"This beautifully illustrated edition... celebrates the 42nd anniversary of the original publication"-- Jacket flap.

Color illustrations on the endpapers.

This is the story of Arthur Dent, who, seconds before Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, is plucked off the planet by his friend, Ford Prefect, who has been posing as an out-of-work actor for the last fifteen years but is really a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Together they begin a journey through the galaxy aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, with the words don't panic written on the front. ("A towel is about themost massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have."). In their travels they meet: Zaphod Beeblebrox-the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch President of the Galaxy; Trillian-Zaphod's girl friend, formerly Tricia McMillan, whom Arthur once tried to pick up at a cocktail party; Marvin-a paranoid android, a brilliant but chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig-former graduate student obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.To find the answers to these burning questions: Why are we born? Why do we die? And why do we spend so much time in between wearing digital watches? read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. But remember -- don't panic, and don't forget to bring a towel. The story of a British earthling plucked from his planet, and his subsequent adventures elsewhere in the universe.

"It’s an ordinary Thursday morning for Arthur Dent . . . until his house gets demolished. The Earth follows shortly after to make way for a new hyperspace express route, and Arthur’s best friend has just announced that he’s an alien. After that, things get much, much worse. With just a towel, a small yellow fish, and a book, Arthur has to navigate through a very hostile universe in the company of a gang of unreliable aliens. Luckily the fish is quite good at languages. And the book is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy . . . which helpfully has the words DON’T PANIC inscribed in large, friendly letters on its cover. Douglas Adams’s mega-selling pop-culture classic sends logic into orbit, plays havoc with both time and physics, offers up pithy commentary on such things as ballpoint pens, potted plants, and digital watches . . . and, most important, reveals the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything. Now, if you could only figure out the question."--,Provided by Amazon.com.