5~I r 0 0 $ ... .. . ....... ... ...... ...... ... .. .... ..... Warped audacity Life, the Universe, & Everything By Douglas Adams Pocket Books 22 pp., $3.50 By Bob King W HAT KIND OF WARPED writer would have the audacity to title a book Life, the Universe, & Everything; and more importantly, could he be held libel for false advertising? As for the writer, if he sounds to you like someone who might film five minutes of vomiting along with a hyper-disgusting liver removal, add a few scenes, and then package the whole ordeal under the title of The Meaning of Life, you're almost right. Though Adams didn't dirty his hands in Python's recent tribute to ill-taste, he was a writer for the Python troupe before turning to novels in the late '70s. And yes, the title is probably overly op- timistic. What Life, the Universe & Everything does deal with are most of the dilemmas created in the first two books of this trilogy (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe), such as the impending destruction of the universe at the hands of small robots from the planet Krikkit (after which, in a ghastly bit of irreverence, the English have named their ball- game), the past destruction of the Ear- th, a terminally depressed hyper- intelligent robot named Marvin, and an intricately imbalanced alien by the name of Zaphod Beeblebrox (the president of the universe), who has more heads than most people have noses. The hero of Adam's trilogy is a little kneebiter from England, who when he's lucky is called Arthur Dent. His mentor - and also the person who removed him from Earth in the nick of time (regrettably) - is a sarcastic in- dividual from some planet that you don't learn about until third semester astronomy. And what happens to a wayward human in this universe of Douglas Adams, a universe in which warps in time probably coincide with those in the author's cortex? Well, he goes in- teresting places: Dent begins the book on a vacant planet whose future population will be descendants of a shipload of accountants, bureaucrats, and salesmen who were shipped off of their own planet (for obvious reasons). He meets interesting people: Dent experiences Wowbagger, the tall grey- green alien whose immortality was driving him mad until he acquired a pastime, which consists of insulting every intelligent form of life in the universe - individually, and in alphab- etical order. And he kills people: Dent finally meets Agrajag, a pathetic soul who in each of its countless incarnations in this universe has been killed by Arthur Dent, accidentally. While trying to escape from Agrajag's desperate at- tempt at revenge, Dent fatally crushes his trachea. Dent was a happier in- dividual before the Earth was destroyed. But coming back to the impending doom of the universe. Why would a society decide to try and destroy the en- tire universe? You shouldn't be infor- med, but this seems so philosophically meaningful that there might be some type of moral obligation involved. Krikkit's was a dark solar system. It was surrounded entirely by a cloud of inter-stellar dust. When the sun set, the people of Krikkit were in complete darkness. From Krikkit's perspective, the universe was a very simple place. One day, Krikkit sent up a spaceship, and as it passed through the dust its people suddenly were aware of the im- mensity of the surrounding universe. And they had an immediate and unanimous reaction - "It has to go." Now you see what Dent is dealing with. For all of his bizarre humor, though, Adams also demonstrates a deeper level of human understanding (intellec- tual phrase), one that keeps his novels above the level of cheap comedy. And though this combination should be especially palatable for fans of Von- negut, Life, the Universe, and Everything is a good purchase for anyone looking for Pythonesque fun reading. Join the Daily Arts Staff Ann Arbor Civic Theatre presents THE PHILADELPHIA STORY -JU U £J --jz k . St _ i a Efm e 4 z ..a o F off: u th m rM na+ ",.tn. wuM«M u yi:. n . wwh5 M1 1 t ptu Jn ryt . rvn.a : N.NTi w Wt:+ ! Y.'-nag w. +n a.l pv:v n. atu to v>"W uaw Gn f FP" 71 t - pt a; Yu". , . 41w .VUF : w R+ tN. N. t", d r y"i A ~y n 0uw ..r__ THE CONCEPT OF ENDURANCE, THE FACES OF INTEGRITY Rolex Datejust, self-winding chronometer, stainless steel and 14kt. gold Oyster case, Jubilee bracelet. Rolex Lady-Date, self-winding with stainless steel and 14kt. gold Oyster case, Jubilee bracelet. Both models auaranteed oressure-oroof down to 165 feet. Box Office Opens Daily of 12 Noon November 2-51983 curtain 8pm Sat. 2 pm Michigan Theater tickets 668-8480 STUDENT SPECIAL DISCOUNT $1.00 ON ALL TICKETS 12 Weekend/November 4, 1983