Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters. Edited by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower, Charles Foley - Softcover

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan

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9780007247608: Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters. Edited by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower, Charles Foley

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007247605 ISBN 13: 9780007247608

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2008

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Paperback. Pub Date :2008-07-07 Pages: 700 Language: English Publisher: HarperCollins UK A collection of letters between Arthur Conan Doyle (author and creator of Sherlock Holmes) and his mother. covering most of his life. written between 1867 and the year of her death in 1921.Doyle was raised almost solely by his mother in Dickensian circumstances. (his father latterly suffered from dipsomania and epilepsy and so spent much of his later life in asylums). Since Sherlock Holmess inception in 1887. he has been one of the best-known and widely read literary characters. and the subject of more radio and television shows and motion pictures than any other fictional character in history. Although Doyle and his Holmes continue to be much written about. talked about and adapted. this is the first time that this material. along with other personal papers. has ever been made available...

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About the Author:

Jon Lellenbergis the editor of The Quest for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and is the Conan Doyle estate’s U.S. representative. Daniel Stashower is the author of the Edgar Award–winning Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle. Charles Foley is the great-nephew of Arthur Conan Doyle and is the present executor of the Conan Doyle estate. He lives in Sussex, UK. All three are members of the Baker Street Irregulars, a club of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts founded in 1934.

From Publishers Weekly:

Starred Review. This fascinating collection of previously unpublished letters from the creator of Sherlock Holmes offers a revealing glimpse of a Renaissance man fated to be overshadowed by his most famous character. Beginning with correspondence from Doyle as an eight-year-old in 1867, the editors offer a warts-and-all picture of his life until 1920, 10 years before his death, covering the author's frank accounts of life at a boarding school, his struggles as a young doctor and aspiring writer, and his political advocacy. Those seeking insights into the creation of Holmes may be disappointed; while Doyle's ambivalence toward Holmes is well known, this collection reveals the extent to which he viewed his character principally as a source of income rather than a lasting legacy. The editors—Doyle experts Lellenberg and Stashower, and Doyle's great-nephew Foley—have nicely balanced the content: the letters reveal Doyle's stiff upper lip when he lost a son during the Great War, and his sense of humor, as in a hilarious report to his mother on the birth of his daughter Mary. This will be essential reading for all fans of Conan Doyle and his sleuth. (Andrew Lycett's biography of Conan Doyle, The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes, is due from the Free Press this fall.) Illus. (Nov. 1)
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