If this title does not speak to you, then perhaps this book is not for you. I loved it.

My partner insisted that I read this book. It isn't my usual cup of tea and it took a while for me to really get into the story. But in the end the whimsical and comedic writing of the late Douglas Adams won me over. Now I'm sad that Mr. Adams passed before he was able to finish the sequel. I would love to be able to accompany Dirk Gently on another impossible adventure, I might have to check out the first book to feature the holistic detective, although my partner has said it isn't as whimsical as this one. I like whimsy. Overall I enjoyed this book.

Dirk Gently is a "holistic detective" who makes use of "the fundamental interconnectedness of all things" to solve the whole crime, and find the whole person. He bills for everything but claims that he cannot be considered to have ripped anybody off, because none of his clients ever pay him. I can't speak for the first book, since I read out of order, but he certainly doesn't get paid in this one.

I so wanted to give this book five stars. I love Douglas Adams' humor, and his Hitchhiker's series will always be one of my favorites and a go-to. This, however, fell flat after the first half. The set up was pure Adams' British humor. Ridiculousness for ridiculousness' sake, but then when we get to a point where things must be explained it just falls apart.

It seems the Dirk books are about seemingly unconnected narrative threads eventually meeting up and becoming connected, but that didn't happen here. There is an ending of sorts. This was about Thor and Odin, Norse Gods, who have been misplaced and have lost, not only their powers, but also their marbles! Adams attempt to pull the threads together simply caused more confusion for me and the novel felt very unfinished.

I think there are parts of this book that could be read alone as an example of Adams' genius, but the novel, taken as a whole, was not successful. I will still read the first because I am a bit of a completest and it was a mistake on my part to read out of order, but I won't be expecting much.

Once again, rather than attempt to describe the latest of holistic detective Dirk Gently's adventures, I will instead present a selection of completely random quotes from the book. They really have nothing to do with each other, but I like them.

"It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression 'As pretty as an airport.'
Airports are ugly. Some are very ugly. Some attain a degree of ugliness that can only be the result of a special effort. This ugliness arises because airports are full of people who are tired, cross, and have just discovered that their luggage has landed in Murmansk (Murmansk airport is the only known exception to this otherwise infallible rule), and architects have on the whole tried to reflect this in their designs."

"Perhaps it would save time if he went back to get his car, but then again it was only a short distance, and he had a tremendous propensity for getting lost when driving. This was largely because of his 'Zen' method of navigation, which was simply to find any car that looked as if it knew where it was going and follow it. The results were more often surprising than successful, but he felt it was worth it for the sake of the few occasions when it was both."

"Confuse your enemy, he thought. It was a little like phoning somebody up, and saying 'Yes? Hello?' in a testy voice when they answered, which was one of Dirk's favorite methods of whiling away long, hot summer afternoons."

Oh, Douglas Adams. Shine on, you crazy diamond.

As a fan of Douglas Adams, you have a high appetite for the craziness and near impossible randomness. The book is ok on humor and creativity but I felt let down as a complete book.

Unbeatable premise - A bombing at an airport with no casualty deemed (rightly so) "An act of God". The immortal Gods have entered into a contract with a lawyer and advertiser (humans) and humans have extracted their pound of flesh by taking away the Godliness. Thor who is the only God who is still trying to care, in the process gets banished. Throw in an angry eagle, a coca-cola vending machine, an unopened refrigerator and a hot-potato. Gently ends up solving the case for 'Gods sake'.

Neil Gaiman apparently shared this as an inspiration for his American Gods. You accept Dirk Gently, Holistic private investigator, who believes in not eliminating the impossible and believes in the basic interconnectedness of things. But the book, seems like a well laid book wrapped up in a hurry. The last chapters which had all the action were abrupt as if he was working against a deadline.

All in all, the book was a twilight book of Douglas Adams - neither here nor there and a little glum.

Unlike his “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” series (a collection of humorous vignettes without much of a plot, continuity, or character development), Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently series (two novels and some sketches for a third one, included in the “Salmon of Doubt”) is in fact literature of the first degree. In the second novel, “The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul,” Dirk Gently, a private “holistic” investigator (an eccentric slob, perpetually broke, capricious, silly, and wonderfully insightful), while minding his client’s (Kate, a somewhat confused gal from New York) interests, unravels a pseudo-conspiracy involving the Norse gods (all of them), in which the gods are the victims.

Employing his own special methods (which differ from Sherlock Holmes’ methods in that Dirk has a soft spot for the impossible and does not like to dismiss it), Dirk manages to a) side with the gods b) save them c) punish the guilty d) help his client e) end up broke again. The last bit is fine by him (in the previous novel, he sent a bill to a client of his, whose missing cat he was supposed to find, with just one item on it, “Saving the Universe. No charge”).

