NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ' 'Extremely funny . . . inspired lunacy . . . [and] over much too soon.''The Washington Post Book World

Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read

Seconds before 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 began a journey through space aided by a galaxyful of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox'the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian (formerly Tricia McMillan), Zaphod's girlfriend, whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; and Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he's bought over the years.

Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? For all the answers, stick your thumb to the stars!

Praise for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

'A whimsical oddyssey . . . Characters frolic through the galaxy with infectious joy.''Publishers Weekly

'Irresistable!''The Boston Globe