Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

What a shame he died! Yet the story that takes the history of mankind "ad absurdum" will stay forever with all those who like to look at things from more than one angle. He sometimes uses too many words but the whole book is worth every minute of reading and is funny enough to occasionally be reread.

My parents once told me that, having finally gotten around to reading Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide series, they thus understood where my writing style came from. In much the same way, I can say having finally gotten around to reading Dirk Gently, I now understand where my thinking style comes from. Temporo-causal relativistics included.

To put it another way, if you have ever been parked in front of a disc-based computer or video game and reached a point where you could hear the reading mechanism clicking and chunking away across the same portion of the disc, at roughly 3/4 second intervals, for upwards of 10 seconds before the computer was finally convinced that what it had read made sense, upon which it promptly displayed something highly distorted, tripped out, and not what any rational person would have expected from the software in question, then this book would make an excellent exercise for you the player to achieve empathy with said computer. Except that in the computer's case, the re-reading would have been due to inherent erroneousness in the disc data in the initial read, but in yours it will usually be due to the lack thereof.

The book is also an excellent companion piece to the classic Doctor Who episode "Shada" which has variously failed to be released in its entirety on at least two occasions, those being before and after it was variously re-released on an additional two occasions with Paul McGann playing the starring role of Tom Baker. In the grand interconnectedness of things, it all works out; personally, I'd recommend watching the original Shada first, preceded only by listening to the re-release.

If you understood any of that, you should buy this book. And if not, I expect Dirk Gently will come across as equally silly.

Mr Adams is strange and wonderful. you really have to read him to
understand. he's one of the few authors who can make me laugh
out loud. He creates wildly magical versions of our reality that I only
wish were real

I love Douglas Adams. Very funny of course but also the quality of his writing is amazing. My vocabulary makes outstanding progress whilst reading his novels and I am frequently referring to my dictionary for assistance I am not ashamed to say. But his stories are the best! The characters are so bizarre yet perfectly right for his madcap plots. I wish he were still here.

I love Douglas Adams and have read all his Hitchhikers books. The only problem I would say I had with this story is that you really have to pay attention and not get bogged down in the middle. The payoff is all the way at the end and it can get confusing.

I loved HHGTTG, but about one third into this book, I had to force myself to continue reading. The beginning of the book is very slow, lots of characters, boring dialogues, no real action and no trace of Dirk Gently. Then slowly, the story starts to gather its pace and becomes interesting and funny. The ending seems very rushed and in order to understand it, one must be familiar with classical English literature. I'd rate the beginning and the ending with 1 star, the rest is classic Adams. Thanks, but I won't be buying the second part anytime soon.

I have read and enjoyed other books by Douglas Adams and enjoyed his wit and eccentricity. The second book of this set starts out in an interesting fashion but the second half deteriorates into incoherent stupidity with no connection between the fugues of the plot. I was enormously disappointed.

I was genuinely surprised by how little I enjoyed this book. I know Douglas Adam is such a big name in the sci-fi/fantasy world, but when I finally sat down to read this is so just so slow. I intend to try again, but it may not be remarkably soon.

I love, love, love Douglas Adams!
I have only read the first book of the boxed set. But, this is pure Douglas Adams. All the characters, that populate his world, seem to be incredible in some way.
This is funny at it's best for intelligent people!

Strange that the cover claims to have two books yet my soul lacks its long dark teatime. Search as I may, the only teatime in evidence was the offer to sell it to me for a paltry $6.99. The adventures of Thor and Odin were good fun, though.

I'd previously read the Hitchhikers Guide (all five books by Adams and the sixth one) and I sort of knew hi style. Still it was a surprise given the setting of the books. If you watched the Netflix series, this is nothing like that.

I can't say I really enjoyed this book as much as his other works. The story was something he would write about, and he filled it with that awfully hilarious humor he is known by so well, but he made it terribly obvious he hated God and religion in general, and I couldn't stand it. So read it if you can ignore his agenda in the book or if you agree with his beliefs, but otherwise, just stick with Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, friend.

The seller was quick with shipping, book was in good condition.
I wish the story flowed as well as Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul... but that has NOTHING to do with the seller or book condition. Thanks! :)

This was a fun read with a little mystery, romance and silliness. The story moves around a bit which can be confusing if you only read every few days. It's best read in a few sittings close together. Great vacation book.

Shada's reincarnation is a good read on it's own. The characters interact well with eachother, and Dirk himself is a lively individual. The logic may be hard to follow, but if you're already into Adams' work, you're more than prepared for it. Take a look between Doctor Who Seasons.

I do enjoy surrealistic stories, one examples is Jedediah Berry's 'The Manual of Detection'. I also generally like the writing of Adams. But I found this book to be weakly written and the characters aren't appealing. I'd warn prospective buyers to read a sample to see if they like it first.

As I read the book I kept thinking - where is the REST of the book? It felt as though there were many unexplored possibilities, the resolutions were much too quick and the plot twists were thrown out of the window before they got really twisted. A novel truncated into a novela.

My daughter really liked this book-she asked for it. Although I knew it was used, it is obviously used, and somewhat worn, but still viable. It arrived way ahead of schedule and in time for Christmas gift giving.

Very clever writing. Fun at first but then the plot seems to go everywhere and nowhere. Many parts brought a smile or chuckle. But, overall There are so many other works that would have been a better use of my time. To put it in a word: disappointing.

I love this novel, but I must admit it is a challenge to fully appreciate and understand the full scope of this story. Readers have stated that they have had to read this novel more than once and have even had to consult explanatory third party information in order to understand this book. Douglas Adams himself could not provide a summary of the ins and outs of his novel about a decade after writing it. He just assured his readers that everything made sense to him when he wrote the book.

I have provided in this review a brief summary of major plot points for the novel, some of which have confused readers over considerable time. I have provided this summary with the thought that it may provide useful explanatory information for a person who is about to read this book for the first time or even provide clarifying information after the book is read.

One note of caution, the information provided in this review does outline some major plot points and answers to riddles in the story, so you may not wish to read this if you would rather struggle with the book on your own. Please also note, there is no certainty that my interpretation is what Douglas Adams actually intended. These are just my own thoughts and understandings regarding what he has written.

The novel, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, is difficult to understand because the events of the novel are presented in an intentionally jumbled manner; often without any explanation regarding when something is happening or why it is happening.

The novel proceeds as though it is a jigsaw puzzle with many pieces of the puzzle thrown at you in no discernible order. You must connect the pieces together in your mind until the full picture of the novel emerges. This can be challenging. Just remember, as with any puzzle and according to the guiding principle of this book, everything is connected.

The following summary of plot elements should help you understand Adams’ sometimes confusing narrative, without giving away the complete story of the novel.

ALIEN CREATURES STARTED ALL LIFE ON EARTH

1. Four-billion years ago an alien scout ship lands and stalls on the sterile prehistoric earth. An alien engineer tries to repair the ship, but instead causes an explosion that kills all aliens. The explosion kick-starts the evolution of cellular life on earth and eventually producies the human race.

AN ALIEN GHOST INTENDS TO DESTROY HUMANITY

2. The dead alien engineer is so upset by its botched repair that it exists for billions of years on earth as a disembodied ghost, roaming the earth and trying to find a way to travel back in time and save itself and its crew by completing the repair and avoiding the explosion. Once the human race evolves, the alien finds that it can mentally control a human if the human is drugged or agrees with what the alien wants him/her to do. The alien resolves to use this mental control ability to achieve its time travel objective which will prevent the explosion of the alien ship and therefore eliminate the human race from time..

INSTANTANEOUS TRAVEL IN SPACE AND TIME IS POSSIBLE

3. A professor at a British college has been teaching students at his university for several hundred years and no one at the university has noticed that his life has been exceptionally long. This professor uses a machine that forms a portal that opens a door from his living quarters to any time or place in the universe. He can therefore visit the past or even alien planets. The alien ghost needs to use this time machine in order to repair its ship and avoid an explosion. However, the ghost is unable to control the conscious mind of the time-traveling professor and must therefore use indirect means in an effort to control use of the time machine.

THE ELECTRIC MONK IS AN ALIEN ANDROID

4. The alien beings that landed on earth had created an artificial android called the “Electric Monk” which, by pure chance, looks like a human being and has the amazing capacity to fanatically believe anything. The Electric Monk rides an artificial horse that is docile, patient and obedient. The alien ghost, by devious means, causes the professor to transport an Electric Monk and its horse from their home planet to earth in the current time period. The alien does this because it believes the Monk will be able to help with the time travel plan. However, the Monk is of no use to the alien and is therefore left to wander freely on earth, with ensuing chaotic results.

COLERIDGE'S POEM “KUBLA KHAN” IS THE KEY TO THE ALIEN'S PLAN TO SAVE ITS SHIP AND ELIMINATE THE HUMAN RACE

5. Coleridge is a famous 18th century poet (and drug user) who is well-known for his poem, Kubla Khan, which is considered a literary masterpiece of the Romantic Period. Near the end of the 18th century, the alien ghost takes over Coleridge’s drugged mind and causes him to insert technical information in the newly minted Kubla Khan poem that describes how to travel in time and safely repair the alien space ship. The ghost does this because the technical details of the repair are fading from its memory with the passing of time and must therefore be recorded in the poem as a sort of repair manual for the ship. In the current time period, the ghost has forgotten how to repair its ship and needs the Kubla Kahn narrative to provide the required technical information.

DIRK GENTLY SAVES THE WORLD

6. After traveling in time and, in an act of kindness, releasing the alien ghost (residing in a human host) to allow it to repair its ship, Dirk discovers the alien's true plan is to wipe out the human race by failing to initiate the evolution of life on earth. Dirk instantly comes up with his own time travel plan to foil the alien ghost. You must know the meaning of the phrase “Person form Porlock” in order to understand Dirk's plan to defeat the alien.

In 18th century literature, a Person from Porlock is anyone who interferes with the author’s concentration, disrupts the creative process and therefore makes it impossible for the author to complete his/her work. Dirk becomes a Person from Porlock and prevents Coleridge from transcribing the alien’s space ship repair information. Without the repair information of Coleridge's complete poem, the alien ghost either cannot obtain a willing host to travel back in time or, if it does, it cannot prevent its ship from exploding. Dirk therefore manipulates the time continuum to produce a universe in which Coleridge's Kubla Khan poem is never completed, the alien ship explodes and the human race evolves; leaving the earth teaming with humanity, all aliens dead, and the ghost alien, if it still exists, in a hopeless rage.

The new timeline also has a version of Coleridge's poem, the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which now refers to an "albatross" at Dirk's suggestion.

THIS IS A DETECTIVE NOVEL, SO SOMEONE DIES

7. A significant part of the novel is devoted to the death of Gordon Way, head of WayForward Technologies and the boss of Richard MacDuff who was a college roommate of Dirk Gently. The Electric Monk is told by a porter to “shoot off” (that is, to leave) and the Monk takes this as an instruction to shoot someone. So he climbs in the trunk of Gordon’s car which contains some shotguns for hunting. When Gordon checks the trunk (the “boot” in English parlance) the Monk blasts him with a shotgun, killing him instantly and setting in motion the Gently investigation of this murder which leads to the alien ghost, the time traveling professor and the plot to wipe out humanity.

Oddly, Gordon survives his own murder as a ghost and considerable time is spent describing how difficult it is for the disembodied Gordon to navigate the material world. Eventually Gordon leaves a phone message (the second one) which satisfies his need to communicate needful information which will allow Gently to understand the evil intentions of the alien ghost. After making this final phone call, Gordon disappears since he has nothing further to do on earth.

LOOSE ENDS ARE TIED UP

8. Michael Wenton-Weakes is introduced as a character that can be controlled by the alien ghost, so Weakes is the physical means by which the alien intends to travel back in time, fix his landing ship and wipe out the human race. When Dirk blocks the alien’s plan, Weakes is either lost in time or restored to his sorry life. The professor then blows up the alien's mother ship to remove any possible threat to earth. Also, as a result of a phone repair, the professor's time machine is disabled so there can be no more time travel, thus leaving the alien with no way to try to change the past.

Susan Way, Richard’s girlfriend (and Gordon’s sister) was introduced as a professional cellist in part to inject the topic of classical music into the story. Dirk’s messing with time results in amazing music created by the aliens' computer being given to Beethoven who is then established as a musical genius in the new timeline. The new timeline also solves Dirk's early investigation of a missing cat. It seems that now the cat was never lost, so the rewrite of history saves the cat and proves once again that everything is connected.

If you read the book with these things in mind, it should be much easier to understand what is going on. You might even be able to understand the entire book after a single reading, and without having to draw complex flow charts.

Pros:
This book was lots of fun. If you've read Douglas Adams before, you'll recognize his slightly off-kilter brand of nonsense that's tremendously entertaining. He draws terrific characters (and tell me that you've never had a boss like Gordon, and I'll say you're a liar) and bizarre situations like no one else. Once the book got going, I had a really hard time putting it down.

Cons:
It took, in my humble opinion, WAY too long for this book to get going. Far too much atmospheric scene-setting, especially in the beginning. I don't think I really got into the book until the 6th chapter, and that was because I met Susan, who made me laugh, and made me want to keep reading. Until then, literally the only thing that kept me going was my older daughter, who's appearing in a play based on this book, and who REALLY wanted me to read it.

I also found the ending extremely confusing. In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I'll just say a whole lot of loose ends dangled unnecessarily. Yes, I know it's part of a series, but I'm not fond of books where you have to read the next book to understand what the heck happened in the first one.

Overall, I'm giving it 4 stars because it *was* an enjoyable ride, once it got going, and the screwy ending didn't really diminish the fun I had reading it. But if you insist on books that end with a neat little bow on top, prepare to hate this one. If you're the kind of person for whom the journey is more important than the destination, you'll probably love this one.

The first real book of the Dirk Gently saga, and in many ways of the best.

