This book is a science fiction comedy written by Douglas Adams. It originated in 1978 as a
radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Since then it has become a
series of five
books, published between 1979 and 1992, (the first of which was entitled The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy), a 1981 TV series, and a 1984 computer game. A Hollywood film version was released in April 2005, and adaptations of the last three books to radio were broadcast from 2004 to 2005.
The
title The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is often abbreviated as "HHG", "HHGG", "HHGTTG", "HG2G", or "H2G2". This title can refer to the several incarnations of the story, of which the books, having been translated into over 30 languages by 2005 are the most widely distributed. The title can also refer to the fictional guidebook The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, an eccentric electronic encyclopedia which features in the series. Last but not least, h2g2, launched as the "Earth Edition" of the Guide, is a website hosted by the BBC featuring a range of user-submitted articles.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Although the various
versions followed the same basic plot, they are in many places mutually contradictory, as Adams rewrote the story substantially for each "adaptation". In all versions, the series follows the adventures of Arthur Dent, a hapless Englishman who escapes the destruction of Earth by an
alien race called the Vogons with his friend Ford Prefect, an alien from a small planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse and researcher for the eponymous guide. Unfortunately for them, they have done so by hitching a ride onboard one of the Vogons' ships, and after being read some Vogon poetry, they are promptly thrown out of an airlock. Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ford's semi-cousin and sometime Galactic President, unknowingly saves the pair from death in his stolen spaceship, the Heart of Gold, whose crew rounds out the main cast of characters: Marvin the Paranoid Android, a severely depressed robot, and Trillian, a woman known by Arthur as the only other surviving human being. After this, the characters get involved in a quest to find legendary planet of Magrathea and the Question to the Ultimate Answer.
Happy Reading.
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