dolphins come back?I would have liked the answers, but other than that, a very enjoyable read. :)

Different but OK
Different style than the first three in the series, which isn't necessarily bad.The plot more or less hangs together, but there are some parts that don't do much for the plot and I think are just there for filler material.The love relationship was OK, but went a bit juvenile.I wish the ending wouldn't have been so sudden, it was like Adams was just in a hurry to get it over with for some reason. Poor Marvin!Still, it certainly is worth reading and deciding for yourself if it's good or not; it would be a shame to pass it up based on some negative reviews and possibly miss out on something you might really enjoy.

Home at last!
At last, Arthur is home!!I was beginning to think the poor sod was going to die in that dressing gown.I'm also thrilled that he has found love.Fenchurch is good for him.

From what I have read about this book, people didn't seem the tone.Also, there were comments about it bouncing too much.I did not find this to be the case.I quite enjoyed it.In fact, Adams knows me(and the other readers) so well that he offered up the chance to skip ahead to the bit with Marvin. I never would have, but I was thrilled to hear that we would encounter him later.Oh Marvin, my dear friend, Rest in Peace.

And now, let's end with a song...

[youtube=[...]]
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Product Description
There is a long tradition of Great Detectives, and Dirk Gently does not belong to it. But his search for a missing cat uncovers a ghost, a time traveler, AND the devastating secret of humankind! Detective Gently's bill for saving the human race from extinction: NO CHARGE. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (116)

We need such irreverent novels
What a shame he died! Yet the story that takes the history of mankind "ad absurdum" will stay forever with all those who like to look at things from more than one angle. He sometimes uses too many words but the whole book is worth every minute of reading and is funny enough to occasionally be reread.

Adams's best work yet
I know most people love Douglas Adams for his H2G2 series, and certainly I am one of them, but the (tragically short) Dirk gently series is--at least to me--the much better of the two. Here we see Adams's humor evolving and maturing, moving away from the realm of crude and slapstick humor and solidly into the realm of high-level wordplay. It's still uniquely, bizarrely Adams, with the same profound sense of wacky playfulness and plots more twisted than a coil of rope, but the Gently characters run deeper (and Gently himself is a masterpiece) and the language is sharper, more carefully chosen and masterfully wielded. If you loved H2G2, I cannot recommend the Gently books highly enough. Even if you didn't love H2G2, I cannot recommend the Gently books highly enough.

Seller A+, Book in expected condition- good :)
The seller was quick with shipping, book was in good condition.
I wish the story flowed as well as Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul... but that has NOTHING to do with the seller or book condition.Thanks! :)

eh...
I'm a big fan of Douglas Adams, but it took me years to get around to reading this book. I still have to read the Tea-time story, as both novels came in one book. After I got through Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, I felt ...disappointed. Its fine to go on a ride with ghosts, time-machines and dodo's and all, and I think Dirk's character is the most interesting character in the book, but over-all, the story felt lacking. I'd describe it as having a very, very slow start, an exciting middle, and an abruptly inconclusive end that wasn't exactly exhibiting the interconnectedness of all things. I was particularly confused by Gordon Way's story line, he and Dirk being the more interesting and fun characters of the book.

Fun, though a bit slow at times
There were a few occasions where I got a bit bored, but I really liked this book. There are plenty of quirky mysteries with amusing solutions. It is true the Adams' humorous, science fiction, style. It may not be as good as the Hitchhiker's Guide series, but I liked it none the less. ... Read more

Product Description
On Friday, May 11, 2001, the world mourned the untimely passing of Douglas Adams, beloved creator of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, dead of a heart attack at age forty-nine.Thankfully, in addition to a magnificent literary legacy—which includes seven novels and three co-authored works of nonfiction—Douglas left us something more. The book you are about to enjoy was rescued from his four computers, culled from an archive of chapters from his long-awaited novel-in-progress, as well as his short stories, speeches, articles, interviews, and letters.

In a way that none of his previous books could, The Salmon of Doubt provides the full, dazzling, laugh-out-loud experience of a journey through the galaxy as perceived by Douglas Adams. From a boy’s first love letter (to his favorite science fiction magazine) to the distinction of possessing a nose of heroic proportions; from climbing Kilimanjaro in a rhino costume to explaining why Americans can’t make a decent cup of tea; from lyrical tributes to the sublime pleasures found in music by Procol Harum, the Beatles, and Bach to the follies of his hopeless infatuation with technology; from fantastic, fictional forays into the private life of Genghis Khan to extended visits with Dirk Gently and Zaphod Beeblebrox: this is the vista from the elevated perch of one of the tallest, funniest, most brilliant, and most penetrating social critics and thinkers of our time.

Welcome to the wonderful mind of Douglas Adams.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (137)

Only for collectors
If you're looking to collect all Dug's books, then go for it. But don't expect much.

The Salmon of Doubt
not a story by Adams, but a compendium of his speeches, short bits for magazines, and other things he has written or said, that give the reader a sense of the man.It is enjoyable reading.

Entertaining and thoughtful
The world lost a unique thinker when Douglas Adams passed away. "The Salmon of Doubt," which is made up of essays, unfinished musings and pieces of his final novel, is a mixed bag -- the novel, in particular, has some brilliant portions but obviously would have been extensively rewritten -- but what comes through is both Adams' humor and his rigorous, exciting intellect. One wonders what he would have made of the last decade. Jovially perplexed, is my guess.

Adams Last Gasp
Sadly for his fans Douglas is dead. No time machines to escape to the RATEOTU either. Bugger. This collection of random items from his Mac is great humour and while he might have said not ready - too many placeholders, I have enjoyed it immensely.

A Brief Introduction to the Introduction to the Introduction to the New Edition
The Salmon of Doubt begins with one of the funniest pieces of writing I have ever come across. Preceding The Introduction to the New Edition, The Introduction to the Introduction to the New Edition (I2I2NE), written by comedian, actor, author, Monty Python troupe member and long time Adams friend and collaborator Terry Jones, sets the tone for what is to follow: comedy at its best; pages filled with that quintessential Monty Python-esque British wit that so characterizes the writing of Douglas Adams who, afterall, has been referred to as The Monty Python of Science Fiction. And so without further ado, I would like to begin this review with the aforementionedly preceding and said I2I2NE that was previously referred to in the above reference wherin I mentioned it:

"This Introduction to the Introduction to the New Edition is a highly significant one in the history of Introductions. Its presence on these pages means that this book has achieved the World Record for the Number of Introductions in a Book of This Nature. With the addition of this Introduction to the Introduction to the New Edition, The Salmon of Doubt can claim to have no less than three Introductions, one Prologue, and one Editor's Note. That is two Introductions more than Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and one Introduction, One Prologue, and one Editor's Note more than The Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature. Even the Oxford English Dictionary can only boast one Preface, one Historical Introduction, one General Explanations, and a List of Abbreviations - that's two Introductions short of The Salmon of Doubt.

