You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:

This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

The IP address or range 34.227.0.0/16 has been blocked by ‪Blablubbs‬ for the following reason(s):

The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider or colocation provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts and colocation providers may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host or colocation provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in.
If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.

How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a colocation provider's IP address:
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: ((unblock|reason=Caught by a colocation web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~)). You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host or colocation provider (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host or colocation provider.

Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and requests should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.

This block will expire on 11:46, 23 November 2025. Your current IP address is 34.227.114.28.

Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page, as well as email administrators and other editors.

For information on how to proceed, please read the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.

Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
This IP address range has been globally blocked.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

This block affects editing on all Wikimedia wikis.
The IP address or range 34.227.0.0/16 has been globally blocked by ‪Jon Kolbert‬ for the following reason(s):

Open proxy/Webhost: See the help page if you are affected

This block will expire on 05:38, 21 February 2029. Your current IP address is 34.227.114.28.

Even while globally blocked, you will usually still be able to edit pages on Meta-Wiki.

If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki. You could also send an email to the stewards VRT queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.

Other useful links: Global blocks · Help:I have been blocked

You can view and copy the source of this page:

((short description|1984 book by Douglas Adams))
((For|the A Perfect Circle song|So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (A Perfect Circle song)))
((More citations needed|date=March 2021))
((EngvarB|date=September 2013))
((Use dmy dates|date=May 2022))
((Infobox book
| name          = So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
| title_orig    =
| translator    =
| image         = SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish.jpg
| caption       = First Edition (UK) with [[Lenticular printing|lenticular print]] of a [[plesiosaurus]] and [[walrus]]
| author        = [[Douglas Adams]]
| illustrator   =
| cover_artist  = Gary Day-Ellison
| country       = United Kingdom
| language      = English
| series        = ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''
| subject       =
| genre         = [[Comic science fiction]]
| publisher     = [[Pan Books]], UK; [[Harmony Books]], US
| release_date  = 9 November 1984
| media_type    = Print ([[Hardcover]] and [[Paperback]])
| pages         = 192, UK paperback; 224, US paperback
| isbn          = 0-330-28700-1
| oclc          = 48363310
| preceded_by   = [[Life, the Universe and Everything]]
| followed_by   = [[Mostly Harmless]]
))

'''''So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish''''' is the fourth book of the ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (book)#Series|"trilogy of six books"]] written by [[Douglas Adams]]. Its title is the message left by the [[dolphin]]s when they departed Planet [[Earth]] just before it was demolished to make way for a [[hyperspace]] bypass, as described in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (novel)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''. A [[So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (song)|song of the same name]] was featured in the 2005 film adaptation of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''.

==Plot summary==
While hitchhiking through the galaxy, [[Arthur Dent]] is dropped off on a planet in a rainstorm. He appears to be in [[England]] on Earth, even though he had seen the planet destroyed by the [[Vogon]]s. He has been gone for several years, but only a few months have passed on Earth. He [[Hitchhiking|hitches]] a lift with a man named Russell and his sister [[Minor characters from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#Fenchurch|Fenchurch]] (nicknamed "Fenny"). Russell explains that Fenny, who is sitting in a drugged state in the back seat of the car, became delusional after worldwide [[mass hysteria]], in which everyone hallucinated "big yellow spaceships" (the Vogon destructor ships that "demolished" the Earth). Arthur becomes curious about Fenchurch, but he is dropped off before he can ask more questions. Inside his inexplicably undamaged home, Arthur finds a gift-wrapped bowl inscribed with the words "So long and thanks for all the fish", into which he puts his [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#Future predictions|Babel Fish]]. Arthur thinks that Fenchurch is somehow connected to him and to the Earth's destruction. He still has the ability to fly whenever he lets his thoughts wander.

Arthur puts his life in order, and then tries to find out more about Fenchurch. He happens to find her hitchhiking and picks her up. He obtains her phone number, but shortly thereafter loses it. He discovers her home by accident when he searches for the cave in which he had lived on prehistoric Earth; Fenchurch's flat is built on the same spot. Arthur and Fenchurch find more circumstances connecting them. Fenchurch reveals that, moments before her "hallucinations", she had an [[Epiphany (feeling)|epiphany]] about how to make everything right, but then blacked out. She has not been able to recall the substance of the epiphany. Eventually discovering that Fenchurch's feet do not touch the ground, Arthur teaches her how to fly. They have sex in the skies over London.

