It’s been forever since I dipped into the crazy that was Douglas Adams’ brain.  I do have a love of the absurd and English humor frequently gives me that fix.  And this book is right at the top of the list.

For those late to the party:  Arthur Dent is a perfectly ordinary man living in his own house in the West Country of England. The town has decided that it needs a bypass and the optimal place for it is through Arthur’s property.  Through typical political shenanigans, the mayor managed to not exactly inform Arthur.  The first notice Arthur had was the yellow bulldozer outside his window.  He did the only thing he could think of:  lie down in the mud in front of the bulldozer.  And this is where he was when his friend Ford Prefect was suddenly alerted to the presence of spaceships crewed by the Vogons passing over the Earth.  Ford had been stranded on Earth for the past fifteen years and had been impatiently waiting for an opportunity to hitch a ride out.  He had been researching a new chapter for the book “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” He just wished it hadn’t been the Vogons.  The Vogons were there, of course, to demolish the Earth to make room for a new hyperspatial express route (read: bypass).  The Vogons had also managed to not exactly inform Earth of the coming event.

Fortunately for Ford and Arthur, the catering team on the ship hated their employers and happily picked them up.  The danger was, of course, being found as stowaways by the Vogons and being forced to listen to their poetry.

I swear; the passage of how Ford convinced Arthur to get up out of the mud and then convince the Mayor not to demolish the house while they nipped down to the pub for a pint was simply, though beautifully, absurd.

Well, they were found by the Vogons and summarily ejected out of an airlock.  More to follow…

Meanwhile, the current President of the Imperial Galactic Government, Zaphod Beeblebrox, was on his way to a christening ceremony of the much-anticipated new spaceship, The Heart of Gold, which was powered by the Infinite Probability Drive.  And Zaphod planned to steal it.  He was accompanied by his patient girlfriend, Trillian; coincidentally also from Earth, like Arthur.  You’ll find this story is rife with coincidences; which is not, of course, a coincidence.

Coincidentally, the Heart of Gold just happened to be passing through a galaxy where there once was a blue-green planet and now was not, just in time to pick up Ford and Arthur.  A fortuitous coincidence.  This sort of thing did tend to happen from time to time.  The author’s description of what Ford and Arthur experienced as Heart of Gold transitioned through improbabilities was hysterical; and would not have been out of place in a Monty Python skit.

Ford and Zaphod were acquainted but Arthur certainly didn’t expect to recognize him, as well.  Zaphod was the bounder who made off with a young lady, Trillian, at a party while Arthur was trying to impress her.  Imagine his surprise that she’s onboard, as well.  Oh, almost forgot Marvin.  Marvin is the chronically depressed robot (voiced by the talented Sam Rockwell in the 2005 film version.)  Everyone loves Marvin.

So, Zaphod stole the ship so he could find the improbable planet of Magrathea.  During the long-forgotten time of the former Galactic Empire, Magrathea was known for its custom-built planets. Now the funny thing about Zaphod is that anytime he suddenly desires something, everything works out for him.  One day he just decided to find Magrathea.  This is disturbing for him and he’d like to know just why and how these things happen to him.  This will not be the only disturbing thing in this story.  And if you never read this book or it’s so far in your past that you’ve forgotten the true masterminds of this tale, it won’t be me to spoil it for you.  ~ Catherine Book

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