You are, without a doubt, holding in your hands one of the best-introduced books in the English language. We hope you enjoy the Introduction to the New Edition that follows this introduction to it and continue to read on even into the book itself."

-- Terry Jones, February 2, 2003


Following the world record number of introductions, the book is divided into three parts - Life, The Universe, And Everything, borrowed from the structure of [...], the site that Adams helped to create in 1999 (whose name was based on the third book in the Hitchhiker series, entitled, curiously enough: Life, the Universe and Everything).

The first two sections are a compilation of Adams interviews, articles, and essays, with the first section ("Life") focusing on his life: his personal obsessions (Procol Harum, The Beatles, and rhinoceri, to name a few), hangover cures, his favorite author (P.G.Wodehouse), and his nose. The second section ("The Universe") focuses on his technological obsessions (the Macintosh computer, the future, time and space travel, and his religious views (from an interview with American Atheist: "What message would you like to send to your atheist fans?" Adams: "Hello! How are you?").

The third part ("Everything") contains, among other elements, the first eleven chapters of Adams' unfinished Dirk Gently novel, The Salmon of Doubt, as recovered in various forms from his four computers by his friend Chris Ogle following Adams' untimely death in 2001 at the age of 49, and compiled and edited with the help of Peter Guzzardi. The chapters create the great beginnings of a story, brimming with Adams' unique observational wit ("Follow that cab!" exclaimed Dirk, climbing into the back. "I been a cabbie over twenty years now," said the cabbie as he slid back into traffic. "Never had anybody actually say that to me.") We can only imagine where the story would have wound up, but we can say for certain that whatever our best imaginings of the rest of the story could be, they would surely fall short of the ride that Adams' vibrant imagination would have taken us on.

The Salmon of Doubt is a must read for any Hitchhiker's Guide/Dirk Gently fans and all others who enjoy great comedy.
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Product Description
"Very funny and moving...The glimpses of rare fauna seem to have enlarged [Adams'] thinking, enlivened his world; and so might the animals do for us all, if we were to help them live."
THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
Join bestselling author Douglas Adams and zooligist Mark Carwardine as they take off around the world in search of exotic, endangered creatures. Hilarious and poignant--as only Douglas Adams can be--LAST CHANCE TO SEE is an entertaining and arresting odyssey through the Earth's magnificent wildlife galaxy.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (184)

fantastic
Douglas Adams, a humorous-sci-fi author, is sent to find animals which are on the verge of extinction.

The book is easy to read, touching, hilarious, and entirely non-fiction.

great book, fine seller
The book is a classic, for people who like Douglas Adam's style humour (who doesn't??) and conservation-minded folks alike. I highly recommend the book. It's full of amazing stories that convey really cool info about some of the world's most endangered animals, and I laughed out aloud many times while reading. A great combination of facts and fun. The story about the mating system of New Zealand kakapos(parakeets), and the comparison of NZ flightless birds to the UK's motorcycle industry should be part of every ecologist's curriculum.

A must read for any Adams fan
I bought this book when it first came out not because I had any special interest in endangered species but simply because I bought everything by Douglas Adams.Few authors could write a book on such a serious subject and make it very amusing at the same time.It a sort of diary of a global journey taken by Adams and Carwadine to various habitats for species nearing extinction and the people working to save them.Adams passion for the subject is clear.Despite his frustration and despair that not all of the projects visited will be successful his witty style shines through.The absurdities of travel in less developed countries, the oddities of people met enroute and especially the visit to the doctor for the anti-venom kit are classic.
I've re-read this as often as the Hitchhiker series and highly recommend it.

Last Chance to see
Last chance to see is an excellent book, written in Douglas Adams' distinct style and factual as well. Posted is a link to a video on Youtube of the author talking about the book, he claims that it is his favourite of the books he wrote and reads outa few really good parts. I would definitely recommend this to any fans of Douglas Adams as well as fans of Terry Pratchett's humorous style as they follow a similar pattern.
[...]

Possibly one of the most advanced e-books ever prototyped
This is my 3rd e-book purchase of this old (almost 19 years) media as well as reading the paper version of this book.I left one with the Infomedia project at Carnegie-Mellon Univ. and my 2nd copy is somewhere loaned out. It requires the Classic Mac environment (OS 9 or earlier with color) and Hypercard with the memory cracked up.I met and discussed this work with Adam just before he died, and he was very proud of it.

The text is slightly abridged from the original book.I know 1-2 areas which I liked left out.Adams read the entire book aloud and this is recorded.If you like the English sound of Adams' this is an additional incentive to listen as well as read this book with your eyes.This intonation adds emphasis and accent where words are too subtle.His real fear comes through better with his spoken words.

His co-author Mark did (wrote and spoke) the equivalent to side bars with more biological information on the individual endangered species.Where the paper version of the book about 24 color plates, this Voyager edition had over 800 photos with captions (hence 2 CDs). Bob Stein who ran Voyager and showed me around their new offices in New York after their move from Santa Monica pulled out all the stops on this expanded book.Originally priced at $50 (paper hardbound was about $20-30 and softbound for about $10), the value is worth it. ... Read more

Product Description
Sequel to Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. A passenger check-in desk at London's Heathrow Airport goes up in a ball of flame and Dirk Gently becomes very inquisitive. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (92)

Pointless
If a book is defined as merely a bound set of pages with words upon them, then this garbage could be considered a book.By any other definition, this is merely a rectangle.A worthless, pointless, patently unfunny, string of sentences that have little to do with story telling and nothing to do with entertainment.

Two whole pages on which bath salts to use?Long descriptions on how the light skitters across a room?Ten pages about how horrible Dirk's refrigerator is?Most pages are filled with pointless words about some random item that has no purpose toward the almost non-existent storyline.

Calling the characters two dimensional would be a stretch.They have no dimensions.They don't even resemble human beings.A pizza obsessed New Yorker?A teenager who punches anyone who turns off the TV?A horribly bad PI with no money and no client who falls into a series of random events that happen to be connected then solves it by practically tripping over the conclusion?That's not a plot, it's nonsense.