In her conversation with Arthur, Fenchurch learns about his adventures hitchhiking across the galaxy, and Arthur learns that all the dolphins disappeared shortly after the world hallucinations. Arthur and Fenchurch travel to California to see John Watson, an enigmatic scientist who claims to know why the dolphins disappeared. Watson has abandoned his original name in favour of "Wonko the Sane", because he believes that the rest of the world's population has gone mad. Watson shows them another bowl with the words "So long and thanks for all the fish" inscribed on it, and encourages them to listen to it. The bowl explains audibly that the dolphins, aware of the planet's coming destruction, left Earth for an alternate dimension. Before leaving, they pulled the Earth from a parallel universe into this one and transported everyone and everything onto it from the one about to be destroyed. After the meeting, Fenchurch tells Arthur that, while he lost something and later found it, she found something and later lost it. She desires that they travel to space together, and that they reach the site where God's Final Message to His Creation is written.

[[Ford Prefect (character)|Ford Prefect]] discovers that the ''Hitchhiker's Guide'' entry for Earth has been updated to include the volumes of text that he originally wrote, instead of the previous truncated entry, "Mostly harmless". Curious, Ford hitchhikes across the galaxy to reach Earth. Eventually he uses the ship of a giant robot to land in the centre of London, causing a panic. In the chaos, Ford reunites with Arthur and the two of them and Fenchurch commandeer the robot's ship. Arthur takes Fenchurch to the planet where God's Final Message to His Creation is written, where they discover [[Marvin the Paranoid Android|Marvin]]. Due to previous events, Marvin is now approximately 37 times older than the known age of the universe and is barely functional. With Arthur's and Fenchurch's help, Marvin reads the Message ("We apologise for the inconvenience"), utters the final words "I think... I feel good about it", and dies happily.

==Style and themes==
The novel has a very different [[Tone (literature)|tone]] from the previous books in the series. It is a [[romance novel|romance]], and also moves around in time more erratically than its predecessors. It is set largely on Earth; Arthur only returns to outer space in the final chapters. The different tone also reflects the rushed nature of the writing; Adams's editor [[Sonny Mehta]] moved in with him to ensure that the book met its deadline, which had been repeatedly extended. As a result, Adams later stated that he was not entirely happy with the book, which includes several jarring authorial intrusions, which his biographer [[Neil Gaiman]] described as "patronising and unfair".<ref>Gaiman, Neil. ''Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Companion.''</ref>

The book also reflects a significant shift in Adams's view of computers. In the previous books, computers had been portrayed quite negatively, reflecting Adams's views on the subject at the time. However, between the writing of ''Life, the Universe and Everything'' and ''So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish'', his attitude toward technology changed considerably. Having been taken to a computer fair, he became enamored of the first model of the [[Macintosh 128K|Macintosh]], the start of a long love affair with the brand (he claimed to have bought two of the first three Macs in the UK, the other being bought by his friend [[Stephen Fry]]). In ''So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish'', Arthur Dent purchases an Apple computer for the purpose of star mapping in order to pinpoint the location of the cave he lived in on prehistoric Earth, and although Adams mocks Arthur's methodology (noting that he really has no idea of how to go about such a task), the computer itself is not disparaged, and produces the correct result despite Arthur's haphazard approach. In a later essay, Adams noted that some people had accused him of being a "[[turncoat]]" because of this change in his attitudes.<ref>((cite book|last1 = Adams |first1 = Douglas |year = 2005 |title = The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2nJZrOrvyNIC&pg=PA121 |publisher = Random House Publishing Group |page = 121 |isbn = 9781400045082 |access-date = 2016-07-29))</ref>

==Literary significance and reception==
In 1993, ''[[Library Journal]]'' said that ''So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish'' was "filled with loopy humor and pretzel logic that makes Adams' writing so delightful".<ref>((cite journal|last=Pober|first=Stacy|date=1 July 1993|title=Audio reviews|journal=[[Library Journal]]|publisher=[[Media Source Inc.]]|location=New York City|volume= 118|issue= 12|pages=148|issn=0363-0277))</ref> Betsy Shorb, reviewing for ''[[School Library Journal]]'', said that "the humor is still off-the-wall but more gentle than the other books. The plot is more straight forward and slightly less bizarre than its predecessors".<ref>((cite journal|last=Shorb|first= Betsy|date=February 1985|title=So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (Book).|journal=[[School Library Journal]]|volume= 31|issue= 6|pages=90|issn=0362-8930))</ref> [[David Langford|Dave Langford]] reviewed ''So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish'' for ''[[White Dwarf (magazine)|White Dwarf]]'' #62, and stated that "Sequelholism has drained Adams of his high-speed inventiveness which made him famous. No doubt he'll agree with me all the way to the bank".<ref name="WD62">((cite journal | last =Langford | first =Dave | author-link =David Langford | title =Critical Mass | journal =[[White Dwarf (magazine)|White Dwarf]] | issue =62 | pages =9 | publisher =[[Games Workshop]] | date = February 1985))</ref>

