  This is without a doubt one of the fastest and funniest books I have ever read. The original Hitchhiker's Guide is simply insane humor that delivers hilarious reading.
In the vein of Monty Python, written by a Brit who had worked on Dr. Who (which I have never gotten into) this story just kept me in stictches and I have read it a couple of times and listened to the BBC radio show based on it. I saw bits of the cheesy tv series but it was not up to the book. If you just are bored and have a few minutes it will give you something to smile about.
Just the image of giant Vogon earth moving machines poised to demolish the earth to make way for a new interstellar space highway creates an inner smile for me. To think that a passing spaceship equipped with "improbability drive" is what saves Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent from the fate of the earth gives me another one.
There are two really terrific stories in the "all in one" volume and it goes down from there till the last story which is just ok. Douglas Adams is no longer with us and he had the smarts to keep all his projects from being linked so the upcoming movie with the same title is a complete mystery but if it weighs in with the timing and promise of the first book, it will be worth watching. In the meantime, read the book. 4 STARS OUT OF 4 - Hilarious 
