The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

It was my father who discovered The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy listening to Radio4 back in the 70s and it would be fair enough to say that I grew up with the books, TV series and of course the original radio series. It is a cult phenomenon now, and one that is still immensely popular today, despite the fact that Douglas Adams himself sadly died in 2001.


Appropriately enough for a book that was allegedly conceived while its author was lying drunk in a field in Austria, there are several mentions of the sauce, however the best one by a country mile is the description of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, a drink mixed with one ingredient that must be properly iced or the benzene is lost. Don’t panic...

Imagine, if you can, the following excerpt narrated by the late Peter Jones.

Here’s what The Encyclopaedia Galactica has to say about alcohol. It says that alcohol is a colourless volatile liquid formed by the fermentation of sugars and also notes its intoxicating effect on certain carbon-based life forms. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy also mentions alcohol. It says that the best drink in existence is the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. It says that the effect of drinking a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick.

He goes on to point out that the Hitchhiker’s Guide sells rather better than The Encyclopaedia Galactica...