Life, the Universe, and Everything

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Book 3

By: Douglas Adams

Narrated by: Martin Freeman

Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

“Wild satire.... The feckless protagonist, Arthur Dent, is reminiscent of Vonnegut heroes.” (Chicago Tribune)

The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky above their heads - so they plan to destroy it. The universe, that is. Now only five individuals stand between the killer robots of Krikkit and their goal of total annihilation.

They are Arthur Dent, a mild-mannered space and time traveler who tries to learn how to fly by throwing himself at the ground and missing; Ford Prefect, his best friend, who decides to go insane to see if he likes it; Slartibartfast, the indomitable vice president of the Campaign for Real Time, who travels in a ship powered by irrational behavior; Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed, three-armed ex-president of the galaxy; and Trillian, the sexy space cadet who is torn between a persistent Thunder God and a very depressed Beeblebrox.

How will it all end? Will it end? Only this stalwart crew knows as they try to avert "universal" Armageddon and save life as we know it - and don't know it!

“Adams is one of those rare treasures: an author who, one senses, has as much fun writing as one has reading.” (Arizona Daily Star)

Listen to the rest of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy".

Want to learn more about the new Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie? Listen to this interview with Robbie Stamp, close friend of Douglas Adams and executive producer of the film.

©1982 Serious Productions, Ltd. (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Life the Universe and Everything.

What made the experience of listening to Life, the Universe, and Everything the most enjoyable?

You will have to listen to the hal story, but after all the books you get a perfect picture of Duglas Adams world for Arthur, Ford, Trisha and Zhafod. And the story is lovely ans should be read ore listend to.

What other book might you compare Life, the Universe, and Everything to and why?

Book1 Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxies, book 2, restaurant at the end of the world, book 4 So long and thanks for all the fish and book 5 Mostly harmless. The books are all collected.

Have you listened to any of Martin Freeman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Well I love his voice, but his impression of Zahfod is a bit erm.. lets just say disappointing.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

If I could have the time I would love to listen to in one setting.

Any additional comments?

As a free thinking person this book series is lovely.

Never a better performance

Martin Freeman is spectacular, Douglas Adams is incredible - I'm starting it all over again, just because I can!

Another Fantastic Entry and Performance

If you liked the previous books in the Hitchhiker's series, you'll like this one.

The performance this time is extra good with audio effects on some of the character voices. Martin Freeman is as good, if not better, as he was in the 2nd book.

terrific imagination

I have been very happy with this series, laughing and being puzzled in turn. also the performance has been terrific. and it seems The story goes on just like life taking a lot of twists and turns.

Freeman Hits the Mark as a Narrator

If you've read any of the previous Hitchhiker's books, then this reading perfectly suits the style of the hilarious story and its varied characters. Martin Freeman does a wonderful performance of the confused Arthur Dent and his friends as they encounter yet another adventure to stop the Universe from destruction. And Freeman also, in his nonchalant reading of the narrator's perspective, keeps the listener laughing at each new chapter. I really hope that he reads the other two books in the series because he perfectly suits it as a narrator and as each of Adams' characters.

Perfect quirk

Classic Douglas Adams. Mind blowing and hilarious. Clever in a way that most can't fathom.

Not the best of the trilogy, but...

... still worth it to finish up the story. More narration/less dialogue than the others.

Another excellent story and performance!

Yet another hilarious title in the series, with an excellent performance by Martin Freeman whose reading is as appealing as the story itself.

Spectacular

This was a great prequel to The Restaurant at the end of the Universe and is hilarious while still being slightly serious. This is a great book so if you haven't read it, go on! Read it! :)

More confusing than ever! But fun.

This was more confusing and strange than ever. It was still entertaining and fun, but not his best work.