It shocks me that there are any, let alone mostly, 4&5 star ratings for this book.If you're over the age of 14 and have an IQ larger than your shoe size, you should stay far away from this rectangle and go read a book.

His best!
Like most, I became a fan of Douglas Adams through the "Hitchikers" books, as well as the radio and TV series. But this is my absolute favorite of his.I bought it in hardcover when it was first published, and was lucky enough to have it signed by him. It remains one of my favorite books to this day.(Yes, this review is highly subjective and probably not all that helpful, and I apologize for that.)
There will never be another quite like Douglas Adams.

Second and Final Round of Dirk Gentry
When Dirk Gentlys' Holistic Detective Agency was first published back in 1987 I was hugely disappointed after thoroughly enjoying the Hitchhikers Guide series. Like many, I absolutely fell in love with Douglas Adams magnificent sci-fi/humor series and Gently just seemed so bland in comparison. Having reread the book a year or so ago I have learned to appreciate its subtle humor and wry wit but it still pales when held next to the five part trilogy. I've owned The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul since not long after it was first published but I can't honestly say whether I ever read it until now. Personally I enjoyed it more than the previous book and it's a shame that the series wasn't continued but I suspect it was a result of the lukewarm reaction it was getting from the public even as it sold well. Dirk Gently was likely a victim of Adams own towering achievement as Hitchhiker fans did exactly what I did which was compare the two series with Gently coming in a distant second. Besides the underrated `Mostly Harmless' Tea Time is the last solo effort novel from Douglas Adams which in my humble opinion is one of the great tragedies of literature.

Douglas Adams certainly isn't the first to write a detective story but his may be the first one with a detective so clumsy, doughy and often irritating. What sets Dirk apart is his belief in the interconnectedness of all things hence the `Holistic' Detective Agency. Dirk takes Occam's razor and turns it on its head assuming that the most impossible scenario is the most plausible. Normally this would be a recipe for disaster but in Douglas Adams crazy world assuming the impossible is Dirk's ace in the hole. In this case the impossibility that the large Norseman carrying a hammer that happened to be at the epicenter of a freakish explosion in an airport just might be the God of Thunder, Thor.

I have no idea why Douglas Adams quit writing solo books but it may be because he was working in the very large shadow of his own previous success. `So Long and Thanks For All the Fish' was a literary disaster and `Mostly Harmless' was poorly received although in my opinion much better than people give it credit for. Dirk Gently would have had to have been a homerun to really be embraced and the two books simply are not. They are merely very good. The other problem was that the act of writing itself seemed to cause Adams considerable angst and sometimes it felt like he ended a book just to stop his anguish. Unfortunately this book has that feel to it.

As stated above the weakest part of the book is the ending which was often Douglas Adams Achilles heal. In the Long Dark Tea Time he sets up quite a few intriguing plot threads but when they are all tied together at the end it seems just a bit too contrived as if he couldn't come up with a good ending and so he went with the best he could given the publishing deadlines. The ending is better than the previous Gentry entry but that's not saying a lot since the ending of the first book was an incoherent mess. In terms of quality I would put the Long Dark Tea Time well ahead of So Long and Thank For All the Fish, ahead of the Holistic Detective Agency but weaker than the other four Hitchhiker books. For me the big payoff in a novel in the ending and no matter how well written the rest of the book is a messy ending means the readers last impression is less than positive. This is one of the books I recommend with a caveat that you keep your expectations in check. It's certainly possible that you might find the ending to be brilliantly creative. What's wonderful about Douglas Adams is that even when his writing isn't his best he still keeps it light and entertaining with the possible exception of Thanks for all the Fish and *ahem* the ending of Mostly Harmless.

Doug Adams book received fine
Received book wrapped in plastic.No problems.Girlfriend loved it as a gift.

The Ending Just Fizzles
I truly enjoyed reading Douglas Adams' "The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul."That is, right until I finished it.Up to that point, I had been prepared to give it at least a 4 star rating.But, the ending just fizzles.Perhaps it does more than fizzle.It just disappears.Instead of an ending that would tie everything up nicely and cleverly like everything else in the book, Adams ends the book at the last minute by, basically, throwing up his hands and quitting.All he needed was a couple more pages where he could have dumped the "Hot Potato" into the lap of the responsible parties and all would have been well.Instead, he just... stops.The ending reminds me of how badly he destroyed the Hitchhiker series with the miserable Mostly Harmless.I'm so angry with the ending that I'd like to rate the book at 1 star.But, rationally, I really enjoyed 99.9% of the book.So, I'm splitting the difference and rating it at an OK 3 stars out of 5. ... Read more

Product Description
Packed with an Astounding Amount of New and Never-Before-Collected Material.

Why are people born? Why do they die? Why do they want to spend so much of the intervening time wearing digital watches?

No one but Douglas Adams could have pared life’s meaning down to these three questions, and they remain as inspired and head-scratchingly clever today as they did twenty-five years ago when they appeared in the first edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Showcasing his quick wit, comic genius, and wide-ranging intelligence, Hitchhiker’s has become nothing less than a cult classic and cultural phenomenon.

To celebrate its quarter century and the extraordinary legacy of Adams, this gorgeously designed, mostly harmless deluxe edition gathers never-before-collected photographs, original artwork, memorabilia (from the strange to the sublime), and wisdom gleaned from a first read or first encounter as Douglas’s friends remember how the galaxy was forever changed a mere twenty-five years ago (not to mention the original text of the novel) into a one-of-a-kind Guide as stunning as two suns setting over Magrathea.

Whether you are well versed in the antics of Arthur Dent, a mild-mannered Earthman plucked from his planet seconds before it’s demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, and Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy posing as an out-of-work actor, or are hitching a ride for the first time, this is the book that has everything you’ll nee to know about anything.So please do not be alarmed. Definitely don’t panic. Just be sure to grab a towel.Amazon.com Review
Join Douglas Adams's hapless hero Arthur Dent as he travels the galaxy withhis intrepid pal Ford Prefect, getting into horrible messes and generallywreaking hilarious havoc. Dent is grabbed from Earth moments before acosmic construction team obliterates the planet to build a freeway. You'llnever read funnier science fiction; Adams is a master of intelligentsatire, barbed wit, and comedic dialogue. The Hitchhiker's Guide isrich in comedic detail and thought-provoking situations and stands up tomultiple reads. Required reading for science fiction fans, this book(and its follow-ups) is also sure to please fans of Monty Python, TerryPratchett's Discworld series, and British sitcoms. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (937)

Hituchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 1: Feeling Lucky

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is like the Monty Python of science fiction.Hey, any excuse for a good laugh.Ignore the movie.

