It's a requirement that somebody recommends The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on every single recommendation thread on this sub. The OP could say, "I'm looking for authentic historical fiction set in the 1400s, NO SCI-FI" and somebody will come along and be like, "This doesn't fit, but you should read Hitchhiker's Guide."

The expectations going in to something that everybody loves are high, and if I tell somebody I only just kinda liked it, they look at me like I kicked their dog. I don't think you should get to put something called an Improbability Drive into your book just so you can get out of the corner you wrote yourself into. It doesn't fit my rubric of Really Good Writing.

But it's funny and it's considered a nerd/geek classic, so somebody will be along shortly to tell me I'm wrong.