This bestselling work of humorous science fiction is the fourth installment in the Hitchhiker's series. THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, the first book in the series, began with the complete destruction of Earth to clear space for a galactic highway. But now the Earth has returned, as if it had never been gone. What happened and who's responsible? Dressing-gown-clad Earthman Arthur Dent (who escaped from the Earth's purported demolition eight years ago) and his newfound true love, Fenchurch, attempt to discover the answers to these and to other pressing questions. Meanwhile, many light-years away, Arthur's wacky Betelgeusian pal, Ford Prefect, a writer for that amazingly useful and often apocryphal book, THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, is shocked to discover that his original lengthy coverage on the Earth, which had been edited down to two words ("Mostly Harmless"), has been reinstated, and he decides to find out why.