Terrific Book
Just think what you would do if your best friend warned you that the world's going to be destroyed in 15 minutes. This book is about a man who listened. If you enjoy good Comedy or Science Fiction you should read the "Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy." This book is hilarious and unpredictable because in one chapter it can go from narrowly escaping a planet's destruction to listening to the 3rd worst poetry in the Universe. So this book won't cease entertaining you. Also, the main character Arthur Dent lets you experience space from a whole new perspective, that of a normal man. So watch as Arthur adapts or dies in space, and meets a whole host of bizarre characters and creatures along the way. I hope you read this book, and enjoy it.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
This book was pretty good, although I'm not sure I understand why it has maintained its cultural legs for so long.

one of the best...
First in 1992 I avoided to read the Douglas Adams books, because everyone in my school read it. Last year I read them all in German. Fantastic! Now on the Kindle I started to read them in English. For the German readers out there - the original English version is the better one.

The Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy the BBC radio series
It was excited about finally receiving the Hitchhiker's BBC series I was looking for 30 years. It's been great to listen to it and it's very much treasured.

DON'T PANIC! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

More Than Complete
This may be the "More Than Complete" Guide, but it does not contain the fifth book (The Salmon Of Doubt).However, this book was my introduction to Douglas Adams and I have read it at least a dozen times since it was given to me six years ago.

If you think you'd like British science fiction comedy, you'll like this book.If you saw the movie, don't try to compare it to the book - movies are one form of media, and books are another.It's impossible to transfer this type of written humor into a movie.

Give Douglas Adams a try, and you too can be one of the few people who burst out laughing whenever somebody says "42".

Very good edition. Great for a Douglas Adams Fan.
I loved the entire book. This is my peronal first of reading anything by Douglas but this book is a perfect (or PREfect) for a beginer.It's tantalizing and Adams has a world class imagination. ... Read more

Product Description
Thirty years of celebrating the comic genius of Douglas Adams...If you've done six impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliways, the Restaurant at the end of the Universe? Which is exactly what the crew of the Heart of Gold plan to do. There's just the small matter of escaping the Vogons, avoiding being taken to the most totally evil world in the Galaxy and teaching a space ship how to make a proper cup of tea. And did anyone actually make a reservation? This is Volume Two in the "Trilogy of Five". ... Read more

Product Description
Does the sensation of Tingrith(1) make you yelp? Do you bend sympathetically when you see someone Ahenny(2)? Can you deal with a Naugatuck(3) without causing a Toronto(4)? Will you suffer from Kettering(5) this summer?

Probably. You are almost certainly familiar with all these experiences but just didn’t know that there are words for them. Well, in fact, there aren’t—or rather there weren’t, until Douglas Adams and John Lloyd decided to plug these egregious linguistic lacunae(6). They quickly realized that just as there are an awful lot of experiences that no one has a name for, so there are an awful lot of names for places you will never need to go to. What a waste. As responsible citizens of a small and crowded world, we must all learn the virtues of recycling(7) and put old, worn-out but still serviceable names to exciting, vibrant, new uses. This is the book that does that for you: The Deeper Meaning of Liff—a whole new solution to the problem of Great Wakering(8)


1—The feeling of aluminum foil against your fillings.

2—The way people stand when examining other people’s bookshelves.

3—A plastic packet containing shampoo, mustard, etc., which is impossible to open except by biting off
the corners.

4—Generic term for anything that comes out in a gush, despite all your efforts to let it out carefully, e.g., flour into a white sauce, ketchup onto fish, a dog into the yard, and another naughty meaning that we can’t put on the cover.

5—The marks left on your bottom and thighs after you’ve been sitting sunbathing in a wicker chair.

6—God knows what this means

7—For instance, some of this book was first published in Britain twenty-six years ago.

8—Look it up yourself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

pointless.
Unlike Adams' other works, this provides no satire, and very very little humor.The entire purpose of the book is to identify cities and towns whose names do not obviously make sense, redefine the name as a noun and bestow upon it a nonsensical definition.The only reason I didn't rate it a one or half star, is because it wasn't offensive, aside from the $8 lost.

Humorous bathroom material
This is a great bathroom reader.I find that the references to geographical locations as the word names a bit off, but I imagine inventing new words would be quite challenging.

A new reason to Hitchikealong the Adams' Galaxy
Really funny and amusing. It is a new delight of the many that Douglas Adams have been providing to his readers. Praise also to John Lloyd, whose Spitting Image are also a delight to watch. I strongly recommend this book.

I love it!
This book is wonderful- I really loved it and laughed out loud more than once. It' not for everybody, but it does have a wonderful sense of humor and it describes perfectly several situations you have lived trough. Too bad for the very British ones that I missed, not being British. But overall a wonderful read.

Please, some more.
I didn't know until now that this book existed.What I am doing is reviewing its predecessor, The Meaning of Liff.That, I have to say, is as funny a book as I've ever read.It had me in hysterics, even when I was ill, unemployed and going through divorce.It might not be too obvious to US readers just how funny this is, if you're not familiar with some of the stranger place names (Quaking Houses, for example, is close to where I live in N. E. England.Shaking Houses isn't far from there.)Consett isn't the last course of a meal, it's a nearby village.Why 3 stars?It's provisional.I'm sure that reading this would result in 5+ for reasons given. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Almost perfect
This book has a very interesting story. It is filled with things written by many comedians. All profits from this book were to go to different charities, 80% helping those in Africa, and 20% helping youths in England. However, there are a couple of pieces in the book that make fun of christianity, and as a result, the publishers were pressed into not having a second print run, making this book somewhat harder tofind. Anyways, on to the content.

This book has contributions from and was edited by Douglas Adams, wihch right there says that it should be interesting. While I was reading this book, I was almost constantly laughing; the content chosen was almost all very good. The humor at some points was rather crude, but overall, it was very enjoyable to read. There was one bit, however, that wasn't funny at all, and was in fact very rude, and is probably what made people try to stop the book from being printed. "The Young one's Nativity Play" makes fun of the Nativity Story, but it is unbelievably rude, stupid, and it just makes me wonder what the editors were thinking when they decided to include it. This story is the reason why the book doesn't get five stars.

