Original artwork, not a still
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe • 1980
If you’ve done six impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe?
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Adams takes Carroll's boast about impossible things before breakfast and turns it into a restaurant pitch, which is how the book sells the absurd as a perfectly reasonable night out. Fans use it for a day that has been too strange and needs a dramatic ending, and it is the neatest short pitch for the second book: the end of everything, with a table booked.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for The Restaurant at the End of the UniverseShow the scene
The line belongs to The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, the second Hitchhiker's book, published by Pan Books in 1980 and adapted from the radio series. It advertises Milliways, a restaurant built on the ruins of Frogstar World B and sitting in a time bubble near the end of the universe, so diners can watch the ending as a floor show. Zaphod, Ford, Arthur and Trillian arrive there after Zaphod abandons Zarniwoop. The wording echoes the White Queen in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, who boasts of believing six impossible things before breakfast.
Sources (2)
- Wikipedia: The Restaurant at the End of the UniverseLead and SynopsisReference checked
- Wikiquote: Through the Looking-GlassChapter 5Reference checked
Context reviewed
