Author: Douglas Adams
Series: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #1
Release Date: October 12, 1979
Pages: 216
Genres: Adult, Science Fiction
Source: Library
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.
This book was absolutely glorious! I wish I hadn't waited so long to indulge in this book but I guess it's better late than never. From the very start, the humor is witty and the writing style feels like a comic book in a way. I was laughing out loud multiple times throughout the entire book and I flew right through it. All of the characters are unique, and my favorite has to be Marvin the depressed android.
This book, even though it's fairly short, sets a great tone as to what's to come in the rest of the series. I honestly felt like I was watching a great sitcom that takes place in outer space while flipping through the pages of this book. And there are events that seem so random but I didn't feel like it was being forced - everything just flowed nicely to create one hell of an episode.
I am definitely going to be reading the rest of this series and I can only hope that each installment will continue being as fantastic as the first.