Everything else, however, is excellent, and some stories, such as "Genghis Khan's Private Life", and the "Christmas Survival Kit", were great to read. So, in short, I would recommend this book to anyone, just be prepared for crude humor which appears occasionally, and one very unintelligent story. ... Read more

Product Description
Douglas Adams thinks the Bible is very funny, but that we don't often get it. By missing humor and irony in biblical passages, readers miss more than an opportunity for laughter. They often miss the passage's intended meanings.

Please note that the author of this title is not the author of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Not what you may be thinking
Well written and good information but I thought, silly me, that it was by THE Douglas Adams of "Hitchhiker's Guide" so not quite what I was expecting.

Hey! There's humor here!
Having first glanced at the author, I initially thought it was a work of the more famous (and atheist) namesake. It turns out this Douglas Adams is more concerned with Theology and is an academic at Berkeley (yes, we are all amazed at it being a short and semi-readable book) and he includes some snippets of life in the upper-class Theology world. His insights into the use of humor in the Bible are notable but often lacking in the middle and end.

He starts out very strong in pointing out the obvious (which may strike some people oddly who thought that all people in the Bible were supposed to have been upright and good at least most of the time) with Adam, Abraham, and a more in depth exploration of Jesus' parables. While the study of some of the parables and Old Testament people was clear, correct, and readable, later parts lose much of the clarity and increasingly seam as if the author had taken a really good paper and just threw in a lot of extra guesswork on the basis of "nobody's gonna publish a 50 page book". Much of the feel one gets with this is that the author comes from a far more staid and settled (read boring) church background where the actual spiritual problems of the Bible had been forgotten. By seeing the humor, suffering , errors, and sin of the protagonists, is is a revelation to him that is still hampered by his continuous assumption that this is news.

Perhaps it is. Given his clearly (and overtly) including incidents such as trying to impress his dean and his introducing "grandfather" humor (the deflating of a father's efforts to portray themselves as perfect by a grandparent) as a surprise, these elements do not seem closely associated with the Bible. A variety of older Protestant churches have gone from intellectually vibrant, serious about work but never about themselves, determined to make men aware of God and of how they themselves should act to serious about themselves but never about theology. The black robed pastor talking to people on the street or in the fields was an occasional homage to the determination of these earlier men. That spirit is now gone and the Old Protestant churches now find themselves to be bastions of an economic and social elite instead of centers for spiritual growth. That quest has shifted from eyes turned to heaven to eyes turned to their fellow man. The old humility perished in the shift and now people attach the seriousness of God to the social reforms they urge. This has become so ingrained that the humor, tragedy, debates, and criticism found in the Bible have been forgotten in a wave of idealistic inoffensiveness.

So for all the weightlessness of presentation and examination, Mr. Adams does convey some useful points. The people in the Bible were far from perfect. The Bible uses humor to get a laugh as well as understanding. We all need humility. The chapter on "Jesse Helms and Jesse Jackson together in the White House" is sure to shock everybody and by doing so it gets its point across. Nasty people can still do good things despite their political and social beliefs. Humility is very much the order of the day. Do not lose sight of that when he later gets bogged down desperately trying to prove a point.

If you write homilies, there's lots here...
I don't write homilies, but I often sit through them. Mr. Adams (again -- it's not THAT Douglas Adams) does a great job of showing how homilies can be made relevant and, dare I say it, secular by appealing to not only the faith in all of us, but also the rationality. Easy to read book that can be scanned or read cover to cover.

Good but I was looking for a different Douglas Adams
The book makes some humorous observations illuminating paradoxes in the bible.While its entertaining, I had originally thought it was written by the Douglas Adams who wrote the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but it is not.

Warning
This was a great book. I picked this up thinking this was the "hitchhikers guide" Douglas Adams. I really enjoyed this book but I think it should be stated this is NOT the 42 guy. So if you're looking for his books, this is not one of them. ... Read more

Product Description
Douglas Adams is back with the amazing, logic-defying, but-why-stop-now fifth novel in the Hitchhiker Trilogy. Here is the epic story of Random, who sets out on a transgalactic quest to find the planet of her ancestors. Line drawings.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (173)

Don't forget your towel!
Like its predecessors in the "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series, "Mostly Harmless" is a very quick and easy read. Douglas Adams' writing style is light and entertaining, containing just enough words to let you know what's going on, rather than going on and on describing each and every detail. In this way, the story flows along quite nicely. While the beginning of the story did tend to drag on a bit, once it picked up, I found it to be very engaging and amusing. The character development of Arthur and Trillian -- both going a little mad at not being able to return to Earth -- along with their surprise daughter Random, is at once hilarious and heart-warming. The supporting details in this installment meshed flawlessly with those in the previous Hitchhiker books, which in my mind produced a story that was both nonsensical and yet made perfect sense at the same time. Don't forget to bring your towel, and if anyone asks you what the meaning of life is, it's still 42!

Great DNA read, highly recommended but not in kindle format
This read is a fun, light hearted poke at some serious questions. Enjoyed the ride immensely. However, the kindle version of this book is poorly converted, there are grammatical errors (inconsistent with the original) and the great idea of having material to view at the end is largely ruined for iPhone app users due to lack of a zoom function, rendering the material impossible to read and fairly useless. Get your act together amazon! You're ruining a great product.

Mostly harmless indeed
Mostly Harmless is the fifth book of the Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy, and as such, it's worth reading. However, in many ways I think that its title is a little too apt.

This is my least favourite Hitchhiker book, because it left me slightly depressed by both its storyline and its position as the final book of the trilogy. Even so, it has sequences that are too funny to be missed, most notably the story of (and our hero Arthur's confusion about) the King. Furthermore, it answers questions and clarifies some issues, and it also provides some closure for the characters that readers of the books have come to care about.

Back where you belong.
I've read almost all of the reviews and weirdly the biggest plot point in the novel, that's it's an alternate universe, has been missed by everyone.Like Dirk Gently the novel hangs pretty much on one turn of phrase about five leaf clovers and how normal they are throughout the universe.And some planted clues about different dimensions and philosophy talk.

One of the things I liked best about these novels when I was young was how dark they were.'So Long' was not exactly the same to me, but this one is.

It's not perfect, but the fearless take everybody down a notch including yourself mentality is back.And it belongs there.