==Audiobook adaptations==
There have been three audiobook recordings of the novel. The first was an abridged edition, recorded in the mid-1980s by [[Stephen Moore (actor)|Stephen Moore]], best known for playing the voice of [[Marvin the Paranoid Android]] in the radio series, LP adaptations and in the TV series. In 1990, Adams himself recorded an unabridged edition, later re-released by New Millennium Audio in the United States and available from BBC Audiobooks in the United Kingdom. In 2006, actor [[Martin Freeman]], who had played [[Arthur Dent]] in the 2005 movie, recorded a new unabridged edition of the audiobook.

The Quandary Phase of the radio series is drawn from ''So Long and Thanks for All the Fish'', but is not a direct audiobook reading.

==Dedication==
The dedication thanks, among others, "Mogens and Andy and all at [[Huntsham Court]] for a number of unstable events". This refers to the then country hotel in Devon where Adams retreated in the summer of 1984 to work on the book but instead enjoyed drinking wine with the owners and [[Steve Meretzky]] who had joined him to work on the ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (video game)|Hitchhiker's]]'' video game.<ref>((cite book|last1=Simpson|first1=M. J.|title=Hitchhiker: A Biography of Douglas Adams|date=2005|publisher=[[Justin, Charles & Co.]]|isbn=1932112359|page=[https://archive.org/details/hitchhikerbiogra00simp/page/204 204]|url=https://archive.org/details/hitchhikerbiogra00simp|url-access=registration))</ref><ref>((cite web|title=Interview with Steve Meretzky, co-author of the Game|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/stevem.shtml|publisher=BBC Radio 4|access-date=29 February 2016))</ref>

==In popular culture==
* In 1997, American punk rock band [[NOFX]] named their seventh studio album [[So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes]] in an obvious homage to this book.
* In 2018, American rock band [[A Perfect Circle]] released a song titled "[[So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (A Perfect Circle song)|So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish]]" as a single off their album ''Eat the Elephant''.

==See also==
*''[[Kiitoksia kaloista]]'', a species of protozoa named after the book.

==Footnotes==
((Reflist))

==External links==
*((snopes|link=http://www.snopes.com/crime/safety/cookies.asp|title=The Stolen Biscuits))
*((cite web |url=http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Thanks+for+the+Fish+Song&&view=detail&mid=0528A7F62333198B30470528A7F62333198B3047&FORM=VRDGAR |title=Thanks for the fish |format=video |via=[[YouTube]] |access-date=20 April 2013))

((The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy))
((Douglas Adams))

((Authority control))

((DEFAULTSORT:So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish))
[[Category:1984 British novels]]
[[Category:The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy novels]]
[[Category:British science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Novels by Douglas Adams]]
[[Category:Fiction about dolphins]]
[[Category:Comic science fiction novels]]
[[Category:British comedy novels]]
[[Category:Pan Books books]]
[[Category:Harmony Books books]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (edit)
Template:Abbr (view source) (protected)
Template:Ambox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Authority control (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Both (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Catalog lookup link (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Cite book (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite journal (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite web (view source) (protected)
Template:DMCA (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Dated maintenance category (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Dated maintenance category (articles) (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Douglas Adams (edit)
Template:EngvarB (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:FULLROOTPAGENAME (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:For (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Hlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:ISBN (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:ISBNT (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:If empty (view source) (protected)
Template:Infobox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox book (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Longitem (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:More citations needed (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Ns has subpages (view source) (protected)
Template:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description/lowercasecheck (view source) (protected)
Template:Snopes (edit)
Template:Template other (view source) (protected)
Template:The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (edit)
Template:Use dmy dates (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Wikidata image (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Yesno (view source) (protected)
Template:Yesno-no (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Authority control (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Authority control/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Catalog lookup link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/blacklist (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/shared (view source) (protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Check isxn (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Disambiguation/templates (view source) (protected)
Module:EditAtWikidata (view source) (protected)
Module:Find sources (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/links (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/templates/Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:For (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Format link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote list (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:If empty (view source) (protected)
Module:Infobox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Infobox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:InfoboxImage (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Italic title (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Message box (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/ambox.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Ns has subpages (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/disambiguation (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/rfd (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype/setindex (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/softredirect (view source) (protected)
Module:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:Template wrapper (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:Wikidata (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wikitext Parsing (view source) (protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_Long,_and_Thanks_for_All_the_Fish"