[.ca] Life, The Universe and Everything: Commemorative Edition (ISBN 0330267388)

Literally great while technically lacking:
This is a great read. I would highly recommend that anybody with an interest in science fiction, social observation and satire, or both to read the entire Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy (which is composed of five books). The story is excellent and should be enough to keep anyone interested. The comedy in the series exists at many levels, leaving you to find something new each time you reread it. The fact that Douglas Adamins himself reads his works on this CD set makes it a bonus which shouldn't be turned down. Douglas Adams may be dead, but you can own him forever in mind and voice. My complaint about this representation of "Life, the Universe and Everything" is technical. Each CD in this set has *ONE* track, making it nearly impossible to stop and restart later. You are forced to use the fast-forward button to skip through minutes of audio instead of just being able to punch the track selection buttons. It is annoying beyond explanation. You would thing anybody who produced Audiobooks would know that you are expected to break your material up into tracks. That is the main benefit over casette tapes! That one technical rant aside, I would highly suggest anybody with an interest in HHGTTG to get this. If you are a HHGTTG collecter, you should especially pick this up if just for the Douglas Adams narration factor. Anyway... So long, and thanks for all the fish.

Flying : How to Throw Yourself at the Ground and Miss:
Written by Douglas Adams, "Life, the Universe and Everything" was first published in 1982 and is the third instalment of his legendary five-part "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" trilogy. It opens around five years after "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" finished, but follows up on what has happened in the previous books - as a result, it's the wrong place to start !! The series started life as a radio show, before becoming a book, a television series, a play and a bath towel. Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge in 1952 and died in May 2001. Recent years haven't been kind to Arthur Dent. Having seen his home flattened by bulldozers, he barely escaped with his life when the Earth was demolished by the Vogons - officially to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Arthur was rescued by Ford Prefect, a roving reporter for "The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy". The pair were later picked up by an old school-friend of Fords, Zaphod Beeblebrox - the two-headed, three-armed, renegade ex-President of the Galaxy and owner of the most powerful and unpredictable ship in the universe. Having met Slartibartfast, the man who designed Norway, and eaten at the restaurant at the end of the universe, an unprogrammed teleport sees Arthur and Ford landing on...a prehistoric Earth. As the book opens, Arthur has been living alone in a cold, damp, smelly cave for five years. Living alone in what would become Islington roughly two million years later, he hasn't had any company since the surviving Golgafrinchans went on holiday about three years previously. Ford, having spent the last three years in prehistoric Africa, is now responsible for the giraffe and returns just in time to save Arthur from madness. He has detected eddies in the space - time continuum, which he suspects may provide the pair with an escape route. His suspicions are proved correct : the pair catch an over-active Chesterfield sofa which carries them forward through time and deposits them at Lords Cricket Ground - just two days before the Vogons are due to demolish Earth. The arrive just in time to see England defeat Australia in a very important cricket match, a spaceship containing robotic 'cricketers' arriving to kill people and steal the Ashes (the 'trophy' being played for) and Slartibartfast trying to stop them. Slartibartfast kindly agrees to give the duo a lift, meaning they won't have to hitch a ride with the Vogons again. However, he seems to expect them to help him save the universe - a task that involves them discovering that cricket is actually derived from Krikket and that robotic cricketers are generally best avoided. Ford, on the other hand, aims to be exceedingly drunk and would rather visit Eccentrica Gallumbits - a very capable lady of negotiable affections. This is an extremely silly and very easily read book - though it probably does assume a certain awareness of cricket. Hugely enjoyable and definitely recommended - though only after having read the previous two instalments !

One of the Funniest And Most Bizarre Books Ever:
Adam, Douglas, Life The Universe and Everything. United States: Harmony Books, 1982 One of the Funniest and Most Bizarre Books Ever! Life, The Universe And Everything is the third out of five Hitchhiker books. This hilarious book follows Arthur Dent. Ford Prefect, Slartibartfast, Zaphod Beeblebrox, and Trillian as they try to save the universe from the white killer robots of Krikkit. The dialogue is hilarious, creative, and inventive. Though this is the fourth one I've read, I can certainly say it's my favorite one, and once you've read them all there's even a movie for the first one. All and all the best thing I can say is to go out and read it. If you've read the other ones or just need a good book, this one's for you. You've read the rest now read the best. Daniel Edens

Ho hum...:
"Life, the Universe, and Everything" took me months on end to get through. Every time I opened the book I'd think "Ha, ha! What a funny and crazy man that Adams is. Why don't I read this more?", but after a few pages I'd grow weary. This book is genuinely funny, but I think instead of being a five-book trilogy, the Hitchhiker's franchise should have stopped at one. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was one of my favorite books for a time, and still holds a special place in my literary tastes. It's hilarious, and Douglas Adams has undoubtedly the sharpest wit this side of Oscar Wilde! Unfortunately, his abilities in the field of plot propulsion are weak at best. I read through this series, loving the first, liking the second, and by the time I got to this one, I just felt like asking what's the POINT? All this book was was another opportunity for the author to demonstrate his wit, which is, i reiterate, amazing. However, it's not enough to keep me reading, ...

Alice in Wonderland of the 21st Century:
This audiobook is absolutly awesome! The title says it all. This is Alice in Wonderland of the 21st Century. The book is very funny, yet fast paced with plenty of action. I am not going to give you brief content of the plot, read it for yourself. Just take my word for it - the book is awesome. It is the second book in the series, and it is every single bit as good as the first one. Douglas Adams reads it himself, and he is a wonderful narrator (unlike Stephen King, who is a horrible narrator yet still insists on reading his own books). This was very enjoyable. It's aweful that Douglas Adams died so young. I enjoyed his books so much that I take it as a personal loss.