I didn't finish, like a bad relationship
I feel like the bad guy after a break-up.It's not that this book was terrible, but I gave up after reading 2/3 of it.I started my relationship with the book without a lot of trust - the reviews I've read and heard have been overwhelmingly negative, and I really disliked the previous book in the series.But I figured that maybe my friends were all wrong, and no one could appreciate the book but me, and I just needed to give it some time.And then it let me down.It's not that it did anything all that wrong - the characters were more frustrating than ever, I think there were alternate reality things happening that were on a slow burn, there were a few ill-advised action sequences, and Adams kept forgetting to make it funny, but nothing was offensively awful on its own.I just lost hope.The first two books were so wonderful, and I devoured them with giddy joy, then I had to put a little more effort into liking the third book, and it paid off, then the fourth book let me down, and finally this last book kept failing to meet even my low expectations.Maybe the last third of it is genius, and Random becomes a character I can like even a little, but I didn't see any signs of that in the pages I read, and I'm going home as a quitter.Sorry, Mostly Harmless, it's not you, it's me.Except it's you too. ... Read more

Product Description
The Future Perfect is the hot new satire of the future.A funny, imaginative, provocative look a things to come.

San Francisco TV reviewer Joe Soko called it one of the best satires ever. It's a brilliant portrait of mankind - for anyone, sci-fi fan or not, who loves to laugh at or explore the absurdity, magic and mystery of human existence.

It's been called the next Brave New World, with a touch of Kurt Vonnegut and a hint of Douglas Adams. You won’t be able to put it down. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A must read!
This book is an absolutely fantastic, humorous and dark satirical look at a dystopian future where humankind simultaneously wages war against nature while pining for its renewal, glories in a shallow sterile consumerist society obsessed with dreams of true happiness, computer simulated immortality and the eradication of all danger via technology. Society has lost sight of the very things that make life worth living, hilariously and inevitably driving itself to the brink of extinction (and/or extinction).I wish I could find this book in print format because I would love to loan it to friends. If for nothing else, The Future Perfect makes a Kindle worth owning.

Hilarious vision of the future
Both hilarious and frightening, The Future Perfect presents a world where technology has taken over humanity, often in amusing, comic ways. I really enjoyed Kirk Mustard's humorous vision of a dystopian futuristic society. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys satire and science fiction.

Best satire ever.
This novel is funny, clever, super-imaginative, and extremely relevant. It has a great plot, and it just keeps getting better as it goes along. It's really a portrait of the mind of man, our addiction to fiction over reality. It's all about using science, especially computer technology, to create a perfect world. It's also about man's true relationship with nature and the planet. There's some marvelous characters, too. It's destined to be a classic. ... Read more

Product Description

Arguably the greatest collaboration in the whole history of comedy!

Bestselling author Douglas Adams wrote the storyline based on his CD-ROM game of the same name (as this novel, not as him, obviously).

Terry Jones of Monty Python wrote the book. In the nude! Parents be warned! Most of the words in this book were written by a naked man!

So. You want to argue with that? All right, we give in.

Starship Titanic is the greatest, most fabulous, most technologically advanced interstellar cruise line ever built. It is like a cross between the Queen Mary, the Chrysler Building, Tutankhamen's tomb, and Venice. Furthermore, it cannot possibly go wrong. . . .

Sadly, however, seconds after its launch it undergoes SMEF, or Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure. And disappears.

Except, everything's got to be somewhere.

Coming home that night, on a little known planet called Earth, Dan and Lucy Gibson find something very large and very, very shiny sticking into their house. . .
... Read more

Customer Reviews (103)

Not the best, but not the worst
The classic Douglas Adam didn't always write books. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy actually started as a long-running radio play before the book was written. He also did a few text-based adventure games for Infocom, including the utterly amazing Bureaucracy. When the landmark Myst released, Adams dreamed of doing a similar game, but with conversations (as Myst was eerily silent). The result was Starship Titanic.

While the novelization of said game may be have "Douglas Adams's" on the cover, the apostrophe warns us that it's actually authored by someone else, in this case ex-python Terry Jones.

To his credit, Jones does a great job of keeping Adam's rhythm. The bizarre observations and metaphors remain and in true Adam's fashion, often the most hilarious part is simply the method of writing itself.

The downfall of Adams later books was the plot tried too hard and the humor became too bitter. While Starship avoid
Starship Titanic's issue is largely the blandness of the characters. Little develops about them until the end, and even then they seem more all to "regular". Compared to the bizarre cast of Hitchhiker, they really don't hold a candle. I kept imagining a Zaphod, Ford, Marvin or Dent to walk in and steal the scene, but they never showed up.

While the first two Hitchhiker books are as highly recommended as they come (I find myself quoting them verbatim often), I can only recommend Titanic to Adams fans. It's better than Mostly Harmless, but it's far short of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

The most awesome part of this whole deal is that it connects Adams deeper in British culture. Not only did he write a Dr. Who episode and star in a two-second cameo in a Flying Circus skit, and named the final Pink Floyd album, but a Python wrote the novelization of one of his games. That just makes me geek out.
But seriously, go play Bureaucracy. You'll need a walkthrough, but it's almost his best work.

Most Enjoyable!
After reading Eoin Colfer's "sequel" to the Douglas Adams series, my hopes were low.This book however, was lovely.Very much in the spirit of the Adams originals, and a ton of fun.It may not be life-changing, but it's certainly worth your time and $.

You'll either absolutely love it or hate it.I loved it!
I personally listened to the audio version and while I admit it is a difficult "read" at first due to lots of unfamiliar names, places, titles etc, as well as the story jumping headstrong into an event that is just a side-show of the true story.I found myself quickly pulled in and totally enjoyed it.It has easily become one of my all time favorites.I recommend the audiobook version as Terry Jones did a fantastic job of creating the feel which I suspect Scott Adams intended when writing it.I also recommend the PC software game by the same title, although it was witten for an older version of windows and runs on XP but I don't know about Vista or later.

Better than people make it out to be
I just got done with this book and it's the first of douglas adams i've read.I actually really enjoyed it ive read it twice now and it is pretty hillarious.TOns of irony ect i give this 5/5 easy.Great sit down and read book.

ok...just ok.
its an ok book. a bit "campy" and a bit more slapstick in humour then douglas adams books, lacking in the wit of douglas adams but still amusing. ... Read more

Product Description
It all started when Douglas Adams demolished planet Earth in order to make way for an intergalactic expressway–and then invited everyone to thumb a ride on a comical cosmic road trip with the likes of Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, and the other daft denizens of deep space immortalized in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Adams made the universe a much funnier place to inhabit and forever changed the way we think about towels, extraterrestrial poetry, and especially the number 42. And then, too soon, he was gone.

