The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

• Genre: Science fiction; comedy
• Originally Published: 1979
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 930: young adult/adult
• Structure/Length: Novel divided into 35 chapters with an introduction; approx. 193 pages; approx. 5 hours and 51 minutes on audiobook
• Protagonist/Central Conflict: The Hitchhiker‘s Guide to the Galaxy is a comedic science fiction novel that follows the misadventures of Arthur Dent, an unwitting Earthman who is rescued by a researcher named Ford Prefect just before the Earth‘s destruction. The central conflict revolves around Arthur‘s sudden and bewildering journey through space, guided by the electronic book The Hitchhiker‘s Guide, as he encounters a series of bizarre characters and humorous situations. The novel explores themes of absurdity, the meaning of life, and the vastness of the universe, all with Douglas Adams’s trademark wit and satire.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Themes of absurdity, humor, and science fiction concepts; profanity; references to depression and death by suicide

Douglas Adams, Author

• Bio: Born 1952, deceased 2001; British author and humorist known for his contributions to science fiction and comedy; Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series has become a cult classic in the realm of humorous science fiction.
• Other Works: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980); Life, the Universe and Everything (1982); So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1984)