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	Hitchhiker's Guide Meets Y2K By Solveig Singleton October 26, 1999 The best way to describe this book is Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy meets Y2k. Pretty much everything of interest to humanity can be found in Bob Bridges: An Apocalyptic Fable: Y2K, chocolate, the environment, and nuclear apocalypse. The author, Penny Perkins, writes in a sad/hilarious modern tradition that ignores punctation. Just like archy. (That is, archy the literary figure/cockroach of the 1920s -- not Archie of Riverdale High). The book is published by Chrome Deco Press; visit bobbridges.com to learn more. Our antihero, followed throughout, is Bob. Bob begins badly, by getting fired for warning of looming Y2K disaster. Next he loses an argument about the environment with a cockroach (Bob really doesn't stand a chance -- the roach gets all the good lines). Then he visits an astounding radioactive future that prompts us to wonder, "Will Bob entain enlightment through uncovering the secrets of sun worship?" The author is undoubtably clever and fun -- her theory of time travel is actually, in a humorous way, better than some hard science fiction. Some folks might find this book very funny (It got us to actually laugh out loud once -- a rare thing indeed. We don't even laugh at our own jokes). Others will find the implicit politics annoying. But the author deserves massive bonus points for delivering the philosophy in the only format that could have kept us reading: A pretty darn funny one. For fans of archy the cockroach, this is a must-read. In case you don't remember, let's just call him a wise witness of the frolicking America of the 1920s. (A sample archy tale... archy encounters a moth who explains how beautiful it finds the flame of the candle, even as it is incinerated by the object of its desire. archy's reply is poignant: I wish there were something -- anything -- that I wanted that badly...)		FEATURES Book Reviews Y2K already has spawned its own genre. We tell you what books are worth buying. Chip 'n Little Cartoons Chip 'n Little goes on TV Chip 'n Little visits John Koskinen Chip 'n Little saves the world Warning: This cartoon has been called "foolish and tasteless." Y2K from A to Z Y2K Haiku Traditionalists may be shocked. Mad Cow Culture What does Y2K have in common with today's Mad Cow Culture? Answer: Everything. Declan McCullagh's Y2K articles Psychology of Y2K LATEST NEWS As of December 31, 1999 Get Your T-Shirt Quick Bill Gates Does Y2K Reader Feedback A Sarcastic Calendar Cooking After the Apocalypse A Real Y2K Disaster Hitchhiker's Guide Meets Y2K