‘Sherlock Holmes was Wrong’ review

The Los Angeles Times just reviewed “Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong,” the new hardcover deconstruction of “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” The author, psychoanalyst Pierre Bayard, uses Holmes’ own methods on the text itself, questioning everything that is presented in the story, including the testimony of our good doctor himself.
With wit and careful analysis, Bayard makes [...]

Let the lists begin: Best mysteries of 2008, part 1

Seattle Times columnist Adam Woog, who specializes in crime fiction, has just published an exhaustive list of his picks for the best mystery fiction of 2008. Among the many titles chosen is the latest Adam Dagliesh book from P.D. James, the new Rebus novel from Ian Rankin, and an honorable mention for what must be [...]

Excerpt: “The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes”

Wall Street Journal recently ran a rather lengthy excerpt from the new book, The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes, written by Andrew Lycett. The excerpt focuses on the events leading up to and culminating in the birth of the boy that would eventually grow up to be Sir Arthur.
Such professional brickbats did little to boost [...]

Holmes is where the heart is

The Philadelphia Inquirer just ran a nice story on a handful of local Sherlockian groups, some hardcore, others free-spirited and focused on the fun aspects of reading the canon.
“I do see them as influential,” Anderson said of the stories. “The idea that by observation and thought we can discover the truth is really powerful. [...]

Jeremy Brett/Edward Hardwicke Interview

It’s always fascinating to see Brett out of character … it’s a reminder of just how much he inhabited the role of Holmes, to see how “wrong” it feels when he is himself! It’s also very tough to get used to the sight of him with an earring …

Self-imposed blog exile roughly half-over

Hi friends, just letting you know that my self-imposed exile from reading/blogging about Sherlock is about half over. Ever since the final Harry Potter book was published, it seems you can’t swing a seven-percent solution of polyjuice potion without hitting some newspaper article about how much Holmes and Potter have in common. And I just [...]

The ups and downs of bringing back dead characters

There’s been all sorts of talk about whether or not a certain young wizard is going to be dispatched on July 20th at midnight. And in all of that talk, there have been numerous comparisons to the death of a certain famous sleuth, a death that turned out to be greatly exaggerated.
It’s probably a good [...]

The Sherlock Holmes serenity prayer

Got a big smile out of this one, courtesy of the very eclectic blog TexasBestGrok:
[1] Grant me, O spirit of Reason, matter for Deduction, Intuition, and Analysis; plenty of three-pipe problems, that I may avoid the cowardice of seven percent cocaine, or at least substitute something a little special in white wines.
[2] Grant me newspapers, [...]