Bear in mind that the book has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WHAT SO EVER WITH THE RECENT BBC SERIES. Leaving that to one side (personally I think both the BBC and the casting is spot on perfect), this an excellent book overall. The book moves very slowly and involves a time machine, an alien race who has lived on the Earth since ~4 billion years ago, a ghost, and the typical coincidences and "everything is connected" theme that work quite well.

From a story-telling perspective it's very much slow paced and (when compared to the recent BBC series) suffers by comparison. There are zero characters at all in common between the two other than Dirk himself, and even he's a bit different than I had expected. I feel that perhaps (being his first book in this series) that Douglas Adams was still finding his footing here, so to speak.

I really liked this book though I wish he'd fleshed it out more and done more with it. Recommended, but a reminder that it's a bit slow.

Already famous because of his "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" series, Douglas Adams tries a different type of science fiction story-and this volume works. Confusing at first, it comes together nicely as you continue reading.

The book begins with an Electric Monk, a robot in some sort of wasteland, then there is a story about a computer programmer and his paramour, who is the sister of his employer. The programmer, Richard, also goes to his old college and meets up with an old professor of his. He later meets a former classmate, Dirk Gently, who now runs the title detective agency based on the concept of the interconnectedness of all things. There are troubles between Richard and his paramour, but more troubles fall on top of both of them as the story progresses.

The book borrows somewhat from the cancelled Dr. Who episode "Shada", but the story is definitely not a copy of that. There is plenty of dry humor as well as jokes which are probably funnier if you were a Briton in the 1980's. Still an enjoyable read. (Too bad the sequel was such an incoherent mess.)

A misfit clairvoyant who insists he isn’t, a computer programmer who can’t understand how his couch got stuck in the stairwell, and a ghost who just wants to finish his phone call, those are just a few of the quirky cast members in this hilariously odd murder mystery.

That being said, I loved it and will most likely read it again. It didn’t disappoint. In fact, I loved it more than I did Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which went a little more odd than funny after the 3rd installment, if I remember correctly. Anyhow, it takes a while for Dirk to even show up in the story, but the lead up is exactly what it needs to be. Everything ties together in a delightfully unpredictable, but altogether logical way, and it’s not so obtuse that I couldn’t pick up on important (but seemingly unimportant) details along the way.

If you’re worried that this might spoil the next season of the BBC TV series of the same name, fear not. It really has nothing in common but the style, the humor, and, of course, the main character, Dirk Gently.

I would highly recommend this to folks who love a quirky, funny read. I had a blast with it.

I purchased the paperback edition of this at a bookstore.

No corgi. Zero stars.

But seriously, I read this book because I'm excited about the upcoming BBC series. I wanted to read the book and have something to compare the series against. What I got was a chaotic mess. Adams didn't so much write this as he just threw as many science fiction and paranormal tropes, as well as some random mental driftwood, at a wall to see what stuck.

This book lacks the precise inventiveness and wit of Hitchhiker's Guide. It reads like Adams couldn't figure out what to write about, so he wrote about everything. Word on the street is this book started as an abandoned Dr. Who script, and it reads like it. It has the same random, non-nonsensical five-year-old on speed with a word processor feel as NuWho.

I think the worst part of this book is the title character. You don't even meet him until half way through the book. You hear tell of him, but when you finally meet this legend, he's a creepy conman with a passing perceptiveness towards the paranormal. He came off as more sleazy than quirky to me. For that I won't be giving the sequel a try, which I hear is much better than the first book.

I skewed a bit upward with two stars on this one. There were some moments that made me not totally resent reading the book. The Electric Monk is priceless, and I love what they did to a certain famous poet who wrote my least favorite poem ever (trying not to give too much away). Ok, screw it, I'm upping it to three stars.

Fans of Doctor who will love this. however I hate doctor who... there is no plot and just random conversations and situations that are connected to other random conversations and situations. I was confused a majority of the time and when things started to make sense I still didn't understand what the point was. Will not be picking up the series.

I loved Adams's Hitchhiker series, but when I tried to read this one several times throughout my life, I abandoned it, finding myself having a hard time getting into it. I'm a little more tenacious than I used to be at this point in my life, so I decided to pick it up again, and I'm really glad I persevered. I think the difficult beginning for me had to do with my difficulty keeping track of multiple characters (between whom this book frequently jumps around, and it does so many times in the beginning before coming back to anyone). There's also a very long dinner scene toward the beginning that seemed verrrrrry sloooooow to me, and after that I kept up with it fine, though the many many many different threads happening in this story did contribute to its taking a long time to really get going.

First, I love Adams's talent for wordplay. This book was pretty silly most of the time, though it wasn't as abjectly silly as Hitchhiker's Guide. Still, the silly comparisons and laugh-out-loud funny absurdities are a delight as always. Some examples:

"He was rounder than the average undergraduate and wore more hats. That is to say, there was just the one hat which he habitually wore, but he wore it with a passion that was rare in one so young."

"Gordon Way was dead, but he simply hadn't the slightest idea what he was meant to do about it. It wasn't a situation he had encountered before."

"How can you have the gall to stand there with two arms, two legs and a head as if you're a human being?"

"He walked across the top of Islington Green, where winos get beaten up, past the site of the old Collins Music Hall which had got burned down, and through Camden Passage where American tourists get ripped off."

I also consistently love Adams's ability to frame the absurdity of the human condition in micro. For instance, there's a bit where one character, Susan, is cross because her partner is late picking her up, and she only gives herself *permission* to be angry with him once it's half an hour past when he agreed to pick her up, but of course she was angry before that--just not ALLOWED to be. Plus she tries to imagine something horrible has happened to him that explains his absence, but she doesn't actually believe it for a second. I can't tell you how many times I've been in THAT situation. Another thing that fits in this category is a scene when Richard is driving and he slams on his brakes and starts to skid, and he is trying to remember what you're supposed to do if you're skidding, and then he remembers you're not supposed to slam on your brakes.

What's also cool is how often completely alien situations bring up universal human conditions. Like toward the beginning, the Electric Monk is sitting on a horse. And the narration tells us that the horse has an opinion about the Monk because you cannot be sat on by another creature for long periods of time without developing an opinion about them, while the Monk had no matching opinion of the horse because it is quite easy to sit on another creature and never think about them in the slightest. It's a very good way of summing up how oppression and marginalization work, actually, though it's between an alien creature and his horse.

And I like his unique descriptions of such things as the experience of death (without skimping on the details that are going through the recently dead person's head) and the descriptions of characters with such colorful phrases as "like an affronted heron."

Anyway, as for the story--I loved the music geek stuff and some of the characters' clear love for tech and music, and the character of Dirk Gently himself was a ton of fun. He's absurd and sometimes he knows it, but other times it disturbs him how absurd he is. And he encounters far more absurd characters, like more than one ghost and a time traveler. I kind of saw the disaster at the end coming, so I didn't know if it was trying to be a twist, but the characters obliviously bringing it to fruition made me think I was supposed to see it before they did. It did have a really odd ancient horror feeling to it, though, sometimes--I liked that you could feel the age on this stuff. I liked all the scenes of the ghost trying to make himself heard, and the scenes with the Electric Monk solemnly believing everything was classic. It is a very weird book and I do recommend it for people who liked Adams's other stuff.

After watching the original British TV series (2010/2012) based on the Dirk Gently characters, I was inspired to return to the novels. Sadly, though I'm a dedicated and longstanding Douglas Adams/Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fan, the first of the Dirk Gently series falls far short of the brilliance of that other series. While the characters are fully and delightfully developed, the plot is convoluted, and even after this, now second or third, reading I find the ending confusing and unsatisfying. Most importantly, the cleverness and wit pervasive in the Hitchhiker's series text occurs only in brief flashes in this book. It's not without merit, but if you've read the Hitchhiker series first, lower your expectations for this book by an order or two of magnitude.

4 1/2 stars actually! What an enjoyable, creatively quirky read and I leave you to other reviews which synopsize the story. Although the writing style and bits of the story can get bogged down in endless thought or seemingly petty detail, it all makes hilarious (in the British manner) perfect sense. And, as we are introduced to the characters through a series of seemingly unrelated events we are led, a bit gawkily imo, into the interconnectedness of all things, so to speak.

While some of the transitions within the overall story seemed a bit disjointed, who knew that Dirk Gently, strangely reminiscent of Professor Backwards fame (a la Johnny Carson) would become the comically/cosmically, absurd, omniscient, super sleuth who would unravel the mysteries of time and space. I'd certainly like to see this in a movie.

I tell you it is hard to top native speakers of the mother tongue for a clever detective mystery, sci-fi story! Thank you Douglas Adams, wherever you are!

From the title you would think this is possibly about a detective agency. Well there is an agency but they don’t detect things in the normal matter. You should probably guess that since it is a Douglas Adams book and when has he written anything really normal (I mean that in the best way).

Nope for this book “Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable. Let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all.”

There is craziness, absurdity, the interconnectedness of all things and Dirk is smack dab in the middle of it all. He will somehow figure out how a horse in a bathroom, a ghost making telephone calls, a undoable magic trick, the cat in Schrodinger’s Box and an alien electronic monk who can believe anything all have to do with one another.

It is a crazy and fantastic ride that if you just hang back and not think about it too much everything will just all into place. Most of the time Dirk Gently seems to make no sense until he makes hysterical sense. There were times I flat out belly laughed at some of the general obscurity of it.

I will never think of Sir Isaac Newton the same again – or Bach but that is a different matter.
“Sir Isaac Newton, renowned inventor of the milled-edge coin and the catflap!"
"The what?" said Richard.
"The catflap! A device of the utmost cunning, perspicuity and invention. It is a door within a door, you see, a ..."
"Yes," said Richard, "there was also the small matter of gravity."
"Gravity," said Dirk with a slightly dismissed shrug, "yes, there was that as well, I suppose. Though that, of course, was merely a discovery. It was there to be discovered." ... "You see?" he said dropping his cigarette butt, "They even keep it on at weekends. Someone was bound to notice sooner or later. But the catflap ... ah, there is a very different matter. Invention, pure creative invention. It is a door within a door, you see.”

I read both the Dirk Gently books years ago and they are some of the few books that I come back to years later and love for different reasons all over again. If you were a fan of the Hitchhikers series or Monty Python then this kind of humor might be exactly what you need for a good laugh.

Watching Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency on bbcamerica was a delightful rollercoaster ride. There were so many twists and turns, but you never felt lost or left behind. I originally tuned in because the characters are based on the book, of the same name, by Douglas Adams. Unfortunately, Douglas left us in 2001. His ability to create other worlds and characters that stretch our imagination will be missed. If you have never read Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy you have missed a treat. For me his writing style takes concentration, but is worth the effort.

Several months passed after the last episode of season one of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency aired. I was visiting my son and I discovered this book, the book, on my son’s bookshelf. He had randomly rescued the book from a trash pile. I had told him about the television show, but he did not realize he had acquired a copy of the printed version. I was anxious to visit the characters I had come to know on the show. However, this was not to be. The advertisement for the show did indicate the characters were based on the book, not a movie of the book.
I was expecting to encounter Dirk in the first few pages. He does show up, but much later. This fact does not diminish the fact that the characters introduced are worth the time to get to know. The mystery of the ghost, the Electric Monk, how did the silver salt cellar (salt shaker for those of us not from England) get in the 200-hundred-year old clay vase, an abacus and the question of just how old is The Regius Professor of Chronology. Also, why is there a horse in the Professor’s bathroom? As you can tell there is a lot happening and a lot of questions to be answered. Each chapter address a different character or time. Sometimes the time and place change during a chapter. Even with this jumping the plot is easy to follow.

Does Dirk connect the loose and frayed ends? I shall not say, just know that if you choose to ride along and see if the mystery is solved, bring a huge mug of coffee or for you English chaps, tea. You are in for a wild and exciting adventure.

Favorite Quote: ………..we are concerned with …… the fundamental interconnectedness of all things.

I loved this book. I've had it for years, but never managed to read it. I'm not sure why I waited so long. Douglas Adams had this quirky sense of humor not unlike Monty Python, I've really enjoyed all his books, (one to go) but this, I believe, is his best. For the longest time several story lines seem to run separately and to be unrelated, but then he brings them together into a coherent and well written story. Howe do you mix the worlds of Samuel Coleridge Taylor, an electric monk, with time travel and more? This is masterful storytelling and a great book.

Douglas Adams does Dr. Who...

Which is essentially true because it started as a Dr. Who episode, you can kinda feel it, I did and I've never watched the show other than 2 episodes incidentally with my siblings. But it's far more than Dr. Who, which is why it became it's own book. It's a ridiculously overly coincidental (by design and for the purposes of comedy) sci-fi mystery comedy... thing that is also just great fun. If you liked HitchHiker's Guide, more specifically the general tone and style of Adams, this could be exactly right for you.

Also read the second book, "The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul" or as I like to call it "Neil Gaiman's entire career".

The first time through this book, I wasn't sure what I thought of it. I did like how he managed to hide some important element right there in your face. I always hate how some stories try to slip some important elements by you so that you'll be surprised later, only they stick out like a sore thumb. Anyway, about a year later I re-read it again and was amazed at the things I missed. Every re-read I find more things; for example (and not really a spoiler) that the ghost was in the cop car and that's why the radio kept changing channels. I love the late Douglas Adams' writing style, the way hejust takes change of words and spins them around in a melody of phrasing. I also really like it when authors slip things by me and have everything come together at the end. I was embarrassed to admit that I wasn’t familiar with the poem Kublai Khan and didn’t know about the second, and altogether stranger, verse.

I find it hard to imagine someone would discover this book among the millions of titles on the store.com without knowing that Adams is best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is a series I always enjoyed. Every time I would make a reference to the books, though, my girlfriend would ask if I ever read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. I finally got around to sitting down with this one and was delighted to rediscover the trademark wit of Douglas Adams in a setting a little closer to home. There is no shortage of dry humor in this book combined with thought-provoking science fiction.
That said, I found it strange that the eponymous character doesn't make his first appearance until nearly half-way through the book. While I enjoyed the story and character development leading up to that moment, I kept getting frustrated waiting to see how Gently was going to fit into everything. Also, I found myself at times at a loss to picture the scenery of the moment. Maybe because so many of the scenes are taking place at Cambridge and familiar locations to someone who has spent more time than I have in England, Adams neglected to paint a clearer picture.
All that said, it was a blast to read, especially during a summer where science fiction is synonymous with overly-serious, saving the world kind of action. Dirk Gently gives us a lighthearted story of world-threatening proportions without ever putting on a straight face.

Understand this: everything is connected, and this has little to no connection to the TV show that was summarily executed after 2 seasons. If you like DA you've read this already, but quite possibly not in the past two decades.Funny, irreverent, and occasionally irritating to Norse Gods, this book and its sequel are worth reading and might actually make you laugh out loud.

Douglas Adams stands apart from other authors in having most of his books professionally dramatised. This book is no exception, although I found it was the one that eluded my attention the longest.

Starting off with a lot of confusion & seemingly jumbled information, I initially put it aside for 1 year or so thinking that it was a bad note in an otherwise flawless collection of work.
However, I gave it another go &, once you get beyond the first CD, the plot begins to make sense & you understand why the book was written in such a way.

The basic plot is that Richard McDuff is falsely accused of murder after his boss (Gordon Way) is slain outside his car. McDuff then teams up with Dirk Gently (an enigmatic friend from college who has mysterious abilities) in order to find evidence to clear his name.

So far, so predictable.

What really makes stands this audio book out from the average detective yarn is the science included throughout the plot & the interesting complexities created by the Holistic nature of the universe (e.g. the fundamental inter-connectedness of all things, combined with time travel, means that a completed version of Kublai Khan (by Samuel Taylor Coleridge) spells the end of the human race).
It's a little difficult to explain the plot & workings of the book (just as it can be with The Hitchhiker's Guide) but once you understand what a 'Holistic Detective' is, you can see why the plot works & why this book is arguably Adams' greatest masterpiece...

Which brings us round to why this is Dawkins' favourite book. For those of you who have read The God Delusion, you might know that Dawkins is a big fan of Quantum physics. Now whether this stems from this book is not known, but what is is that Dawkins so enjoyed this book that, when he'd finished reading it, he picked it up & read it again.

And I suppose this is why it is such a great book - the plot & the sheer strangeness of the material demand repeat listening/ reading & rewards such people with added insights into what is an astonishingly intricate & well written plot.

Add to this that the story has been fully dramatised, with a well picked cast (including Harry Enfield at his best in the role of Dirk Gently) & you will find a true treat waiting to be discovered.
Get beyond the complexities of Adams' most complex work & the scientific insights are there for the taking...

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is the first in the Dirk Gently series by the late Douglas Adams. After the first few chapters, the reader may well ask: what do a faulty electronic monk with belief problems, a horse in a bathroom, a sofa stuck in a staircase, a computer programmer, a Professor of Chronology, a billionaire software company owner, a silver salt cellar stuck inside a 200 year-old Greek pot and the poems of Samuel Taylor Coleridge have to do with one another? Dirk Gently, owner of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, firmly believes in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things, and does, indeed, manage to prove that this is so. While he does so, he also manages to track down a visitor from another world and save our own. This novel is full of delicious, clever Adams humour of the same quality as Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, from the first to the very last page. Some of the things Adams dreams up (like Total Reason software to support the outcome you want, music from the form of things in nature and Zen navigation) are only a step from the truly realistic. Readers will look forward to whatever Adams has to offer in the sequel, The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul.

Every now and then, a great, original, creative humourist comes along and makes the world a bit more interesting for the rest of us with their witticisms and idiosyncratic, irreverent outlook on things. Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse, The Python lot. And of course Douglas Adams. Best known for his "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" novels, Adams definitely belongs to that rare breed of original funnymen mentioned above.

Of all his books and all the peculiar characters within them, I always liked Dirk Gently the best. This well bred, well spoken, witty, and charming private detective puts his own theory of the interconnectedness of all things to good use when he finds lost cats or saves the world from future mentalists. Although he apparantly is a second rate detective in the conventional sense and his business a total financial disaster, he is just that bit more brilliant than all the rest of us.

This BBC dramatisation brings, not only Gently (given a voice by the inimitable Harry Enfield) to life, but gives the story a new dimension entirely. I've always been of the opinion, that words should be spoken out loud to make the most impact. This is particularly true for novels. This recording is not an audiobook in the traditional sense, but more akin of the radio drama of ye olden days, and it is brilliant. It doesn't adhere strictly to the novel at all places, some bits and pieces from the pages not making it to the recording as well as new bits being added, but all to good effect. Especially Harry Enfield's debonair and suave portrayal of Gently as well as Olivia Coleman's portrayal of his sarcastic secretary hits the spot just right.

The story is true Douglas Adams, which (I guess) makes it less appealing to some people, his thoughts often revolving around the impropable and, quite often, downright silly world of comedy science fiction. There are ghosts, timetravel, electric monks that believe in order that their masters don't have to, psychic phaenomenons, and much more. Adams' style of writing is very descriptive and his language very accessible without being monotonous or ever boring, and the storytelling keeps you captivated at all times. It doesn't make much sense in the beginning, but in the end it all comes together very nicely. This is one book where I don't think anybody could figure out who did it (nor how they did it).

It is weird at times, yes. But most of all, it is funny. Very funny. I've been walking the streets of Beijing looking a right idiot at times, laughing out loud or just smiling like I just knew the secret of life. And so too will you.

5 stars, no doubt about it.

"Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" is an interesting sideways take on a mystery - but at first, you won't even know that there's a mystery at all. Or that there's anything happening, really - Adams just presents a series of seemingly totally random scenes that are nonetheless entertaining, in their own little bubbles, through insightful character writing and Douglas Adams wit. One of the characters meets a sudden end, and Adams treats his ghostly afterlife as a real horror - he's doomed to wander through everything he loved in his past life, free to look but never touch or enjoy ever again, and he only gradually realizes that this is not a fixable situation. (Adams treats the death like a severe psychological trauma; a moment where the victim tries to reposition his body's face to give himself some dignity is heartbreaking.) It's not all gut punches, though - mostly, for the first half, it's just bits of everyday life (a woman fumes over a missed appointment; an '80's computer programmer attends a dinner at his old college) starring likable characters who're entertaining just for how true-to-life their reactions are...with the common thread of something, increasingly, feeling a little off in their lives. When the other shoe drops, it's not what you'd expect.

The book also has some neat theories about how math is behind the satisfaction we derive from disparate phenomena, particularly music. (HGTG, Adams's most famous work, is noted for light-as-a-feather flights of fancy, but Holistic has a thoughtfulness unprecedented for the author - there is some hard, protracted thought about scientific theory and emotional reaction.) It is, for the first half, stimulating, funny, suspenseful, and wrenching all at once.

And then comes Dirk Gently.

Imagine you're at a supremely interesting dinner party, and halfway through the world's biggest, most self-centered bore shows up and totally takes it over. That's Dirk Gently. I don't know how you feel about smart-aleck trickster characters who take the lead's money while kicking them in the rear, nattering about their own greatness all the while. I'll admit my answer is "not very well at all", even less so when they're endowed with Mary Sue powers. Dirk's friends buy his smokes and groceries because he has Jedi mind powers; his secretary works for him for free, just because he's so awesome; Dirk does everything and knows everything and solves everything, while all the other characters stop being human and lively and interesting to fluff his ego when they should be telling this fanboy wet dream to get the hell out of their story. (Also, since Dirk can't fully appreciate praise from a noncorporeal entity, Adams near-completely drops the most successful, ghost storyline.) The one time the characters disregard his sage advice, it nearly brings about THE END OF HUMANITY, for Cthulhu's sake. It's all horribly nauseating - and utterly disheartening that he's the only character we're sure to see in the sequel.

See, this is a problem. We come to a Douglas Adams for the witty observations and dialogue, but it's difficult to build a story around them. This was the strongest attempt I'd yet read, and yet DIRK THROWS IT ALL OFF. I have to steal*ahem*quote what Roger Ebert said about "Donnie Darko" - it's the one that got away, but we had a heck of a time trying to land it.

This book is crazy and nothing can be expected from this "holistic" detective story. There is mystery, exploration, suspense, and interesting characters. Douglas Adams has the comic science fictional feel of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy but is a completely different category of book. It is a mystery that seems more "down to earth" while still being crazy and sensless.

The comedy is less abundant and deeper than the Hitchhikers Guide series. The characters of Dirk Gently follow the same sort of pattern as in being deeper and not the comical ones of HG. They are still amusing and fun to read about and the situations they get in are comical. The book jumps around from perspective to perspective and all are fun to read; you will rarely find yourself hoping to for this section to end.

First you find yourself with an outdated electric monk (programmed to believe anything) on a distant planet. This monk rides around on a horse that really wants to be free. This monk is different because he is starting to feel doubt in the things he believes in.

Next, all of a sudden your back on Earth with a man named Richard McDuff. Richard is a computer programmer for Way Forward Technologies. His boss, Gordon Way, is his girlfriend's (Susan) brother. He is falling behind on a program when his boss is mysteriously murdered. Richard is wanted for questioning when he runs into Dirk Gently.

Dirk is a detective that investigates crimes through the fundamental interconnectedness of all things. He claims to specialize in missing cats and messy divorces. This would seem like an interesting way to scam old ladies whose cats have gone missing if they would ever pay him. Dirks role in the book is to help Richard find out what's going on and what happened to Gordon.

Dirk hypnotizes Richard to find out all he knows. When he is done the two things (that arguably have nothing to do with Gordon's death) that he is most concerned with are Reg's trick and how Richard scaled a wall to get a tape recording from Susan. He also makes him do the most hilarious thing (that I wont spoil for you) in order to explain the second thing he found interesting. The rest of the book is their expedition to figure things out and they defiantly find the unexpected.

I really thought this book was great. It showed that he could write things other than the Hitchhiker's Guide. It may be confusing at times but if your patient with the beginning it will unfold.

Summary:
Richard Duffy, an up and coming computer programmer, decides to visit a professor he had in college, Reg. Reg quickly convinces the reader he is an eccentric Douglas Adams character and, without either of them knowing it, a 4 billion year old ghost is trying to take possession of their bodies.
Dirk Gently is a college classmate of Richard's and once he becomes involved, the trio become engaged in so many converging plots that it will leave your mind spinning. From evolution to religion to murder and hypnosis and ghosts and aliens, the story finally closes with love and music by Bach and you'll just have to read it to see how any of this summary makes sense.
My Comments:
If you have read anything else by Douglas Adams you don't need to read this review because you'll know if you like his work and, since this is typical Adams, you should like it. If, however, you have not read anything by Adams, you should know that he writes about science, science fiction, and religion and he does it all in such away that you come away from his work in stitches and having thought about things a little bit deeper.
As is also typically the case with Adams, he introduces what seem to be completely disparate characters and amazingly ties them all together before he is done. The writing is witty and flowery (and British - though I hate to admit it, I read the word 'boot' probably 20 times before I realized he was talking about the 'trunk' of the car).
Anyway, I'm not sure I am saying much of worth here, so I'll just say that I absolutely love Douglas Adams' work. I think a large part of that comes from him poking fun of religion (the rest being the excellent and hilarious writing). Anyway, if you're kind of into science (especially science fiction) and can laugh at yourself and your religion (if you have one), you should love this book.

Douglas Adams made a name for himself with his ever expanding trilogy "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" which has spawned six books. His writing is a unique blend of wit, humor, philosophy, psychology and sheer silliness that is hard to duplicate. "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" is a quick-paced, often laugh-out-loud funny trip through time and some absolutely impossible story lines.

Richard MacDuff is an up and coming computer programmer, under pressure from his boss, and on the verge of losing his girlfriend because he immerses himself so completely in his work that he loses track of time. When a trip back to his old college at Cambridge goes awry, Richard finds himself seeking out an old college pal, the infamous Dirk Gently who now runs a detective agency that specializes in 'finding' lost pets and sending bills to clients with outrageous charges on them. For Richard's boss has been murdered, and Richard believes himself to be a suspect, and allows Dirk to help him uncover a mystery that includes time travel, a murderous ghost, and saving the human race from extinction.

Douglas Adams is a master at interweaving several different plotlines that seem disconnected into a simple concoction by novel's end. "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" is full of his trademark wit and humor, but seems a little too off course, like his later "Hitchhiker" books. All in all, it is an enjoyable read, that even with its out-of-this-world plotlines, still manages to speak to life in today's world.

Sadly, I did not finish this book the first time I started reading it. It seemed dull and disjointed and eventually put me off.
A few years later, I came back for a second try, and found it to be the best of Adams' books--a true masterpiece. Since the book had not changed in the mean time, I can only assume that I had changed, and the problem the first time was MYSELF.
This book is complex, with several threads that may not seem to be connected. The brilliance, though, is that they are skillfully woven and interconnected. As a reader, you are required to bring more to the table for this book to work. For instance, it is absolutely necessary to understand a bit about Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem, "Kubla Khan." The author assumes that the reader understands that it is an unfinished poem taken from a dream. Only Part 1 exists because Coleridge was interrupted by someone who came to the door. By the time the poet returned to work, he had forgotten the rest of the dream; thus he was unable to complete the poem.
Without this understanding, the reader will completely miss the point when PART 2 is read aloud in a university setting at the beginning of the book. This is supposed to be a slap in the face, but the reader who doesn't know the history of the poem will not realize that something is wrong with the historical timeline. This type of thing can lead many people to think that plot points are not resolved or don't make sense.
The other point that needs to be made is that the style is different from the books in the Hitchhiker series. It is a novel set in the (almost) real world. At least it's based on the real world, anyway. While it is still filled with outrageously funny characters, there are more constraints in place than you will find in the no-rules universe of Vogons and Babblefish. The humor is more subtle. You may even find that--like me--the style grows on you. After finishing the book, I found that the humor in the others seemed a little overdone in comparis! on.
I still like all of the author's fiction books, but this is the crowning jewel.

When I first saw this in the public library, many many years ago, I was afraid. I'd just finished SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH, the fourth installment of the Hitchhiker's Trilogy, and my favorite. (The fifth didn't exist yet.) I was afraid I'd be disappointed by this detour. Then I read the cover blurbs, and it sounded horrid. I put it back on the shelf and found something else. My loss. But now, well, my gain, so hah!

I thought it was little slow getting started, or maybe I was -- it happens to the best readers sometimes. But it's an enjoyable page-turner, combining his trademark humor, imagination, fun, creativity, philosophy, and an honest-to-gosh story that hangs together, peopled by honest-to-gosh people. Pay attention because it's very satisfying. Same thing he did in Hitchhiker 4 before it and Hitchhiker 5 after it. The two Hitchhikers which began as novels rather than radio scripts, by the way. I've gotta hit the bookstores again looking for the sequel to this. THE LONG DARK TEA TIME OF THE SOUL. Douglas Adams has hooked me all over again, and it's a great feeling.

And again, I had to wait for the guy to die to rediscover him. On the one hand it's kinda cruel how I do that, but on the other it gives me hope that somebody will read my own scribblings after I die.

Richard leads a quiet life until the day his employer is unexpectedly
killed (so few victims expect their death) while talking to an answering
machine. Is it coincidence that the very same day, he runs into a slightly
odd professor performing unbelivable conjuring tricks and suddenly notices
that he forgot to pick up his friend for dinner?

But he is lucky to know Dirk Gently, to date best known for saving poor
cats from having Schrodinger's experiment performed on them. Together,
they unravel a plot as old as time, eat a lot of pizza, and prove the
interconnectedness of all things while saving the world at no extra
charge.

This is Douglas Adams at his best. Describing the book as a spoof on
the detective profession and the computer industry would be an
understatement. The story takes unbelievable and unexpected twists,
and is so funnily written that you have to laugh out loud.

At the same time, it is very intelligently written. The first reading
left me quite confused. I have read the book about six times so far,
finding more details and cross-references at each reading, and then each
of the presumably unrelated subplots falls in place, and finally you start
believing in the interconnectedness of all things yourself.

This book is not just material for fans, it's for everyone with a
sense of humour who does not insist on a straight plot line.

First of all I would like to say that I'm not the sort of person who needs everything to make sense to enjoy something (I'm a Doctor Who fan for Christs sake!) so that is something that helps me love this book.
Mr Adams was (and boy do I hate saying was) a master craftsman. He could be intelligent, witty and plain wierd at the same time and still have room for a bit of sentimentality.
I'm pretty confident that if you're reading this then you have enjoyed another of Mr Adams works. In which case I'm sure that you will delight in reading this as it is in the same style as many of his other books. It is fair to compare it to the Hitchhiker series as it is done in much the same vain. In my opinion it is as good as the aforementioned. Yes so the ending doesn't totally fit everyones perspective of great, but it suits me. It's full of lots of ideas that didn't neccessarily works out, but for me that is just as great; trying to work out what Mr Adams had as alternate plots. Even though the title charactor doesn't turn up till a good half way in, his soon to be friend, Richard Macduff does a good enough job of entertaining us. One to one, I strongly reccomend this to any other Adams fan, and for that matter any other fan of literature. It is truely great, as is its sequal.

Genre: science fiction, science fantasy, mystery

An enjoyable mystery with a few fantasy elements.

What happened to Richard?

What finally happened to Gordon? Was he not killed by the Electric Monk because Reg, Richard, and Dirk changed the past? Did they change the past?

What a great read for someone who loved the Hitch Hikers series and still hasn't had enough of Adams. Full of quirky characters and odd circumstances, Dirk Gently is a character that makes you want to follow along. Cant wait to read the next novel. Also looking forward to watching the new tv show based off of them.

This book, after the first reading, remains cryptic to me. Maybe it is just me, or that I read it too leisurely, but I just didn't get it. The subplots go haywire, especially near the end, and questions remain unanswered.
For comparison, "The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul" is full of puzzle pieces and riddles, too, but in the end they all fit together nicely, everything suddenly falls into place and is clear. Well, in Holistic Detective Agency it all just remains entirely cryptic.
That is not to say that it isn't, in some details, funny and produces a good laugh or two. In general terms of humor, however, it still falls far short of the first "Hitchhiker" books, and has a hard time to even compare to the later Hitchhikers or the Dark Tea Time.
No, seriously, is there a clue book for it out there somewhere?, haha. Anybody who knows all answers to this book please email me.
Maybe I should read it again, analytical, with a notepad beside me, and maybe THEN one is able to figure it out. Maybe. Maybe not. Anyways, I am not in the mood for deciphering trivial literature. For a book to read several times over in order to discover the connectedness of the events, I would prefer Catch-22, e.g.
One thing is sure, though: If you read it once and for the pure purpose of entertainment, which I would consider the category for such a book, you won't grasp it. That's where it clearly differs from Adams' other, in my opinion better books.
If you do read it, it very well might entertain you. However, if you don't, you won't miss a lot.

As much as I loved the Hitchhiker series, I actually enjoyed this book this even more. I originally listened to it on tape, and for a while, I was so confused with the plot, I almost turned it off and went on to something else. But, something (probably Adams's brilliant writing) kept me listening, and I stuck it out. As I kept going, more and more things came together, and I became curious...then involved...then engrossed. By the end of the tape, everything was so clear that I had to start all over and listen again to admire the unexpected way the story was woven together. (I understand Richard Dawkins had the same response to this book, and after reading it again the second time, wrote Douglas Adams the first fan letter Dawkins had ever written to anyone.)

It involves: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, ghosts, electric monks, time travel, cell phones and message machines, a pair of women named Susan, Cambridge University, romance, ancient aliens, Schroedinger's cat and a semi-legitimate (but highly imaginative!) detective named Dirk Gently, oh, and...by the way, the end of the world. If you don't see the connection between all these diverse subjects, it's because you don't understand the fundamental interconnectedness of all things, and therefore you really owe it to yourself to give this book a try!

The only downside at all is that Douglas Adams is not around to give us more of this (and all his other) amazing literary character. I love Doug Adams, and his absence is very, very much felt.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is a difficult book to summarize. The plot is pretty much all over the place from start to finish. I found myself enjoying the absurdity and there were certain parts of the book, like a couch stuck in a stairwell that I felt bordered on genius. There were other parts of the book that tended to drag quite a bit and there were long stretches where I found the laughs to be few and far between. Worth reading if you have already read the Hitch Hikers Guide series and want some additional but sadly unrelated material. If you are new to his writing, it isn't the place to start. 3/5

"In fact," says Dirk Gently, "everything between 'herring' and 'marmalade' seems to be missing."

Dirk Gently is an example of a breakthrough work: An attempt at something quite artistically new, which is all the more amazing because it actually succeeds. In short, this novel is: a Science Fiction Mystery Comedy.

* DG is a quite good Science Fiction book, with elements such as strange alien technology ("The Electric Monk"), time travel, and an immortal -- if VERY absentminded -- being
* DG is a quite good (and, to borrow another reviewer's term, "self-consistent") mystery/detective novel, even if the detective in question IS rather unorthodox!
* DG is a very funny comedy novel, which parodies not only the detective genre, but also makes not-so-subtle jabs at ivory-tower academics, business executives, British Telecom, and computers (and the geeks that use and program them)

Dirk Gently as a character in particular is a truly original creation. It is both very fortunate that we have him in two novels, and cruel and tragic that Douglas Adams did not live to develop him any further. For one example, many of Dirk's college friends think he is psychic, and are always trying to get him to dream-speak upcoming exam questions. Dirk sets out to prove them wrong by creating a complete copy of an upcoming exam, purely by researching past exams in the same course, studying the syllabus, etc., figuring that he will be only about half right on average, and everyone will see that he is just an ordinary guy and leave him alone. Except that the exam he so produces turns out to be identical to the real one. Oops. (Later, in the present day, he tells a client, who is wanted for murder: "Remember that you are talking to someone who has spent time in prison for something he didn't do.") Dirk's detective methods rely on studying "the vectors of interconnectedness of all things", which, plus the fact that he is perpetually broke, makes him look to casual observers rather more than less like a cheap con artist.

"Meet me at the pizza parlor in half an hour. And bring money."
"What -- Dirk, are you trying to blackmail me?"
"No, you fool, for the pizzas!"

I am reminded of a character named Gallagher who appeared in several short stories by the science fiction author Lewis Padgett. Gallagher is a brilliant inventor, but can only do inspired work when blind drunk. He wakes up to find that he has created astonishing gadgets, but has no idea how they work or even what they do. This is a similar to Dirk Gently, who also has a gift bordering on the supernatural, but is more its victim than anything else because his talent is not at ALL within his control.

One theme not mentioned so much in other reviews is computers and related humor. One of the main characters, Richard MacDuff, is a Macintosh programmer. (Douglas Adams himself was a fanatical Mac user in real life.) Among Richard's "creations" are a program that turns numerical, i.e. company financial, data into music; and a decision-making program that allows you to justify practically any outcome by back-tracing from the desired result (and which is promptly confiscated by the US Government!) Unfortunately, Richard has a problem: A sofa stuck halfway up his apartment stairs that can NOT be moved -- up OR down. So most of his computing cycles these days are spent on 3D modeling of the sofa, trying to extricate it, much to the annoyance of the boss of his software company. "People who want their company accounts to sing to them are not interested in buying a revolving sofa!"

And I haven't even mentioned the missing cat, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Johann Sebastian Bach, or the end of life on Earth yet! It is really hopeless to try to capture this complex, brilliant, wacky book in any kind of short review. My suggestion is: Just try it. Warning: Like the good mystery novel it is, it starts out nearly incomprehensible, and makes more and more sense as you go on, so be patient with it.

But, this book IS strange enough that it is probably not for everyone. How to tell? I would say that if you enjoy one or more of: Monty Python, Dr. Who, Woody Allen's "Zelig", computer geekdom in general, and/or the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (but be warned: Dirk Gently's characters are much deeper and more complex persons than Hitchhiker's are) then Dirk Gently is definitely something you should consider reading.

I will leave you with another favorite quotation, which comes very early on. In the dedication, in fact: "To my mother, who liked the bit about the horse."

I love this book. I love all of "Hitchhiker's" too, but this one seems to be different. Although sprinkled with the standard elements of original sci-fi and comedy, "Dirk" has a darker tone to it. Although we see the Earth blown up and the end of the universe described in "Hitchhiker's", the human race is pretty much described as "mostly harmless." In this novel, the human race is more deviant, in some ways somewhat unknowingly, but still a little evil in our ways.
It takes a bit longer to have all of the situations come together, but in typical Adams fashion, everything makes sense in the end, and I felt, like Arthur Dent, as if Yay! I actually understood. That's what I like about Adams' books, he not only stretches the limits of the imagination, but gives the feel of the Aha! at the end.
This book is definately a departure from the trilogy as he incorporates the "detective novel" genre into his twists of humor and sci-fi. A must read for any fan of fiction.

I like this book. I reread it every few years in fact. Oddly though, I find that when I think about it, I can never really remember what the book is about. I remember snippets of the book very well though.

For me, I guess this book is a series of really great ideas and commentaries on modern life that have been woven together to make a book that is less than the sum of its parts. Would I suggest it to someone? Yes, absolutely. But more for particular things the book has to say than for the overall story. Interesting idea, well written and very amusing but is even more relevant for the little bits and pieces that stay with you and you'll find yourself thinking about and referencing for years to come.

A lot of the talk surrounding "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" centres on its utter incomprehensibility, its snail-like slow start, and the fact that it's not nearly as funny as Adams' "Hitchhiker's" books.
Regarding the first point, I'd agree, but only to a degree. It's not really as complicated as many have made it out to be. All it takes to understand the complex ending is the knowledge of one simple fact. You'll have to find out what that fact is for yourself, for I'll never tell. (Trust me... the information *is* out there if you know where to look) That being said, there are bits and pieces strewn throughout the book that still have me scratching my head (Why did the Electric Monk do what he did? What was the point of that fascinating bit about Schrodinger's Cat? Who was climbing the stairs of that ominous tower, and what the heck was that tower anyway?). All of which make me agree with the general consensus: This is a book that rewards, nay, demands a second reading. And quite possibly a third, fourth, and fifth.
Regarding the second point, it's only slow when compared to a book as deliciously frenetic as "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe". But on a grander scale, "Dirk" moves along at a perfect pace. And frankly, if the reader is to be expected to pick up on the subtle clues Adams drops, a slow pace is exactly what he needs. Just be warned: When everything starts falling into place, the pace picks up and you might be inclined to pick up your reading pace. Don't. There's still important information at the end that you might miss.
Regarding the third point, well, this one I fully agree with. Only I think it was never Adams' intention to write something as laugh out loud funny as the books that made him internationally popular. He was aiming for a think-piece. He wanted to write his own version of the hard-boiled detective novel, a la Chandler or Hammett, albeit filtered through his warped British sense of humour ("The door was the way to... to...The Door was The Way. Good. Capital Letters were always the best way of dealing with things you didn't have a good answer to."). You'll enjoy the laughs brought on by Dirk and Richard's warped conversations, but they won't be as plentiful or as boisterous as the laughs brought on by an Arthur Dent/Ford Prefect conversation. Further to that point, however, is the fact that Richard MacDuff ("Tall and absurdly thin... good-natured... a bit like a preying mantis that doesn't prey... a sort of a pleasant genial mantis that's given up preying and taken up tennis instead") is a perfect conduit through which the reader can understand the story. Whenever Dirk goes on one of his wild rants, one that will have the reader asking himself, "What is he talking about?" Richard will ask Dirk, "What are you talking about?" He's always one step ahead of the reader's questions.
More than any other book I've ever read, "Dirk Gently" is perfectly structured, while still leaving a lot of holes for the reader, through his own research and interpretation, to fill in. You may get to the end and wonder if you've missed something. Chances are you probably have. But that's by Adams' design. This is a book that lives on well past the last page has been turned. I know that I'm looking forward to my next encounter with Dirk, and saddened that Adams won't be around to create any more new universes for his faithful readership to enjoy.

The oddball detective Dirk Gently and his "client" Richard MacDuff go on an investigation to solve a murder, AND save the human race from extinction as well....No one could've expected Douglas Adams to write nothing but "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" books his entire life, and so, in 1987, he began a new series of books centered around a *very* unconventional detective named Dirk Gently, who uses his belief "in the interconnectedness of all things" to solve crimes. His introductory adventure, "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency," is a very different creation altogether from the popular "Hitchhiker's Guide" books. Like it says on the back cover, "Dirk Gently" is a combination of ghost, horror, detective, time-travel, and romantic comedy. The results are mixed---the book takes a while to get going (Dirk Gently himself does not physically appear for a LONG time), the story is confusing at times, and it just isn't laugh-out-loud funny like the majority of the "Hitchhiker's" series. But "Dirk Gently" still has it's amusing moments, including the plight of Gordon Way, Richard's relationship with his cello-playing girlfriend, Susan, and Dirk hypnotising Richard into doing something that, for me, was totally unexpected and very, very funny (but I won't spoil it for you). Also, as a fan of the popular sci-fi series, "Doctor Who," which Adams wrote some stories for, I was also delighted to see the appearance of Professor "Reg" Chronotis, a character from Adams' "Doctor Who" story, "Shada," who plays an important role here as well.Unfortunately, Adams gives "Dirk Gently" an ending that only raises more questions than it gives answers. Besides not making any sense (well, not to me, anyway), the ending feels hastily written, as if Adams was racing against the clock to meet a deadline with his publishers, couldn't come up with a *plausible* way for Dirk to save the day, and so, he scribbled down a nonsense scene to end Dirk's adventure with. And also, what happened to the Electric Monk, or Michael Wenton-Weakes? Adams doesn't say. So, in the end, "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" is a very mixed bag, but I'm going to give it 3 out of 5 stars because it's still a pretty amusing book, with some pretty amusing characters, and I AM curious to see where Adams takes Dirk next. Alright then, onto the second Dirk Gently book, "The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul".... :-)

I first read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency way back in 1987 and the copy I'm reading this time is the exact same first edition now 22 years old. The two Dirk Gently books followed Douglas Adams' spectacular Hitchhikers Guide quadrilogy and for me, in 1987, Dirk Gently was a HUGE letdown. It just seemed very mundane after the galaxy spanning, time traveling Hitchhikers series. Following the two Gentry books Adams just kind of disappeared. For years I scanned the bookstore hoping to find a new book by the brilliant author but nothing appeared besides continual repackagings of his previous works. With the exception of `Mostly Harmless' and some collaborative efforts, Douglas Adams was pretty much done writing books. The exclamation point on `done' being added in 2001 with his untimely death at the age of 49.

As I've grown older I look back on some of the books and movies I used to enjoy shocked at my poor taste in entertainment. In other cases I've learned to recognize quality in things I initially wrote off as sub standard. With an additional 22 years under my belt I can better appreciate the subtle humor of Dirk Gentry much more than my 17 year old self could. I would consider this a very lightweight book in that the plot is practically nonexistent and the book seems to exist more for Douglas Adams to jot down his musings. The titular Dirk Gentry doesn't even put in an appearance until nearly halfway into the book and at this point things are just sort of happening as if the author was making it up as he went along (and I think he was). It's clear that Adams was very interested in a few subjects including computers and quantum mechanics and just wrapped a modest story around them.

I was inspired to reread Dirk Gentry after I read Neil Gaiman's `Anansi Boys' and spotted a lot of similarities in their styles. Gentry is better than I remember but I have to give Gaiman credit for writing a better story. Douglas Adams is less a great writer and more a clever writer and I don't really mean that as an insult because as a longtime fan of Adams, cleverness goes a long way with me. At one point Dirk Gentry finds himself facing an intractable problem. His solution is to scratch out the solution on a piece of paper in the form of nonsensical scribbles. For Dirk Gentry the problem went from being intractable to being merely a linguistic problem of translating the scribbles. This is the kind of cleverness I love from Douglas Adams.

It's always been a mystery to me as to why Douglas Adams essentially quit writing novels because he was tremendously talented. This being a Douglas Adams book the various events eventually tie together in a massive way involving aliens, time travel, a four billion year old ghost and the possible eradication of all human life on Earth. The ending of Dirk Gentry is actually kind of a mess and again I had the feeling that he made if up just to complete the book. Dirk Gentry is not a book for the ages but it's a fun and quick read.

The Audio version of this book was definitely a treat for me. Listening to the story read by the author, hearing it the way Douglas Adams intended it to sound was great. I really enjoyed listening to his wonderful accent as he told this story. The story has all of Adams' amazing British humor, but also is liberally dosed with astounding intelligence. It is mostly a mystery story, with a bit of sci-fi thrown in for good measure. Dirk Gently is a detective that believes in the total interconnectedness of all things. It starts out with several seemingly unrelated story lines. These story lines are all intricately interwoven and the book ends with a satisfying... well... interconnectedness. Those of you that did not like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series because it was "too silly" should give this book a try. It's anything but silly. Adams' logic can be astounding. Also, the bit with the couch being stuck in the stairway is intriguing. Adams challenges the reader to figure out how this couch is mysteriously stuck, defying all rules of physics.

This review is specifically for the BBC Radio dramatization version of this book.

The tone and pace of the BBC Radio dramatization compliments the original novel and audio book which is read by Adams himself and is the basis for my comparison.

First the bad: The challenge for Above the Title Productions to adapt the novel in a way that allowed Dirk to appear in the first 2 episodes when he doesn't appear until much later on the book. Adams takes a while laying out a detailed and colorful story before Dirks introduction, making it hard to in appear in early episodes. The solution? Flashbacks! Flashbacks that tend to muddle the story line and leave the listener confused. If you have already read the novel or listened to the audio book read by Adams the flashbacks won't be as distracting, but they will be totally confusing if you haven't read the book first .

On the up side: If you are an Adams fan its likely you'll listen dozens of times. By the third time through it all makes sense and you can begin to enjoy the nuances of the production. The actors performances are all top notch although I can't help seeing a Hobbit in my minds eye when I here Billy Boyd (pippin from lord of the rings) as Richard Macduff.

If you're a Dirk Gently fan buy buy buy.

If you're an Douglas Adams Hitchhikers fan you may want to read the book Dirk Gently books first or track down one of the audio books read by Adams.

In comparison to the coming follow up Gently production of Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul this is the one to own since its the truest to Adams writing and his own performance.

Having finished with the Hitchhiker's series with So Long And Thanks For The Fish, Douglas Adams created a diptych utilizing the character of Dirk Gently, an eccentric character who in this first novel creates the self-titled Holistic Detective Agency. His method does not involve using fingerprint powder, but rather seeing the fundamental interconnectedness of things. As he elaborates to a client, "I see the solution to each problem as being detectable in the pattern and web of the whole. The connections between causes and effects are often much more subtle and complex than we with our rough and ready understanding of the physical world might naturally suppose." Missing cats is a specialty, using Schrodinger's quantum mechanics equation. It also serves to exploit old woman seeking their missing cats of their money, that is if he ever gets paid.
Gently cross paths with his old classmate from St. Cedd's College, Cambridge, Richard MacDuff, who is having a trying and interesting time. MacDuff, a computer programmer working for Way Forward Technologies, becomes involved with his old college tutor, Professor Urban Chronotis, the aged Regius Professor of Chronology, and hence bearing the nickname "Reg" whose vice is conjuring tricks, and in the middle of a dinner honouring Samuel Taylor Coleridge, performs a totally inexplicable one involving a salt shaker and a Grecian pot that perplexes MacDuff. Equally perplexing is how a horse entered the bathroom of his professor.
MacDuff has many other things to worry about. He's overdue on a software programme for his boss Gordon Way, he isn't spending enough time with his girlfriend Susan, who's his boss's sister, and he's got a sofa lodged halfway up the stairs to his flat. To make matters worse, he then sees the ghost of his boss, who was mysteriously killed at the same time he was at the Coleridge dinner, and is wanted by the police for questioning.
Adams' usual humorous observations on human foibles are at play here. He describes Reg's memory as being comparable to a Queen Alexandra Birdwing Butterfly, "in that it was colorful, flitted prettily hither and thither, and was now, alas, almost completely extinct." Reg and the eccentric Dirk, who seems able to explain things MacDuff can't, are the best characters here.
As for MacDuff, there is some of Adams in this character. Like MacDuff, Adams attended Cambridge and went for an English Literature degree, only it was at St. John's College and not St. Cedd's per the novel. Adams also managed to turn in only three essays (!!), which was three more than MacDuff completed.
Some may know that Adams was the script-editor for Dr. Who from 1978-1979. Elements from two stories he personally wrote, City Of Death and Shada pop up here. In the latter story, there is a character called Professor Chronotis as there is here.
The humour is more tempered than in Hitchhiker, and relies more on wit and funny situations rather than the laugh-out-loud comedy of the HH series. And this is more a sci-fi/mystery rather than a meta-scifi comedy in space. Adams never loses his imaginative streak, in terms of story and writing style. I read this immediately after the last HH book and found it an amusing and entertaining read.

I already have both of these books. I would highly recommend them, especially if you like Doug Adams and The Hitchhiker Series. I haven't read them for many years but just the other day I was relaying a funny incident from Dirk Gently to a friend of mine. That's my idea of a good book -being able to talk about it years after reading it! I will have to dig them out and reread. I could use a few good belly laughs.

Creative, intriguing, and of course, quirky. I'm a fan of the Hitchhiker's series, so of course anything by Adams sparked my interest. To sum it up, it's like Sherlock Holmes meets zany characters and a little science fiction all rolled up into an outlandish bit of writing.

Douglas Adams is well known for his "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series of books. They are filled with often smart, sometimes absurd and slapstick humor. This book contains two of his lesser-known novels--"Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" and "The Log, Dark, Tea Time of the Soul." While not quite as nonstop and rapid fire as the Hitchhiker books, they are possibly Adams' greatest work.
First of all, these books are unique. Where else in literature do science fiction and humor intersect with topics such as Quantum physics, Norse mythology, and the poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge? Adams weaves these elements into stories that entertain, provoke, and even educate.
Adams also creates lasting images: a wonderful depiction of the nonsense that so often surrounds academic and professional banquets, a great representation of the pitfalls of furniture moving, the absurdity of airline check-in lines, and a description of a "lurking" refrigerator that speaks to some universal human interaction with maltreated appliances.
These two novels are wonderful pieces of comic literature. They are also something more. Get a copy and experience them yourself.
I recommend this book.

This book, and indeed this series, is my personal favorite. I've read both books several times, and still find something new each time. The satire on the human condition, industry, beauracracy, and everything in general are superb. What really grabs you and doesn't let go is Adams' vivid "scene painting". You can almost smell the mist at St. Cedd's campus, feel the soft earth beneath your feet in the rain forest, and hear the horrendous cacophony in G-minor. I'm still a little confused by the ending, but this doesn't detract from the rest of the story. I think my favorite character has to be Reg. Adams has a wonderful ability to make you almost feel as though you know the characters personally, and this book is no exception. If you like books that just read a story at you, this is NOT the book for you. This one puts you behind the interrogation desk, points the light in your face, and demands that you figure it out for yourself. I love it!

Imagine, if you will, a private investigator... excuse me,
a HOLISTIC DETECTIVE, in an adventure that will teach you
more about life, the universe and everything (including the
fabulous intrincacies of time-travel, the true, revealing
nature of magic, the revelation of the long-lost dodo bird's
dissappearance, and of course, the pale horse... uh,
I forgot the sofa in the stairs) than you could've possibly
imagined... or maybe you know already in a parallel
existance.
Douglas Adams' work is astonishingly silly, yet it is
that silliness that makes it poetry... pure poetry. It is a
novel that you could read (and learn) as much as five times (in a week)
and still wonder "How the heck did he think of that?", and
of course, finding answers to questions you never thought
existed.
And to think there is a sequel...

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is a very difficult novel to describe. It's by Douglas Adams so that should explain it a bit and his Hitchhiker's Guide weirdness is present in this humorous science-fiction...mystery...thing. "Dirk Gently tries to solve the mysteries of the universe and the human soul." This book is pretty funny but, like that short and mildy weak book description, it is a little uninteresting at times. This novel (and the one which follows it) reminded me of the later HHGTG books where everything seemed to fall apart in a humorous but confusing way. I enjoyed this book but I think that fans of the Hitchhiker's Guide series might be a little disappointed, especially since the Douglas Adams section of literature is so small.

Douglas Adams, the author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, followed up with the most whimsical character I have "met" since reading Vonnegut, and like Vonnegut, creates a slapstick creation for mankind. There are an alien or two, eccentric college professors, a Electric Monk, and many other labor-saving devices to be found in the two books. Roaring funny - if you like slapstick characters - the Dirk Gently books poke fun at everything from Apple Computer to Isaac Newton's discovery of gravity. Since these books were originally published, some of the jokes have aged, but their recent re-discovery was worth the trip all over again.
Dirk Gently is a detective who thinks nothing of charging his clients for a spontaneous trip to the Bahamas, because of his "holistic" approach to investigations. Everything is connected, you see, so he - well, investigates everything. The ride is fast, daring, and you won't anticipate what will happen around the next turn. Adams has penned a carnival ride that approximates the best of Vonnegut, and a joy these many years later.
Having not read the Hitchhiker's Guide books for some time, I will confess that I actually enjoyed the Gently books a bit more, as the writing is much faster paced, the lunacy a little more looney (with the possible exception of "So Long and Thanks for All The Fish"), and the names much easier to remember.
One of my favorite books.

This book started out very well. Right away I was able to start picturing everything that was going on because of the great description and imagery that the author used. The book did skip around a little bit, but that was the best part. At about the middle of the book, the author started to put in some foreshadowing about how the book might end up. At the end the author brought everything together in a humorous way, and was able to keep a good story line. All though everyone may not like this book, people that like a little humor in their reading will really like it. Douglas Adams is able to put a little humor in the story line without ruining the plot. Adams talk's about a couch that is stuck in a hallway and is not on the ground. The movers were moving it in, and it got stuck. Now the couch is not able to go in or out of the hallway. The character has to get professional that can't even figure out how to get the couch out. Every other chapter the book talks about a character at a dinner, and what he does after the dinner. The opposite chapters the book talks about a business owner that is going on a vacation, and then when he gets murdered, it talks about how he feels. At the end of the book Douglas Adams brings both things together in a very humorous way. Overall I would rate the book with four stars because Douglas Adams was able to keep my attention throughout the book.

Dirk Gently is probably Douglas Adam's best written book and has an extremely well defined plot. The humor as good as ever, I laughed out loud on many occassions. The notion of "fundamental interconnectedness of things" that Adams introduces in this book is quite powerful and yet quite humorous. The problem of the stuck couch in an impossible position, missing cats, ancient professors in universities, an electric monk - a multiple set of oddities all fall into place into a great pattern.

I found Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul a bit boring. It is interesting in parts but on the whole there's not much new stuff in what Adams says.

On the whole the book is a great buy - if you liked Hitchhiker's series at all, you would most certainly love Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Guaranteed.

This is one of those short books that should have been longer. Adams, probably most famous for his hitch hiker's guide, is just as funny in this opus. As usual there are the trademark almost-normal-yet-totally-zany characters such as the 200 year old chronologist, the mechanical monk and the `hero' of the piece; who in ordinary circumstances could be considered a sleazebag, Dirk Gently. .

If you've read any of Adam's work, you know what to expect in terms of plot, it's totally unpredictable, anything goes, which means you'll have to leave your notions of space and time outside the proverbial door. By the way, the proverbial door features in this book as well, but I won't spoil it for you.

I would give this book a five star rating, were it not for the fact that I think Douglas has some personal grievance against Christianity. His less than subtle jabs at the Christian faith lessen what could have been a thoroughly enjoyable book. However credit must be given where it is due and Adams is definitely a master of the art - a comic extraordinaire (if there is such a thing) - who deserves a read.

In this book, we meet Svlad Cjelli (also known as Dirk
Gently), who operates his holistic detective agency on the
premise that the world continues to turn (and we upon it)
because of the fundamental interconnectedness of all things.
I very much enjoyed the part about the sofa in the
stairwell (a sort of a Gordian knot thing), and meeting Sam
Coleridge, but wait till you get to the bit about the horse
in the upstairs loo! If you think you're never going to
read a silly book like this, just wait. This book WILL come
up again in your life, maybe tomorrow, maybe ten years from
tomorrow - just know this, you can never escape the
fundamental interconnectedness of all things. To attempt it
is madness!

Douglas Adams has done it again except this time he
does it on his own planet. This time we join Dirk and
Richard, the main characters, as they inadvertently
save the world, a cat and presumably themselves. You won't expect the same thing if you've read all of his Hitchhiker's Guide books, but it is on the same wavelength and level as the previous books. This is a GREAT book. To put it simply, and you mustn't stop at the first book. Read the second one, the Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul. But since this is only a review for Holistic, then I'll stick to the subject. The last couple of dozen pages gets a little wayward when it comes to sticking to plot, but what would you expect from the man who created a paranoid android?

couldnt go beyond page 13. I initially liked this, how descriptive the writing was and the surreal environment the story(if there is one) set at. However it got boring before it got exciting so couldnt make progress. Dont think I ll give it another shot. Definetely not a book for everyone. I know there are fans out there, but I just couldnt bear how slow the story moved. I strongly advise checking out at a library or so b4 buying this.

Douglas Adams is, of course, widely known for the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series, which is a wonderful pan-galactic romp. For my money, the Dirk Gently books (this volume and "The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul") surpass "Hitchhiker", which is no small feat.

Adams fans will recognize his unique style. No one is as smartly silly as he is. No one.

Dirk Gently, the slacker-slash-detective with the Zen-like attitude and unflappable nature, finds himself in the middle of a battle of gods...what else? From the campus of a prestigious university to the chambers of Valhalla, Dirk's cavalier attitude guarantees the reader a barrel of laughs from start to finish.

Get both volumes at once. Like all of Adam's work, the read is quick and easy, and you won't want to stop once you've finished the first book.

Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" is an old book, but still a very good one. I'd last read it about 20 years ago and, with this reading, found that it's weathered the intervening decades very well. It's a well-thought-out book with very good humor in the vein of his The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. What also strikes me is how similar the writing style is to Terry Pratchett's and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. If you like either of those books, you'll definitely like this one. I rate it a Very Good 4 stars out of 5.

Douglas Adams is possibly best known for his science fiction series, The Hitchhiker 's Guide to the Galaxy, and possibly after that for his contributions to Doctor Who. However, nestled within his catalog, among rays on atheism and conservation you'll find some books that don't take place somewhere across the Galaxy, but rather close to Adams's home country.

In Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, we met the eponymous hero,a sort of joke of a private investigator. He, when not take with finding missing cats gets pulled into a fascinating mystery that spans time and space. To those paying attention, the plot does scavenge several plot element

This book is a spectacularly successful spoof on, well, just about everything. Although it starts out as a bizarre collection of seemingly unrelated events, they all tie together in the end with nary a loose end in sight. I strongly recommend reading this book several times, because there is more to be discovered each time through. Entire threads of the plot and movements of the strange characters occur through oblique references and hints, but if you take the time to put them together, you discover a flawlessly constructed tale that succeeds on many levels.
Throw in a hefty dose of Douglas Adams' irresistable humor, and this sci-fi/mystery/ghost story/love story/comedy is well worth reading (and reading again).

While I had fun reading this, and picturing in my head all the absurd things I was reading, I found it weird. More weird then even I would expect from Douglas Adams. I cut my teeth on Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and this seemed a little bit of a departure from that style of writing and humor. I still don't really understand the Monk.

"Today I got you to tell me every last detail you knew about what happened last night, and already, as a result, using my intellect alone I have uncovered possibly the greatest secret lying hidden on this planet." (Excerpt)

Fans of Adams' Hitchhiker series knows that Adams loves taking things to epic proportions. The Dirk Gently collection follows that vein.

This book was written after Adams' fourth book in his Hitchhiker trilogy (yes, fourth). By then Adams has a clear style (quirky characters, silly yet smart humor) and a noted cynicism of religion (thus the Electric Monk character who "believes all kinds of things, more or less at random").

This wasn't my favorite Adams book, but it was still clever, funny and engaging. Dirk Gently is bizarrely fascinating (though we don't really meet him until halfway through) and his holistic agency (focusing on the "fundamental interconnectedness of all things") shows Adams' incredible range of knowledge.

Overall, it was a fun read.

ONE IMPORTANT NOTE:
I was not familiar with Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan" before reading this, and I was left slightly confused in parts as a result. It plays a role in the story. You will miss much of the book's nuance if you don't know the poem (and maybe its background) beforehand.

I read this a long time ago and picked it up again for old time sakes. Not one of Adams' better works. It takes forever just to be introduced to the main character and you begin losing interest and hoping that you can be distracted by finding a horse in your bathroom or a couch that is inexplicably stuck around a corner. The sequel is so much better, and I think that is the one I was nostalgic for. Still, Adams' is one of my favorite authors, but this book fell flat.

1.) If I had to summarize the plot of this book in three sentences, I would say that...Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is a very funny book. It's about how Richard meets with Dirk, his eccentric friend from college. Together they solve a mystery.

2.) The main themes in this book include...loss of free will.

3.) These themes relate/don't relate to my life because...It does not relate to my life because I don't think a ghost is secretly controlling me.

4.)The main character of the story could be described as...appearing eccentric(I'm not sure if the main character is Dirk or Richard, but I'm describing Dirk)...because...while the things he does make sense to him, other people don't understand them.

5.) I would describe the author's writing style as...humorous. One quote from the book that illustrates this is... "The door was the way to...to...The Door was The Way. Good. Capital letters were always the best way of dealing with things you didn't have a good answer to."

6.) My favorite scene was where...Gorden Way's Ghost is trying to get inside of his house...because...it was very funny and the author managed to make it relatable when I don't think anyone has ever been in that situation.

7.) The climax of the story is exciting/dull because...It's exciting because you are in Richard's position of not quite knowing what Reg and Dirk are talking about.

8.) The ending of the story is satisfying-disappointing because...It's satisfying because the world is saved in an interesting way.

9.) If there were one question I would ask the author of this book, it would be...Do you base anything on people you know?

10.) I would/wouldn't recommend this book to a friend because...I would because it's very smart and funny.

The Hitchhiker Guide series - the one everybody loves dearly, including yours truly - is patchy, choppy, and can't make up its mind what genre it's trying to fit in. It started as a radio show, became a British TV series, was made into a movie; and each time the author tweaked some of the subplots and characters, including the main character. While certainly brilliant in spots, and hilarious throughout, it falls short of being a literary work. Not so with the first Dirk Gently novel. It is an actual novel; it holds together well enough; and it is Adams' work of love.

Dirk Gently is a wonderful character (as is Richard, the other lead character in this book). Believing that everything in the Universe is interconnected, Dirk Gently, a "holistic" detective, unravels a fantastic plot concocted by an alien race to supplant humans as the dominant species on the planet. Each character in the book is precious (and hilarious); each new plot twist a jewel (and hilarious); and the dialogue is simply amazing.

Unfortunately, in the second Dirk Gently novel the author tweaked the lead character, making him a great deal more goofy than in the first one, and this doesn't quite work in the long run.

This one is a must-read, though.

Why it still isn't available on Kindle is beyond me.

Douglas Adams has read The Ancient Mariner and Coleridge's theory of organic creation. (That's a hook for you literature majors out there). And indeed, the ghost of an alien who accidently started the creation of Mankind and wants to destroy it, and a time traveler -- who is suspiciously like Tom Baker's Dr Who - - play key roles in this mystery that Dirk must solve. Of course, Dirk searches for clues by following cars that look like the driver knows where he/she is going.
You Dr Who fans will recognize much of the plot in "The City of Death." If you check the credits of that Dr Who, you will notice Douglas Adams in the credits.

I'm puzzled by how many people seem to have had difficulty with this book. True, it's confusing as can be -- but any good mystery novel has you guessing at every step of the way. I rarely even smile while reading a book, no matter how funny. But this one had me laughing out loud from the minute the poor Electric Monk is believing the world is pink. No, this isn't a book for people who like simple plots and kindergarten writing. But for those who can handle wit, satire, and complex story-telling -- this one's a gem!
Honestly, probably one of the funniest books I've read in my whole life (with the exception of "Good Omens," I should add...)!

I wouldn't recommend this book (or this series, as there is a sequel to this book: Long, Dark Tea-time of the Soul) as a first encounter with the author, Douglas Adams. To get to know Mr. Adams' writing style (intriguing stroy with a comedic undertone and a clear portion of absurdity) I'd recommend the 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'-series (5 books).

For the fans however, this is a must read (followed, back to back, with the sequel). The book reads very fluently and the story keeps a good pace. All this with the humorous aspects we've come to know from Mr. Adams. Definitely worth the space on your bookshelf (right next to the hitchhikers-series)!

This is a lot of Douglas Adams that you likely haven't read before, and it's great stuff -- varying widely over a range of topics and arcane bits -- and i haven't even gotten to the unfinished Dirk Gently novel. I mean, i literally haven't gotten to the unfinished bit yet; but i'll revise this review when i've read it.

Dirk Gently is probably Douglas Adam's best written book and has an extremely well defined plot. The humor as good as ever, I laughed out loud on many occassions. The notion of "fundamental interconnectedness of things" that Adams introduces in this book is quite powerful and yet quite humorous. The problem of the couch in an impossible position, missing cats, ancient professors in universities, an electric monk - a multiple set of oddities all fall into place into a great pattern.

If you liked Hitchhiker's series at all, you would most certainly love Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Guaranteed.

Although I'm a ridiculously big fan of Douglas Adams, I was initially put off by the book. But I gave it another shot and was surprised by how much more sense it made and how much more fun it was. Now every time I read this book I pick up something new. Also, understanding this novel is a great deal easier if you're familiar with Cambridge and the work of Coleridge.
Perhaps because his writing style isn't all that complicated, I wasn't ready for the complexities involved in the story so I didn't really pay as much attention to the fine details as I should have. In the end though, it is the story's seemingly random events and how they gradualy fit together that makes this his finest work.

A very, very, stripped down dramatisation of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - it would have been unrecognisable had not Stephen Mangan made such an excellent Dirk - recently showed on the BBC. It prompted me to go out and re-buy a book - the same edition, no less - that I last owned twenty or more years ago.

Now, on this site, I've already found that writing equivocal reviews of cherished books by a celebrated, prematurely dead cult writer - in particular, this one - is a fairly thankless business.

So I don't expect to be popular. Indeed, it calls to mind one of Arthur Dent's wry observations: It feels rather like sitting in a Vogon airlock, waiting to be thrown into deep space, and wishing I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young.

Well, I didn't, and it's too late now. So, here we go.

In 1987, revolutionarily, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was desktop-published by Douglas Adams himself, he boasted, on his Apple Macintosh, using MacAuthor publishing software (an unfortunate branding, given the market which has subsequently grown up around the capability the internet has delivered us for self-publishing mediocre books). But reading this one again - which was definitively not vanity published - it not only looks but feels a little that way: not a bad effort by any means, but it lacks a professional, detached judgement, the bearer of which could have put a hand on Adams' shoulder to say "steady on, old boy".

I have very mixed feelings about Douglas Adams. Without a doubt, he owned one of the most agile minds on the planet. He was possessed of a rare wit - one not possessed, for example, by latter day pretenders like Ben Elton or even Stephen Fry. But Adams could be frightfully arch - smug, really (I know, I know: can't we all) - a tendency which grew worse as his reputation extended itself following the runaway success of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. There's a trade-off between Adams' dead-ball wit - truly Beckhamesque at first - and the coherence and structure of his novels - pretty much non-existent in The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but ever more in evidence as his writing matured.

Alas, one killed the other: the later instalments of the Hitch-Hiker series felt like increasingly desperate attempts to rein in and put some structure round his original story, but they suffered for being increasingly unfunny and forced, stifling what was so good about the premise in the first place.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency finds Adams at as happy a compromise as he ever reached between the two. There are some sizzling ideas: believing in things being a chore for which a labour-saving device has been developed; the whole "fundamental interconnectedness of things" and the translation of fractal data into music (actually pretty prescient, too); but so too is there a real linear narrative, characters who develop and a complex and cleverly-wrought plot reveal.

But it still doesn't quite add up to the sum of its parts: there are a good five too many main characters (or, if you take the BBC's line, ten: none of Gordon Way, The Monk, its horse, Reg, St. Cedd's College, the bored little girl, Michael Wenton-Weakes or Adam Ross makes the BBC version!) and the plotting is Byzantine indeed for such a short book. I am still not sure I understand all the implications or interrelations between Coleridge, some aliens, a ghost, a time-travelling electric monk (why electric?) and a computer software magnate. Adams thought this was clever - he even said so, archly, on the back cover of the book (a "thumping good detective-ghost-horror-whodunnit-time-travel-romantic-musical-comedy-epic" - har har). But actually it all feels a bit arbitrary - rather like some blinding ideas thrown together and frantically stitched into a loose framework of a novel.

I preferred the ideas, I think, unencumbered, and for me this is therefore a waystation on the downward trajectory from The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Olly Buxton

This is by far Douglas Adams best book. Much better than HHGTTG. I've just read The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukov. As I am rereading Dirk Gently, it is clear to me that Adams had his mind opened by Zukov to the amazing changes in leading edge physics that happened at the beginning of this century. He masterfully sculpts a story that brings together Quantum Physics, Gothic-Ghost-Storyism, and Modern Computer Technology, while intertwining, the poetry and eccentricity of Coleridge. Buy it and read it to your children, (when they are older).

I read the Hitchhikers guide many years before I read this book, so my expectations are colored by the fact that I loved the Hitchhikers guide. Thus this review is mostly a comparison between the two.
I give the book a fairly high score, 4 of 5, but it is not quite as good as the Hitchhikers guide, which I would give a 6 of 5 if I could. The style of writing is the same, but where the Hitchhikers guide made me laugh out loud on several occations, this book just made me smile a little. It is also very easy to get thruogh, it is not the kind of book you need to devote an entire weekend to read, it can be completed in a few evenings. If you like Adams style of writing, then you will probably like this book as well, but don't expect it to be as good as the Hitchhikers guide.

If you got P.G. Wodehouse to write a Dr. Who script you might come up with something like this. Why not? Apparently as well as script editing for series 17 (featuring, for example, 'City of Death' where John Cleese is an art dealer), Adams wrote a couple of episodes ('The Pirate Planet', and the unfinished 'Shada' which featured none other than Prof. 'Reg' Chronitis and his TARDIS style study). Sorry, enough trainspotting (thanks G & J).
The Dr. Who thing only hit me late in the book, but that's partly because 'Dirk Gently' only pops up about half way through, and he's most enjoyably reminiscent of Tom Baker in his distracted purposefulness. I suppose there's something of Ford Prefect there too, and other elements of Hitch Hikers - yet another confused alien species looking to earth as an Eden and changing the deep past and whole evolution of humanity. And I suppose Richard could be played by whoever was DentArthurDent in the TV show.
But, hey, this isn't having a go at the book, which is sheer pleasure to read. It's not at all a cheap carbon of earlier Adams, there's just some lovely echoes. The guy just writes so wonderfully - like Wodehouse - and the dialogue is full of good (frightfully British) humour and character. Moreover the comic observations on the everyday are clever and flawlessly executed. The setting is surprisingly coherent when you get down to it (I *love* the way he casually resolves the sofa paradox that's been running through the whole book) - there's really nothing I can think of to complain about with it. I'm used to books lifting me up and then disappointing, but this manages to ebulliently float you along from start to finish.
I'm so glad I decided to start rereading books. It must be over a decade since I'd read this and I only had the vaguest recollection of some of the key images. But the chief pleasure of Adams can't be reduced to, say, the plot line, which, while fine, is in one way incidental (i.e. the characters and dialogue are good enough to stand alone). I get the impression he was in a fairly positive state of mind when he wrote this (as opposed to Mostly Harmless), and in excellent form, so these character's are simply pleasant to be with - as well as being hilarious and - as with those of Pratchett on a good day - charming.

This book does not compare to the Hitchhiker's Guide, nor is it, I suspect, meant to. The hero is an ex-con who got sent to the slammer for helping people con themselves and then delivering on the false promises he didn't actually make. (If you want that to make sense to you, read the book.) The story then runs on and on and on till you're only reading for hope's sake. Suddenly the detective tale jumps out of stereotype and you're left gasping at the author's imagination. Unless you've got time to kill, try an abridged version.

I have read this book so many times I've lost count. Lets see now: The character portrayal is brilliant, Adams' humour is the kind that makes you laugh out aloud - in fact the humour achieved in this novel is unparalleled, the plot is delightfully complex and fascinating, the story is well-paced and makes you want to read read read, Dirk is utterly hilarious, and Adams' style of writing and mastery of wordplay has never been more evident.
Sometimes I'll read a passage over and over, not because I dont understand it but because it's so well written that I just about cant believe it. This book truly is a mental stimulation that you wont forget in a hurry, an absolute treat, and if I ever had to choose one book to be stranded on an island with, this would be it. Of course I would stash a few nudie books down the back of my pants as well, the authorities wouldn't notice.
5 STARS IS NOT ENOUGH for this book!!!!

It'll take you a while to get your head around this book so you probably should read it more than once. Even after I've read the book several times, I have a hard time explaining the ending, but nonetheless this is a worthwhile read. An evolution for DNA beyond the antics and absurdity of HHGTTG to a more complex sophisticated humour. I eagerly await the third book in the series; Unfortunately, last I heard it had been "shelved" by the author. Ah well...

I finally found a used hardcover edition in pure mint condition at a used bookstore, nowhere else having it. And then I finally read it.
Very slow at first, I almost gave up on reading it, but it builds slowly. Slowly. Dirk doesn't even appear until 5/8ths into the book, but that's okay. All that matters is that this book is simply incredible. I tend to catch things very quickly (like movies that say you should see it twice to get it, I get it the first time), so I got the entire book and story immediately and loved it.
Not to mention it's extremely witty and well informed, where Douglas Adams got all the music ideas and fractal stuff from is of no clue to me, but it amazed me also. Just get this book for the fact that Douglas Adams' intelligence will frighten you after you read HHGTTG.
Douglas Adams' has written something I'd never expect from the writer of the HHGTTG series. A very deep thinking, yet rather humorous, book. In his very remarkable comedic style.
Time to read the sequel!

As usual, I was barely able to put the book down. I don't know why it took me so long to remember Adams other books. Now I have to get the second Dirk Gently book as soon as possible. I may even go back and re-read the Hitchhiker series!

A bravura performance, more invested and ideas than comedy with more notes of terror and uncanny than HHGTG. Much harder to do, and more allusive so that reading requires more background reading. Did not know that Schroedinger's thought experiment was meant to demonstrate the absurdity of quantum mechanics. At least that is what I think he means.

WARNING!: Some spoilers may be included

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is a great book. The comedy is awesome, but sometimes a little dry, but that's the way British humor is sometimes. The plot is a little confusing at times, but not horribly difficult to follow. The main point is that Richard MacDuff, a software engineer, is at least for a short time, believed to have killed his boss, Gordon Way, who, unknown to anyone, is actually a ghost who is very annoyed at being a ghost. Richard, in his desperation, seeks out a detective, namely, Svlad Cjelli, or Dirk Gently (how Dirk Gently comes from Svlad Cjelli are the same is still a mystery), a detective whose specialties include lost cats and messy divorces. A cornerstone of the agency is the belief in "the interconnectedness of all things" (hence the "Holistic" part of the agency's name), which comes down to somehow having a trip to the Bahamas help find a woman in England's cat. Dirk helps Richard, and in their search to prove his innocence, they uncover a time machine, another ghost, and the true origin of humankind! (which is almost prevented because of the time machine, but Dirk stops it before all of humanity is erased.)

There are may memorable quotes, somewhat random Samuel Taylor Coleridge references, and generally strange moments, such as a horse appearing in a bathroom at random. This is a really good book, as are most of Douglas Adams's books. Dirk Gently may not be in the tradition of Great Detectives, but this book is in a tradition of great books. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a good laugh or just an interesting book.

I just finished Douglas Adam's Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency. This was a pretty good read. Its not too in depth. It contains a lot of cynical, sarcastic, and underlying humor. Although it is definitely a science fiction book, as long as you have a decently open mind, its good. Following the odd coincidences that happen throughout the book, including a sofa in the stairwell, a horse in the bathroom, and a ghost, a tale that is so incredible it almost seems believable is revealed. The book does not really come together until the middle to end of the book, so don't get discouraged if youre terribly confused at the beginning!

And for my money, Dirk Gently definately belongs to it. All right, he fails to rule out the impossible. In this book, that would probably have been the worst thing he could do!

Like several of the other reviwers, I think this book is, in many ways, funnier than the Hitch Hiker's Guide. I only wish Douglas Adams had written more about Dirk. Or Vlad. Or whatever his name is.

It's a nice, quick read, and though others have complained about how short it is, I think this book comes in a perfect little package. I don't know how Adams could have stretched it out any further, or if it would have been any better for it. Besides, there's always the sequel.

"Dirk Gently" is a combination of ghost, horror, detective, time-travel, and romantic comedy.

His Detective agency mainly succeeds in tracking down missing cats for old ladies, but then is stumbles into a four-billion year old mystery that must be solved if the human race is to avoid immediate extinction.

This audio is a BBC 4 full cast dramatisation and is BRILLIANTLY done.

I am giving this audio a 5 star (but I would give it a 6 star if I could). I will be listening to more of his works.

Douglas Adams has left us some rare gems, and one of these is this novel. Connect Coleridge's Kubla Khan whit fractal theory, software industry, Schrodinger cats and escatology...add a very unusual detective,and you have one of the weirdest mysteries ever written.You'll feel intrigued,haunted and bewitched... and the end will be worthy of your patience, provided you're not too fastidious whit scientific plausibility.
You'll love the uncanny athmosphere!

When reading this book, don't try to figure out what is going on. You can't -- at least, not until the end. After all, this IS a mystery, a detective story. But, as is typical with Adams, this is unlike any other detective story you have ever read. It is extremely funny, baffling, and brilliant all at once. And in the end, it all makes perfect sense, in its own wonderfully unique way. On a more serious note, I have always thought that beneath the wacky humor of Adams' books, there are always very interesting concepts and certain truths that go deeper than the crazy stories on the surface. For instance, Dirk Gently's belief in the "interconnectedness of all things" is actually a true belief of many religious groups, such as the American Indians. But even if you don't buy into the philosophy, you certainly can enjoy this great book. Just stick with it until the end. For me, this was easy, since I have read all of Adams' books and am used to his sometim! es seemingly-disjointed style. I say "seemingly" disjointed because, again, it will eventually all come together. And it does so brilliantly.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is like an onion: it's composed of several layers, and if you judge it only by the first time you slice it, you might think it stinks. But it's an incredible novel, hilarious in places, touching in others and totally holistic in nature: every part is connected to every other part in an intricate spiderweb of comedy and characterization. I've read Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide novels and found them very funny but none of them touch the intricacy and thoughtfulness of this book. It's his best IMHO.

I have only read this book once and I have to say that it is the best book I've ever read, no contest. It may not be wholly appropriate for children under the age of ten, or maybe eleven, but it is hilarious! If you haven't read the book then you haven't lived your life fully yet and you must read it RIGHT NOW. Do you hear me? Go to a bookstore right away and buy Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Wait. Finish reading this first.
A reason I like this book is the characters. The characters are great, but at times can be a bit confusing, especially at the end, where a bunch of random things happened. Other than that, the characters are absolutely hilarious. A great example is when Dirk Gently is talking on the phone and says, "Yes, messy divorces are our specialty.... No, not quite that messy. Thank you," and hangs up. That, to me, is probably the second-funniest quote in the book, which brings me to another reason I like this book.
That would be the, for lack of a better word, general stupidity of the characters. Clearly the characters are smart intellectually, but they can be ignorant at times, such as: "Meet me at the pizza place. Bring some money." "Are you trying to blackmail me?" "No, you fool, for the pizzas." Is anyone really that stupid? I, for one, would not mistake pizza money for blackmail money.
I also like the book because of its plot. The story skips around, kind of. Every couple of paragraphs the point of view shifts from one character to another. I like stories like that because they never get boring. Some stories only show the point of view of only one main character, and that can lead to extreme curiosity about what the other characters are thinking and doing. Plus, that can get pretty boring at times, like when there's a part you don't understand and it drags on and on until you throw the book down and shout "I CAN'T READ THIS ANYMORE!" In stories where the point of view shifts, there might be a part you can't understand, but then some other character will come in and direct your attention somewhere more interesting or exciting.
All in all, this is a good book. My advice would be not to take my word for it. Read it yourself if you want to know more, because I'm not revealing any more of the plot. Now get up off your chair and go read the book! (Trust me.)

Douglas Adams' novel is a strongly written piece of hilarity. One word of advice, though, which I wish I'd known whilst trying to make sense of the best part of the book: don't worry - keep at it even if you think you're hopelessly clueless. That's the point. Only a true Gently would be able to decipher the myriad ravelled strands the book weaves. And then where would the fun be?

