The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - Douglas Adams

This is the second installment of Adams's five-part Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Arthur Dent, last known surviving earthling, is aboard a spaceship about to be attacked by the gruesome Vogons. Thanks to the wonders of time travel, they are saved at the last minute by a distant ancestor of Zaphod Beeblebrox. They travel to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, where the entertainment is constantly interrupted by the end of the universe. As different characters try in their own way to figure out how to survive, Arthur and Ford Prefect end up on a planet they determine to be earth at the time of creation. Thousands of humans have been brought to the planet to inhabit it, but their knowledge and skills are that of the cavemen. Arthur tries unsuccessfully to teach them to play scrabble in hopes of speeding-up evolution, but as he learns from Ford, "Rome wasn't burned in a day." Like this plot summary, The Restaruant at the End of the Universe, is filled with nonsense, verbal word games, constant time and space travel - and the never ending for the quest to determine the question to which the answer is 42. As I've noted before, I am not big on the math/science/physics of it all, but I really enjoy Adams's characters, and their constant absurdity. To me, this series has been good for some real laughs - not necessarily realistic plot or dialogue, but definitely a worthwhile escape from it all.