Novel
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams · 1979
Synopsis
Arthur Dent wakes up and finds a bulldozer in front of his house: his house is being demolished for a bypass. His friend Ford takes him to the pub and admits that he comes from another planet, that he is writing a guide for hitchhikers of space and that the Earth is about to be demolished in a few minutes for a galactic express route. They escape by hitchhiking aboard a passing spaceship. Arthur has taken nothing with him; Ford has his towel and his guide.
Context
The story began on 8 March 1978, at half past ten in the evening, as a radio series; it became a novel the following year, drawn from the first four episodes, then a television series, records, a computer game, a comic strip and a film. Its author rewrote at every stage and said he contradicted himself from one version to the next. The novel was published by a paperback publisher, the radio's publishing house having, it is said, not wanted it, and it was quickly top of the sales charts.
Who it is for
A short novel, about one hundred and sixty pages in English; only one French translation, that of Jean Bonnefoy, since 1982.
Prizes and reception
It sold more than a quarter of a million copies in three months and began a series of five volumes.
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