Just who was this impossibly tall Englishman who wedded science fiction and absurdist humor to create the multimillion-selling five-book “trilogy” that became a cult phenomenon read round the world? Even if you’ve dined in the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, you’ve been exposed to only a portion of the offbeat, endearing, and irresistible Adams mystique. Have you met the only official unofficial member of Monty Python’s Flying Circus? The very first person to purchase a Macintosh computer? The first (and thus far only) author to play a guitar solo onstage with Pink Floyd? Adams was also the writer so notorious for missing deadlines that he had to be held captive in a hotel room under the watchful eye of his editor; the creator of the epic computer game Starship Titanic; and a globetrotting wildlife crusader.

A longtime friend of the author, Nick Webb reveals many quirks and contradictions: Adams as the high-tech-gadget junkie and lavish gift giver . . .irrepressible ham and painfully timid soul . . . gregarious conversationalist and brooding depressive . . . brilliant intellect and prickly egotist. Into the brief span of forty-nine years, Douglas Adams exuberantly crammed more lives than the most resilient cat–while still finding time and energy to pursue whatever side projects captivated his ever-inquisitive mind.

By turns touching, tongue-in-cheek, and not at all timid about telling the warts-and-all truth, Wish You Were Here is summation as celebration– a look back at a life well worth the vicarious reliving, and studded with anecdote, droll comic incident, and heartfelt insight as its subject’s own unforgettable tales of cosmic wanderlust. For the countless fans of Douglas Adams and his unique and winsome world, here is a wonderful postcard: to be read, reread, and treasured for the memories it bears.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Nick Webb's biography on Douglas Adams - video review
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3DD0WP1I08D67

Poignant, Surprisingly Informative, Funny and Douglas-ish
A worthy addition to any library containing the rest of Douglas's books.Since his untimely passing, I'm afraid this is as close as we'll come to reading any work even remotely reminiscent of Douglas.Nick Webb does a great job, manifests prodigious levels of research and has a similar sense of humour to Douglas.It's a sad read, despite being funny, but I'm loathe to finish it - I've been stuck on the last few dozen pages for months now - because when I do, it's over.

Cheers Mr. Adams and thanks for the effect you've had on my life.

An excellent book about an excellent subject
This book really made me want to put it down and reread THE SALMON OF DOUBT by Douglas Adams instead. Since I still have THE SALMON OF DOUBT, I will reread it. That's why I still have it.

WISH YOU WERE HERE. The Prologue was so boring that I didn't feel like reading any further. But I love Douglas Adams and the book is roughly 350 pages, so I decided I'd read at least 35 of them before I quit. Not the best way to read a book, is it? The information about Adams is good, but there was something I just wasn't liking. At page 75, I felt ready to describe what it was.

1) Nick Webb, obviously a fan who "gets it" regarding Douglas Adams, tries to be irreverently humorous in the Douglas Adams style, with footnotes worthy of Terry Pratchett. One reviewer, quoted on the back cover, feels it's an effort worthy of Adams. I just find it tedious. Long-winded, pointless, and distracting, because Douglas Adams he ain't. 350 pages could be 250 pages if he'd just get on with it.

2) Webb rightly concludes that some biographies, such as this one, can be told better if strict chronology is abandoned. But then he doesn't tell it better because he knows so much more about his subject than we do. He needed a good solid edit by someone barely familiar with Douglas Adams who would only see what's on the paper, not what's in Webb's head. Without such an editor, I don't always know what Webb's talking about. I can figure it out later, but I don't want to work that hard. I want to enjoy reading about Douglas Adams. Yes, they were in a hurry to get this published as soon after the great man's death as possible -- so long and thanks for all the money -- but editing matters. This book cries out for it.

3) Webb drops names of every British celebrity he can and just assumes we'll all know who these people are. We don't. Some of us are too young, some of us are too old, and some of us aren't British. So unless they contribute something to the story, why confuse us? When I read, I don't want laundry lists. We're all buying this book to read about the man on the cover, Douglas Adams. The only shopping list I'll read is my own. Write, dammit!

With those two reflections formed in my mind, I felt ready to persevere to the end. Again, it's about Douglas Adams. And so are quite a few wonderful Wikipedia entries, I'm sure. I wish the author, the publisher, and the friends and family of Douglas Adams had worked a little harder to raise a book about the man above that level.

After I wrote the above paragraphs, I resumed my reading and positively fell in love. I kept finding spots where I wanted to grab Jan and repeat stuff to her. The style started clicking and it was everything I wanted it to be. I felt Douglas Adams coming through loud and clear on every page, as he damn well should. Congrats to the biographer for a job well done. So what the hell happened before? Padding added later to reach an arbitrary word count? Is this the price I pay for pre-ordering it before publication? (Yeah, it's been on my shelf a long time.)

So I guess my advice is to buy a later printing, maybe a paperback, at which point one hopes it's been edited another time or two. It's a great book about a great man, written well and a pleasure to read. Oh, and get A SALMON OF DOUBT too. It may Douglas Adams' finest work, even though it was assembled from his notes after his death. I wish I was that editor.

Not your average biography
Biographies are written every day, but not everyone deserves one (i.e. Hollywood talentless starlets, hairy 80s rock stars etc. etc.). Douglas Adams , on the other hand, is a right person in this case - he had it all - wit, talent and lust for discovery. While purely British slang and references will most likely be lost on European and American readers, there's still a lot of interesting facts about Mr. Adams in Nick Webb book. He's presenting Adams as an intelligent and very tactful man, not without his faults, but very interesting person nonetheless. I'm sure that Mr. Adams would've been proud of this biography.

A widely shared sentiment
It's a rare treat to find a book where every paragraph is a delight to read.And that's not counting the ones by Douglas Adams himself."Wish You Were Here" is a testimony to a giant of a man - outsized in more ways than one.At over 196 centimetres, Adams was an intimidating figure.It's even more intimidating to encounter the breadth of his mentality.As Webb explains, Adams developed an incipient interest in science, became a proficient [if spendthrift] guitarist and learned just how final extinction is.He was a man attracted to new ideas, even to the extent of creating an Internet company that went beyond just being another dot.com.His personal interests were equally wide and intense. Given how soon after Adams' death this book was published, it's remarkably complete and sensitive to the survivors.

