The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Book 2

By: Douglas Adams

Narrated by: Martin Freeman

Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Now celebrating the 42nd anniversary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, soon to be a Hulu original series!

“Douglas Adams is a terrific satirist.”—The Washington Post Book World

Facing annihilation at the hands of the warlike Vogons? Time for a cup of tea! Join the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his uncommon comrades in arms in their desperate search for a place to eat, as they hurtle across space powered by pure improbability.

Among Arthur’s motley shipmates are Ford Prefect, a longtime friend and expert contributor to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; Zaphod Beeblebrox, the three-armed, two-headed ex-president of the galaxy; Tricia McMillan, a fellow Earth refugee who’s gone native (her name is Trillian now); and Marvin, the moody android. Their destination? The ultimate hot spot for an evening of apocalyptic entertainment and fine dining, where the food speaks for itself (literally).

Will they make it? The answer: hard to say. But bear in mind that The Hitchhiker’s Guide deleted the term “Future Perfect” from its pages, since it was discovered not to be!

“What’s such fun is how amusing the galaxy looks through Adams’s sardonically silly eyes.”—Detroit Free Press

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.

©1980 Serious Productions, Ltd. (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Glad to have the whole series!

Where does The Restaurant at the End of the Universe rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Oh, questions? Ranks are hard, I would rank this similarly to perfectly toasted artisan bread with salted butter vs. your run of the mill toast. It might not be the best or fanciest food you ever had, but it'll make you happier than just about anything.

What other book might you compare The Restaurant at the End of the Universe to and why?

I'm not really sure. It shouldn't be lumped in with most sci-fi. This is snarky social commentary.

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

There's some suspense here, but only a few moments of edge your seat suspense.

I really liked the narrator

Any additional comments?

I don't know why the other reviewers were so critical of the narration. I'm glad I gave it a chance. Martin Freeman did a great job. Especially for the voice of Zaphod. Stephen Fry's version was vague and uninspired. I never read the book before or saw the movie, and I had a lot of trouble trying to figure out what kind of character Zaphod was in the first audio book. Freeman gave him some personality, brought him to life. It all clicked for me. Not sure why everyone was so passionate about not liking it. Get over it.

It's great!

The book is great as always! Martin Freeman does a great job narrating it!

one of my favorite books

one of my favorite narrations for this book. i listen to it over and over. i even bought a copy for my son.

The best

Fantastic narration and very entertaining. Martin does a wonderful job with this masterpiece from Douglas Adams

The good, the bad, and the terrible voice of zaphod.

Okay, I was like you. Yep, looking at these reviews and trying to decide whether I should get it, knowing that the narrator was different. Keep in mind that these were recorded quite a long time ago. Yes, I didn't really enjoy Zaphods voice. And some of the other characters too. But, I still enjoyed it. The story itself is fantastic. The voices should have been replicated off the movie "hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy" because that is /was their best voices. I recomend it. ;)

Must have.

Excellent story read by a gifted actor. This is about the 10 time I listened to the series. Only wish Martin Freeman read the first book as well.

Amazing, fun, and HILARIOUS!

I've read it 3 times and this was my first Audiobook experience. while I think the narrator got Marvin wrong, the performance is outstanding. A huge improvement over the first Audiobook. Well worth the listen.

Stop with the hate!

I have a feeling that someone(s) came here with the sole purpose of throwing dirt at Martin Freeman’s performance, posting as different people. Really. What is it that you hate so much? His acting is superb, and he does great justice to all the characters, and yes, that includes Zaphod, which obviously has to have an American accent! if he is to be as completely self-centered and annoying as he is.
Anyway, in my opinion the books are great, and the audiobooks are great too, and Stephen Fry is awesome and so is Martin Freeman. Don’t let the haters persuade you otherwise.
Enjoy!!

Enjoyable nonsense

Truly wonderful frivolity. Very creative and thought provoking. The human perspective that exists in the telling is rather egotistical, however due to the lack of true knowledge of universe, this can be forgiven. 😉