Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adamsby Douglas Adams
Shares rank 31 of 122 novels by recommenders
Recommended as an odd, charming detective story that people enjoy rereading, with the original book named as the best version.
Recommended as an odd, charming detective story that people enjoy rereading, with the original book named as the best version.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Called great and charming
“Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was so great”
Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “'Murderbot' review: This sci-fi show is the best new comedy of 2025” “that very odd, charming, detective show”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “Six-decade math puzzle solved by Korean mathematician” Strongly recommended, especially the original
“I learned this from Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency , which I strongly recommend.”
Comment from 9 Sep 2026 in “Claude, change the “Add to Cart” button to blue” “I highly recommend going to the original”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “Six-decade math puzzle solved by Korean mathematician”
Other novels people recommend
The four most recommended other novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime and Punishmentby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 39 | 9 | 81% | 6 | — | Approved |
| The Brothers Karamazovby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 28 | 8 | 78% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Infinite Jestby David Foster Wallace | 26 | 5 | 84% | 9 | 10 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott Fitzgerald | 24 | 9 | 73% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agencyby Douglas AdamsThis page | 6 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
5 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“The Hitchhiker's and Dirk Gently's trilogies a few times.”
“I learned this from Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency , which I strongly recommend.”
“I highly recommend going to the original”
“that very odd, charming, detective show”
“Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was so great”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.