Mostly Harmless

[Editor's Note: The following is a combined review with SO LONG, AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH.]--Cosmic ridicule abounds in these last two novels that sprang from the author's BBC Radio serial, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." The magnum opus followed hero Arthur Dent on absurdist and just plain silly adventures through time and space, beginning with the destruction of Earth. The plots of the wildly popular print, dramatic, film, comic book, and audiobook versions are hard to describe, indeed often incomprehensible, and ultimately beside the point. One listens to enjoy the inexhaustible fecundity of the author's prankish genius. Narrator Martin Freeman played the hapless, clueless Dent in the film version. A light touch of special effects and musical bridges nicely augment his spirited and suitably dotty reading. The narrative unfolds in his native London accent. The numerous characters gain humor from his chameleonic voice and ear for dialect. A tour de force for both writer and reader. Y.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

September 28, 1992
Ford Prefect, of the planet Betelgeuse, and Earthman Arthur Dent began their whimsical odyssey in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In Adams' latest book, Ford relies on serendipity and his own quick wits to protect a powerful new edition of the Hitchhiker's Guide from the loathsome, sluglike Vogons. Ford's pal, Arthur, misses his planet and his old flame, Tricia McMillan. The rootless traveler from Earth finds his metier, however, on Lamuella, a world whose people subsist on Perfectly Normal Beast. Adams sets a rapid pace that becomes even more hectic when Arthur is unexpectedly joined by Tricia; her peevish teenage daughter; Ford Prefect; and the travel guide to the stars. The book once looked like a hand-held computer; now it takes the shape of a mechanical talking bird. Using new techniques, this floating device can whisk users through space and time. Thus the scene shifts back to Earth, where the past, present and future braid together. Adams may depend too much on the cliffhanger form. But his ingenious wit still captivates, and his characters frolic through the galaxy with infectious joy.

Ford Prefect, Arthur Dent, and the usual cast of characters are back in the late Douglas Adams's MOSTLY HARMLESS, an installment of the HITCHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. Adams does a stellar job reading his own words as he captures his own dry wit, wry sense of humor, and gift for overstating the obvious. As each scene unfolds and each character appears, Adams takes great delight in the absurdity of the universe he has created, and his own entertainment comes across brilliantly in the reading. Any fan of the Hitchhiker's Guide will enjoy this turn of events as much as the author's interpretation of his work in this thoroughly enjoyable nugget of mind candy. H.L.S. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine