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Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency [Mass Market Paperback]

Douglas Adams
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (154 customer reviews)

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Book Description

June 1, 1991
There is a long tradition of Great Detectives, and Dirk Gently does not belong to it. But his search for a missing cat uncovers a ghost, a time traveler, AND the devastating secret of humankind! Detective Gently's bill for saving the human race from extinction: NO CHARGE.

Frequently Bought Together

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency + The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul + The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time
Price for all three: $21.57

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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

There is a long tradition of Great Detectives, and Dirk Gently does not belong to it. But his search for a missing cat uncovers a ghost, a time traveler, AND the devastating secret of humankind! Detective Gently's bill for saving the human race from extinction: NO CHARGE.

About the Author

Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge, England in 1952. He has written for radio, television and theater and has worked as a hospital reporter, barn builder, radio producer, and script editor. His bestsellers include The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul.


Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 306 pages
  • Publisher: Pocket Books (June 1, 1991)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0671746723
  • ISBN-13: 978-0671746728
  • Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.6 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (154 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Douglas Adams (1952-2001) was the much-loved author of the Hitchhiker's Guides, all of which have sold more than 15 million copies worldwide.

Customer Reviews

Now every time I read this book I pick up something new. Outlaw Pete  |  28 reviewers made a similar statement
I highly recommend this book whether you have ever read Adams or not. G. Messersmith  |  22 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
51 of 53 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
"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.
... Read more ›
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59 of 67 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Whatever you do, don't read this book! September 23, 2002
Format:Mass Market Paperback
... 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"!

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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
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....

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. Read more ›

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Hands down, the best book Ive ever read September 28, 2001
Format:Mass Market Paperback
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!!!!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant..nothing much else to say really!
I love all of Douglas Adam's books so it will come as no surprise I enjoyed this one too. As with all his other novels, the central character in this one is a bit of a wacky,... Read more
Published 3 days ago by Mike D
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book with great things in it
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. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Lyn Young
4.0 out of 5 stars Powers of Deduction
Dirk Gently finds out in college while sleep talking, that he can predict the questions and answers to exams. This is the beginning of his realization of his powers of deduction. Read more
Published 20 days ago by A. Sampson
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful
Another great book by Mr. Adams. Although maybe not as amusing as the Hitchhiker trilogy still a great read and quite well,,,,,unexpected.
Published 20 days ago by Daniel A. Keck
5.0 out of 5 stars Used book
Book is in good condition. I enjoyed the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy series and am looking forward to reading this book.
Published 29 days ago by Lamb
3.0 out of 5 stars Adams' Other Series
Douglas Adams, of course, is known for Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. Dirk Gently is a second series containing two books - this being the first. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Roger & Cyndy Wilber
5.0 out of 5 stars Douglas Adams Earthbound (Sort Of)
I kind of consider myself responsible for the Dirk Gently books being available for the kindle. I pushed that "I would like to read this on my kindle" everyday for a year. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Chris Disario
5.0 out of 5 stars not a review, just commentary.
A completely different read than what it was 12 years ago. It's amazing the changes a book appears to have after a decade.
Published 1 month ago by Karl Eisenman
5.0 out of 5 stars Adams' Best and Most Intelligent Novel
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. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Daniel
5.0 out of 5 stars Go Gently into Dirk's Wacky World
Douglas Adams is a genius. A fertile mind, and an exceptional command of literary construction. I laughed; I cried… Well, I laughed anyway. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Richard Stone
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Kindle in US - not!
And in 2013 still no joy. Sue Townsend's books too are sold in ebook for, in the UK but not the US (except for one). Please get these licensed for US fans!
Jan 5, 2013 by saraf |  See all 2 posts
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