One of my favorite books of all time. It only covers roughly a 24 hour period, yet it's so much fun and so much happens, which shows how cleverly plotted it is. It's wonderfully witty, great sci-fi even for non-nerds, thoughtful and philosphical in an offhand sort of way, occasionally poetic, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Being a long time fan of Douglas Adam's, I couldn't help buying this book and reading it, and of course I was glad I did.
The book itself is a hilarious/ sci-fish mystery, and does a great job of entertaining. The best part of the novel is the main character Dirk Gently, who is very, very funny, in a much different way than say, Ford Prefect or Arthur Dent.
Unfortunately, Douglas Adams has only left us with more book in the series, The Long Dark Tea-time of the soul (although you can read part of the third book Douglas Sdams wrote before he died in the Salmon of Doubt), which is also hilarious and worth reading. With that being said, buy this book, you won't regret it.

Though much less touted than the Hitchhiker series, this is by far better, funnier, and more interesting.

Its disjointedness is not offputting, which I found to be the case more and more in the Hitchhiker lot, but instead is more zany and British-humoured type of style.

"Dirk Gently's Holistic Dectective Agency" is an OK book. It is a different kind of mystery, as Douglas Adams intended. However, I found this book quite inferior to the "Hitchhiker" series, as it did not have that same pizzaz. Basically, there has been a murder, and some try to solve it. Dirk, the detective in the title who doens't appear until about 1/2 way through, is not interested in solving the murder, no, he wants to know why Richard McDuff, an employee of the victim, climbed into his girlfriend's flat. That McDuff's girlfriend is the victim's sister is beside the point. Dirk feels that all things are interconnected, and also wants to figure out how an old professor managed to do an impossible trick. Soon, we discover, the prof has a time machine, and there is a ghost who wants to reverse a billion year old error, which would mean the end of all life. A few chuckles, but mostly headscratching.

After taking a chance to finally read a "Douglas Adams" book, was I impressed? I'm not sure. Parts of this novel were comical and very original, but I'm still confused and, therefore, disappointed by the ending. Also, too much credit is given to his "philisophical" undertones. Do people really read his writings for that reason?
A fun book to read, but not worth all the hipe.

This is a superb, but highly complicated book. Because most of the story went over my head the first time I read it, I didn't even finish it. However, I went back and tried again and much to my surprise it was great. I recomend it to anyone who is an intelligent reader and is willing to reread things. In my opinion, this is Douglas Adams's finest work.

... unless, of course, you're the kind of person who does precisely the opposite of whatever they are told to... oh! Hang on... that's all of us! Folks, not only is this book brimfull of the usual brilliantly quirky insights and satires of the inimitable mr Adams, but it is also an extremely well thought out, self-consistent detective story, with only a few completely fantastic creatures. (Don't be scared now!) And perhaps the odd (almost) impossible occurence. (Surprised?) The characters are an utter delight, and arguably more sympathetic than the cartoon figures from the hitchikers series. Guaranteed: you'll laugh out loud in places, and at least spend a good deal of the rest of the time with a most idiotically pleasant smile on your face. (Try not to drool in public.) Upon finishing, you will find yourself obsessively compelled to schedule an immediate re-reading, seeing as you will most certainly have missed a number of small delights and teasingly hidden clues. This story Rocks! And Haunts! Unmissable!
I also FORBID you to read Dirk Gently's further adventures in "The long dark teatime of the soul"!

Oddballs, including the private investigator.

Yep, I tried this book because I liked the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and probably needn't have bothered, as it was only ok. Some more of the odd sort of things happening, but not in a funny way, really, as the titular character looks into the bizarre actions of a friend, and the strange goings on that may tie everything together.

This is a detective spoof by Douglas Adams and it is not as funny as Hitchhiker's Guide, but it is still a worthy read, if you're a fan of that series. The strong influence of Monty Python is more visible here so, if you like Monty Python, you might like this book...The story is possibly the strangest thing I have ever tried to decipher into logic. There was a sequel and it was far better, and more understandable. But, this is worth it still!

If you haven't read it, it is a riot, especially if you like British wit. Ironically, this is also the book that turned me on to Chaos Theory in '89. I would love to get my hands on a copy of "The Fractal Landscape of Music." Oh, and I already knew Bach was not of this world!

I don't get Douglas Adams....The book is bizarre doesn't seem to track and I don't recommend anyone read it. Overall a very boring book, with some very funny or well written passages. The only reason I did not toss this sucker out the window is because I was the discussion leader for our online book club. It was very difficult to have a discussion when the topic is so absurd.

When you think Douglas Adams, you immediately think of the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Admittedly, this series is quite excellent (well, the first three books of it are, anyway), but in all the excitement over HHGTTG, this book and its sequel often get ignored. This is a real shame because this book is almost as good if not just as good as HHGTTG. Just don't expect this book to be another sequel to HHGTTG and go in with an open mind. One caveat: Adams has started to be more linguistically vulgar in his more recent works, and I think there is at least one gratuitous use of the "F" word in this novel. It's a shame, because it detracts rather than adds to this book's enjoyment (at least for me).

I think that this book is not nearly as good as the Hitchhiker's trilogy. It just doesn't manage to be cohesive enough and several plot elements seemed to make absolutely no sense. It does have some very good scenes, such as the monk and the ghost. However, most of the book was rather dull.

Douglas Adams' wit and style come through in full force in this novel. Every time I finish another one of his books, I cry a little bit knowing that I have one less left to read. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is no exception. He did such a great job of creating a huge mess of comic confusion, then bringing it all back around full circle, with a bit of surprise, always a laugh, sometimes a little groan of disapproval, and never-ending satisfaction.

Don't be discouraged by the lukewarm to poor reviews you may read on this page. The Dirk Gently books are far superior to the Hitchhiker's series (we didn't really need five!). These plots are complex but the storytelling, as usual, is superb and hilarious. These are laugh out loud books to the core. I have no idea what Adams has up his sleeve next, but I'm praying for another Dirk Gently book.

This book is absurd, hilarious and serious. The only book I laugh about, loud, quite some years after reading it. Reading it was propably the smartest thing I did during 90-95. Well...second smartest.

This is absolutely my favorite book and to hear it read by Douglas Adams makes it even more enjoyable. His delivery is so off-key and subtle that it makes you fall down laughing at the odd happenings to poor Richard and his friend Svlad...er...I mean Dirk.

The dramatization was as good as the Hitchhiker's episodes. The acting was superb, and the technical productions were absolutely brilliant. One negative - if you've never read the book you'll be confused by the beginning. For those who haven't read the book, I recommend reading it first. Despite the one negative, this is very well done, and I'm looking forward to the dramatization of "Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul".

This book is extremely funny. Simple. It is also extremely unusual. No surprise there, this is an Adams book. It is also one of the best books i've read.. ever. I personally think it is better than the Hitch-Hiker books because we can all relate to the environment. Read it.... now.

I really enjoyed this book, just as I've enjoyed all of Douglas Adams' books. I was having trouble paying attention at the beginning, later on in the book I wish I'd had been paying more attention though. It all makes sense later in the book. I don't really want to spoil anything, so I'll just have to say it is another great addition to my collection.

A completely frivolous book which somehow keeps one's attention throughout the story.

I feel this excerpt sums up the entire book:
"Deep in the rain forest it was doing what it usually does in rain forests, which was raining: hence the name."

This is deeply strange. I laughed out loud many times at first and got drawn into its crazy twists and turns, in the misguided belief that it would lead somewhere ... intelligible.

Twenty years ago I read one of the Hitchhiker books in one sitting, whilst stoned. I reached the last page, and realised that I hadn't a clue what I'd just read. Now, twenty years later, I'm having the same experience with this book ... but without the smoke.

So, I should know my Coleridge better? Is that what I've missed? I have no idea how this book ended or why it was written. I lost the plot at 94%. Anyone?

Natasha Holme
Author of 'Lesbian Crushes and Bulimia: A Diary on How I Acquired my Eating Disorder'

Dirk Gentlys Holistic Detective Agency is my favorite book EVER. You cannot read this book once for a start, and each subsequent read gets better! Funny to the point of hysterical at times, these books are the best comedy sci-fi you will find.

Adams has done it again. This book about a simple, well, simple isn't even close. This outrageous detective could solve all the problems of the universe with a gum wraper if he wanted to. Holistic is right, evrything will come together in the end. A smashing book and a must read.

This book is in a word, weird. Yet in another word, it
is funny. This book is classic Adams and one of his best.
If you are a fan of his hilarious satire you'll
love this book. And if you're not, you'll still
enjoy it.

I listened to Douglas Adams read this story on audiocassette and liked it so much I had to buy the book. It's a captivating mystery story laced with Adams' astute sense of humor. And of course it ventures into cosmic, meaning-of-life themes as well.

There was a time in my life when I thought this book was a hidden treasure, lost in the bright lights that were shining on Adams' other work, notably the Hitchhiker Trilogy (if one can be so inclined to call 5 books a trilogy). But that was a long time ago, when I was in college and, like John Belushi, fat, drunk, and stupid. Trust me when I say that, son, this no way to go through literary life. Eventually, I grew up, lost a little weight, stopped drinking so much, and...well, just embraced the fact I was stupid. Hey, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

This book is sufficiently entertaining, at best. I give this 3 stars because the point of this book is to mildly entertain, and the book just about does that, if maybe barely. In the grand scheme of things, this book can't stand up to many of the other books I have given 3 stars. But let's face it, the aim of this book is pretty small. To take on such a narrow focus and come up with a 3 star book isn't really that much of an accomplishment. As an entertainment widget, this is average. Overall, this is a 2 star book but I have to be fair in assessing what the book stands for in the cosmic context of literature. Let's put it this way. If this were a dinner party, this would be a pig in a blanket. You know, no self respecting purveyor of fine foods would ever be caught eating one of these. But hey, I've had a few beers and they just came out of the oven and, well, you know, I'm a little hungry and come to think of it, this little number isn't all that bad, when it's nice and hot like this. But really it can't stand up to the caviar. I mean, not that I go to dinner parties like that. It's really just a metaphor to indulge you, the reader, who has likely given up reading this ramble of a review so there's no point in my trying to impress you any longer. If you've read this long you're likely related to me or attended my wedding. I digress.

The story is basically classic Adams. Goofy dialog littered among goofy interactions is as much as you need to know. The details of the story aren't important - you can get them when you read the book, if you choose to. What's important to note is what this book is, or isn't for that matter. The book isn't a deep and philosophical look at the world. The book is an attempt at slapstick humor. The book isn't well written in dialog. The book is something a person who loves fart jokes might love. It's also something college kids who watch Monty Python movies will like. It's something you read when you just need to pass the time easily, before you discover the world of Terry Pratchet.

If you're in college and just love his other stuff, you've got nothing to lose with this. If you're looking for something to read between your National Book Award Winner List, maybe, just maybe, you should pass this up.

The book is average, and there are certainly worse books to read out there. Then again, there a lot which are better. In fact, there are better books written by the same author. If you're looking for something along these lines and haven't read his other stuff, Hitchhiker is clearly a better choice. If you've exhausted all that and can't get enough, this is a good enough next step. If you're neither of those, this book isn't really for you.

Boring. Boring. Boring. Slow. Dull. (I'm running out of synonyms here) I think you get the point. I couldn't even read the whole thing. It's the second book ever (and I read constantly) that I've thrown down in discust.

Douglas Adams was not a great novelist. Though he produced two of the funniest novels in the English language (HHGTTG and RATEOTU) they were based on radio scripts he had produced earlier. In all his books Adams had clever turns of phrase (a la Wodehouse). But he hated writing, he had contempt for his audience (particularly those who liked Marvin) and though he had a successful series of lighthearted books on hitch-hiking through the galaxy dropped in his lap, a ready-made success that millions of struggling writers since would have given their eyeteeth or grandmothers for, he never appreciated his special pot of gold.

Adams was a great ideas man. Every Adams novel is brimming with ideas, many of them great. He should have collaborated with someone who loved to write and did it better; working with someone like that, either openly or as a ghost, Adams might very well have, in his much shorter life, made as many books as Wodehouse and the comparison between the two most notable British humorous novelists of the twentieth century might not seem so forced.

In keeping with later Adams, DIRK GENTLY'S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY is not a good book. Gently does not even appear in the first half of the book. Though Gently promises, in the hints dropped about him in the early part of the book, to be the most individual character in English fiction since Ignatius J. Reilly, when he does he's more like Wodehouse's Chimp Twist (and is not even that interesting). Again, Adams had a great idea for a character, but he lacked the talent, or the interest, to make Gently sing.

The story itself, as I understand it, was taken by Adams from a script he wrote for "Dr. Who" that was never filmed. The brunt of the story is carried on the backs of several characters other than Gently. Most of them are unlikeable. The only reason Richard -- was it Richard? It's hard to remember and I just read the thing today -- the lead character is not unlikeable is because he isn't enough of a character to have feelings about one way or the other. Adams wanted to make Arthur Dent dull and that was fine. It was what happened to Dent that was interesting. And it worked (and he also had the help of actor Simon Jones in the radio series to make even a dull character swanning through the universe in search of tea riveting as he was). But the characters in DGHDA are mere names, who have characteristics that are described rather than shown. Whatever happened to the adage, "action is character"?

A big fan of Adams' work since discovering HHGTTG on television in the 80s, then the books, then on the radio, I've made an honest effort to enjoy every subsequent Adams novel (only Hitch-hikers and Restaurant were in print when I started reading him). Despite this, I'm only running about half-and-half on his works. DIRK GENTLY isn't much of a character, or much of a book. Gently appears to slightly better effect in THE LONG DARK TEATIME OF THE SOUL, but by the time it was published Adams was clearly much better at writing titles than novels.

If you haven't heard the radio version of HHGTTG, you'd be better off with than than with Dirk Gently.

This book sucked big time. The writing style was entertaining for the first 5% of the book (reading on a kindle) but gets old quick. It's kind of snarky and the freshness wares quickly because the author comes off as better than his readers. He takes a page or more to describe something as simple as a lamp shade and then you realize it has nothing to do with anything. I'm now over 20% through the book and it is going no where. Don't waste your time on this one.