Life, the Universe and Everything
First edition (UK)
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| Author | Douglas Adams |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | David Scutt (UK) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher |
Pan Books (UK) Harmony Books (US) |
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Publication date
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August 1982 (UK) October 1983 (US) |
| Media type | Paperback and hardcover |
| Pages | 160 (UK Paperback) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 51000970 |
| Preceded by | The Restaurant at the End of the Universe |
| Followed by | So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish |
August 1982 (UK)
Life, the Universe and Everything (1982, ) is the third book in the five-volume Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy science fiction trilogy by British writer Douglas Adams. The title refers to the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.
The story was originally outlined by Adams as Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen to be a Tom Baker Doctor Who television six-part story, but was rejected by the BBC. It was later considered as a plotline for the second series of the Hitchhiker's TV series, which was never commissioned.
A radio adaptation of Life, the Universe and Everything was recorded in 2003 under the guidance of Dirk Maggs, starring the surviving members of the cast of the original Hitchhiker's radio series. Adams himself, at his own suggestion, makes a cameo appearance; due to his death before production began on the series, this was achieved by sampling his character's dialogue from an audio book of the novel read by Adams that was published in the 1990s. The radio adaptation debuted on BBC Radio 4 in September 2004.
After being stranded on pre-historic Earth after the events in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Arthur Dent is met by his old friend Ford Prefect, who drags him into a space-time eddy, represented by an anachronistic sofa. The two end up at Lord's Cricket Ground two days before the Earth's destruction by the Vogons. Shortly after they arrive, a squad of robots land in a spaceship in the middle of the field and attack the assembled crowd, stealing The Ashes before departing. Another spaceship arrives, the Starship Bistromath, helmed by Slartibartfast, who discovers he is too late and requests Arthur and Ford's help.
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