Laced with Adams’ trademark humor, this novel certainly puts its author in the same category with Mark Twain, Chekhov, and Maupassant. I’m not exaggerating.

I’ve read this book before. I love Douglas Adams’s work, but I had always remembered this one as being lesser Adams. Rereading it, I was reminded of just how incredibly funny he was as an author. And while I will always rank Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency among my favorite books of all time, this follow up novel deserves more credit than I had given it in the past. It made me laugh continuously throughout, even if I find the story to be less complex than the first in the series.

I have yet to see or hear a coherent explanation why American Gods breaks records, whereas this gem, which even Gaiman himself I think would agree is in quite a higher league, never did make a splash. Just because it's not set in America? That would be pathetic.

After the surprisingly disappointing first novel, I was relieved to find this more palatable though far from the classic Adams-esque work that I remember it being.
There is more to love here, Dirk Gently is actually in the novel most of the time, unlike the first book. He feels more comfortable and things are generally funnier and move along at a nice pace. The story itself is almost as wanting as that of the previous novel. There's some stuff about Thor and Odin being mad at him or Thor being mad at Odin. There's some goblin or something and a weird contract between Odin and some other villain or something who shows up literally in the last few pages. So, story-wise it isn't very good. In fact, the story is pretty abysmal. The stars above are recognition that it is, in fact, a very funny book in places and Dirk Gently a promising and bizarre protagonist for a kind of latter-day PoMo Sherlock Holmes sort of series.
Would I recommend this over Hitchhiker's? No way.

Basic Plot: Dirk Gently investigates an "act of God" that leaves him wondering which god was behind it.

Not as funny as the first book, but definitely just as interesting, especially with the addition of the Asgardian gods. This book may have been my first real introduction to that pantheon, and colored my reading of a lot of books as I expanded my literary knowledge. I think I need to re-read this one soon.

"'You are an extremely inquisitive and presumptuous young lady,' exclaimed Dirk.

'And you,' said Sally Mills, 'are very strange.'

'Only,' said Dirk, 'as strange as I need to be.'" (86)

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"'Immortals are what you wanted, said Thor in a low, quiet voice. 'Immortals are what you got. It is a little hard on us. You wanted us to be for ever, so we are for ever. Then you forget about us. But still we are for ever. Now at last, many are dead, many dying,' he then added in quiet voice, 'but it takes a special effort.'" (176)

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I first read this book many years ago and - due to the one bonus of advancing age - remembered nothing about it. This is supposed to be Douglas' "worst" book but I beg to differ. I really enjoyed it, and it's sad that Dirk Gently never got more adventures.

Predating Neil Gaiman's American Gods, it nevertheless shares a similar idea: of the old gods still lingering in the modern world, fading for lack of belief.

Dirk Gently, a private detective with a rumpled, buffoonish exterior that disguises a sharp mind, is a "holistic" detective who believes in the "interconnectednesss of all things". Things tend to happen around him, and he bumbles around from strand to strand until he gets himself caught firmly and can finally see the whole sticky web, being in danger (and a danger to himself) the whole while.

Dirk is hired to protect a client from an unlikely supernatural threat but he (in typical fashion) oversleeps and the client ends up dead, with a contract stating he sold something - presumably his soul - in an unknown language.

Meanwhile, practical no-nonsense Kate Schechter experiences an actual "Act of God" - she's behind Thor at the airport check-in desk when he gets frustrated and loses his temper. Curious but skeptical, she can't leave it alone and knows she's not crazy.

Eventually, Dirk's meandering rambling path crosses with Kate's determined one, and that of Odin-the-All-Father, who just wants to stay in the comfortable nursing home of his choice.

Delightfully entertaining and clever, this stands up well despite its age! Dirk is definitely a love him or loathe him kind of guy, but I know which side I'm on :)

I recently re-read Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency and realized it was not as good as I remembered so I approached my re-read of Tea Time with some trepidation. I remember loving this book, really loving it. Perhaps it might be better not to read it again.

I'm happy to report that for me, the book holds up. It's funny, it's weird, it has Norse gods. I love it and it remains one of my favorite books of all time.

I was also reacquainted with a paragraph that I remember fondly from reading this book long ago:

"Yes, it is true," he was saying, "that sometimes unusually intelligent and sensitive children can appear to be stupid. But, Mrs. Benson, stupid children can sometimes appear to be stupid as well. I think that's something you might have to consider. I know it's very painful, yes. Good day Mrs. Benson."