If he'd done nothing but HHGG, Adams would be fondly remembered.As Webb notes often, Adams was too inventive and broad-minded to be limited to a single theme.Still, when you start off by considering the universe, you can only scale downward.Webb, who has a fine humorous style of his own, follows the life and tribulations of Adams with careful attention.He understands, as a flexible publisher should, that the craft of writing and production schedules are an uneasy liaison.The legends of Adams ability to procrastinate are common, but Webb points out that Adams' desire for perfection in his craft was at least as strong as his receptivity to diversion.His friends were nearly as important as his writing, and a long, liquidy lunch was both pleasurable and intellectually stimulating.Webb's own discussions with his subject were as often about deep philosophical questions as about the business of publishing.

The author demonstrates how fervently Adams sought to have HHGG transposed into film.It's almost disappointing to note that no British firm was even approached to undertake the task.Given that the BBC-TV production was such a success, even though Adams himself felt disappointed in it, filming it there might have boosted the industry in the UK.Hollywood's special effects seemed to hold sway, even though BBC-TV's production was done with "old-fashioned" transparencies.That the film was made, even to mixed reviews, is one of the deep and tragic ironies of this account.Adams was unwilling or unable to perceive the vagaries of dealing with the Hollywood moguls.He wasn't a screenwriter - his first draft proved far too lengthy - and making the transition proved endlessly difficult.

Adams' legacy is enduring, as Webb notes in his conclusion.Answer any question with "42" and you will almost certainly be granted a smile of recognition.The conversation will turn to favourite scenes or characters.Hitchhiker's [and the placement of the inverted comma remains a subject of discussion] was a phenomenon.Such things don't easily fade away.Webb is to be congratulated for helping perpetrate the marvel of Adams, even if the image is a bit smudged.The author makes a sincere effort to trace the origins of his subject's thinking, but much of that remains anonymous.That Richard Dawkins was a strong influence is now a given, but other sources likely lie in Adams own reading regimen.It wasn't Dawkins who put Adams on to astrophysics, one assumes.Little shortcomings of this sort don't detract from the immense value of this work.Webb's skills as an author, and one with such affinity for his subject more than overcome whatever might be lacking.It's a tribute to Adams, his circle of friends and to all us readers alike.[stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada] ... Read more

Product Description
The BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatization!

Seconds before the 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 begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.

Where are these pens? Why are we born?Why do we die?Why do we spend so much time between wearing digital watches?For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars.And don't forget to bring a towel!

Presented Fully Dramatized on 3 CDs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Near Flawless
Fantastic - a true muse of fire, crammed with so many ideas and such comedic brilliance that it is practically bursting at the seams.
All the others seem lame in comparison (which they aren't), like Charlie Chaplin's WW1 films - an ariadne's thread for all his other ideas.

If you haven't listened to the Primary Phase, don't just watch the film or read the book - it is essential that you try it on CD, as it was ground breaking in its time, and still flawless in the present.

All in all, this is an essential audio book, which has had profound effects on popular culture and is a Bible for anyone seeking to make headway (while avoiding cliche) in sci-fi, comedy or any pop culture field. Listen and be enriched!

Here's why you need to hear this.... THE BEST VERSION


The first 3 hours have parity with the books... they get to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe... but instead of Disaster Area, they break into a Hagumemnon spaceship and fly across interstellar distances in an accidental war.From there Zaphod goes to Megadodo publications to visit the boss who is on an integalactic cruise in his office, and Arthur & Ford do get stuck on planet Earth, but the heart of gold rescues them and they end up in a floating, ice covered, marble statue tea cup 16 miles up in the air.

Of course the tea cup on this planet floats because of art and aesthetic.It just looks good floating there.So it floats.Lovely.

Then some more stuff happens, and it ends up somewhere chatting with the most important man in the universe who basically just like to feed his cat fishies.

It's all terribly good, I am afraid. Quite.

Miss you Douglas. A lot.

From somebody who was introduced to the series from the recent movie
I'll start it off saying: I was introduced to the series to the (now in my opinion horrible) movie adaptation of the book adaption of this. I saw the movie a few years ago and I loved it. Then at my library I said the TV series, I thought (at that point) that because it was older it was going to be bad, but to my surprise it was great! But I didn't think that was the end, so I borrowed the first 2 books in the series; loved them.
Then I came to this;the original.
I expected it to be god awful since I (at the time) thought radio dramas were horrible BUT since it was HGttG I thought I'd give it a go, a boy was I wrong.
This version in my opinion is the funniest and the best acted incarnation of the series.
The series takes place as an unsuspecting humans friend saves him from his home that has been destroyed by a bunch of aliens -who are basically a bunch of raving bureaucrats- and they are traveling through the galaxy, pretty much trying to survive(I won't go any further into the main plot because I don't want to spoil it, and someone else has probably already covered it)
The performance by Peter Jones by the book was GREAT(even though he did the voice in the TV series, I think he did better here) and the other actors did to.
A lot of jokes were taken out of this in the book for some reason or another and there is only 1 that I agree with(Replacing the Hagunenon Admiral with Disaster Area, though the Hagunenons were still awesome), the other omissions I dislike. The way it feels imagining the actors/characters doing things is much better than seeing them in a TV series(or movie). The presentation-though not very realistic- in my opinion fits the series much better than the other versions. I also preferred the voice of Trillian better in this than I did the actor in the TV series. This Series is great for if you just want to sit and listen to something, or are on the go.
It's really funny how the plot makes so little sense, while making so much sense.

If you're a fan of (which I am) the books, or 80's TV series, pick this up somewhere!
Even if you're a fan of the movie I'd recommend this(even though some people who like the movie probably won't like this).

Great gift for a Douglas Adams fan
This made a great gift for a Douglas Adams fan.If you are one, you probably already have this.If you know one, give them this - unless they already have it, of course.

This is IT.
Before the wonderful and lovingly crafted books, before the great BBC television series, before the smelly, unwanted, terrible movie, there was the Radio Broadcast!No, not the War of the Worlds Broadcast, also known as the Panic Broadcast.This is The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy.The most famous, well known British Sci-Fi Comedy Radio Story ever to be heard on the planet Earth, or any other planet within our Solar System.Aliens, lots of weapons' firing, robots, spaceships, Evil Poetry, food, drinks, more drinks, and humor beyond your wildest dreams.So sit down, make sure you have on comfortable shoes and go nowhere fast as you listen to this masterpiece of the English language. ... Read more