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The Dirk Gently Omnibus by Douglas Adams
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The Dirk Gently Omnibus (original 1994; edition 2001)

by Douglas Adams (Author)

Series: Dirk Gently (Omnibus 1-2)

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1,060519,196 (4.11)22
Two quirky detective stories from Britain's best sci-fi writer and author of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Douglas Adams. Dirk Gently is a detective -- well, a sort of detective. There is a long and honourable tradition of great detectives and Dirk Gently does not belong to it. Dirk Gently calls himself a 'holistic detective' and above all, he believes in 'the interconnectedness of all things'. Sherlock Holmes observed that once you have eliminated the impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Dirk Gently, however, does not like to eliminate the impossible. In Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency a simple search for a missing cat reveals two ghosts, a dodo, an Electric Monk, the devastating secret that lies behind the whole of human history and threatens to bring it to a premature close, and, finally, the utterly terrifying reason why Richard MacDuff has had a sofa stuck on his stairs for three weeks. As The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul opens, a passenger check-in desk at Heathrow Airport shoots up through the roof engulfed in a ball of orange flames. The usual people try to claim responsibility. However, no rational cause can be found for the explosion - it was simply designated an act of God. But, thinks Dirk Gently, which God? And why? What God would be hanging around Terminal Two of Heathrow Airport trying to catch the 15.37 to Oslo? In these two delightfully odd detective stories, Adams explores once again the realm of the unknown, in the style of science fiction that brought him fame with The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.… (more)
Member:marcusstafford
Title:The Dirk Gently Omnibus
Authors:Douglas Adams (Author)
Info:William Heinemann (2001), 512 pages
Collections:Your library
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Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency / The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams (Author) (1994)

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» See also 22 mentions

Showing 5 of 5
DNF @ pg 66 i just... couldn't make myself care. i love douglas adams and i loved thhgttg but... wow. i just can't get into the story. well, this one is the first DNF of the year.
  cthuwu | Jul 28, 2021 |
I was super unfamiliar with this work (I knew it had been made into a TV show but didn't watch it before I read this,) but I loved Hitchhiker's Guide and thought maybe this was going to be a funny twist on the noir genre. I wouldn't call it exactly that, though it is pretty funny. I found the first one (it's a two-book set, if that wasn't clear) a little difficult to get into, which is common for me, but the build up took a while. Once I kind of figured out the pattern, though, it got a lot easier and I found more time for it to be funny. It wasn't as laugh-out-loud funny for me as Hitchhikers but it was sort of wry and dry in a similar fashion, and the tone felt familiar enough that I still really did enjoy it. ( )
  aijmiller | Nov 9, 2018 |
I've only read the first Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book, but I've read both Dirk Gently novels and for some odd reason, I love them more than the HHG.

Don't get me wrong. HHG is great. I fell in love with Adams when I read it.

But there is some kind of genius behind Dirk Gently, especially in the first novel "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency." You have to pay attention in this book because EVERYTHING MATTERS. And it's not hard to pay attention because every word of it is engaging and funny and out there while still somehow managing to stay grounded in a semblance of reality. It's not quite as out there as HHG because it mostly takes place in England, and I think the balance between realism and fantastic is finely wrought. If you have no idea why something is there, you will, and it won't matter to you how long it takes to get to that knowledge because so many amazing things are happening meanwhile.

"The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul" is also a very good book, and it brings in some mythology which always hits my "awesome" button. Everything matters in this book as well. And I just have to say: Coke machine.

But I have to be honest and say the first is my absolute favorite.

For anyone who likes to laugh: READ THESE BOOKS! ( )
1 vote thewannabeknight | Jul 19, 2011 |
This books contains "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" and "The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul". I enjoyed reading both of these again. As books in some ways these are better than Adams' better known Hitchikers books. ( )
1 vote mgreenla | Jun 8, 2008 |
This is the book that introduced me to Douglas Adams. I got this from a coffee shop that sells some used books, because I recognized his name from Neil Gaiman's blog. I'm so glad I did! The book is hilarious, even ridiculous, and so much fun to read! It made me laugh out loud in several parts, and I thoroughly enjoyed the two novels. ( )
1 vote thioviolight | Mar 20, 2007 |
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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Adams, DouglasAuthorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Greathead, IanCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Papadopoulos, GusCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Plosica, Kathryn W.Designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Two quirky detective stories from Britain's best sci-fi writer and author of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Douglas Adams. Dirk Gently is a detective -- well, a sort of detective. There is a long and honourable tradition of great detectives and Dirk Gently does not belong to it. Dirk Gently calls himself a 'holistic detective' and above all, he believes in 'the interconnectedness of all things'. Sherlock Holmes observed that once you have eliminated the impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Dirk Gently, however, does not like to eliminate the impossible. In Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency a simple search for a missing cat reveals two ghosts, a dodo, an Electric Monk, the devastating secret that lies behind the whole of human history and threatens to bring it to a premature close, and, finally, the utterly terrifying reason why Richard MacDuff has had a sofa stuck on his stairs for three weeks. As The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul opens, a passenger check-in desk at Heathrow Airport shoots up through the roof engulfed in a ball of orange flames. The usual people try to claim responsibility. However, no rational cause can be found for the explosion - it was simply designated an act of God. But, thinks Dirk Gently, which God? And why? What God would be hanging around Terminal Two of Heathrow Airport trying to catch the 15.37 to Oslo? In these two delightfully odd detective stories, Adams explores once again the realm of the unknown, in the style of science fiction that brought him fame with The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

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