Did You Know?: Steven Doyle and Sherlock Holmes
Steven Doyle, video producer in the department of Agricultural Communication, has shared his Holmesian know-how in the book "Sherlock Holmes for Dummies."
Since receiving a copy of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" at the age of 14, Steven Doyle has been mesmerized by the fictional detective. Doyle, a video producer in the department of Agricultural Communication, was asked to share his Holmesian know-how in the book "Sherlock Holmes for Dummies."
Wiley Publishing Inc. suggested that Doyle, the publisher of The Baker Street Journal -- the premier publication of scholarship about Sherlock Holmes -- compile a "For Dummies" book from stories, film, radio, television and mock scholarship and history on the subject.
"Sherlock Holmes isn't just confined to the stories themselves," Doyle says. "He was one of the first literary characters to be made into a film character. He was one of the first subjects of the first live television broadcast in 1948. There is an enormous amount of 'writings about the writings' that people engage in as an intellectual exercise."
Having edited books from small press and written and published The Sherlock Holmes Review in the '80s, Doyle wrote the 348-page book for newcomers and aficionados alike.
"There is something about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson that's absolutely unique in all of literature. There are no literary characters that are so compelling," Doyle says. "People think they're real, and they've really gone on to overshadow the author."
Sherlock Holmes' creator, Arthur Conan Doyle, wrote 56 short stories and four novels about the detective. In "Sherlock Holmes for Dummies," Doyle hopes to counter the clichés surrounding the character that have been adopted in pop culture.
"Even if people haven't read the stories, everyone knows who the character is. Whether it’s his hat, pipe or just his name, people know something about Holmes," Doyle says. "They know the clichés too like he's old, he's stuffy, he has an old friend who is stupid. All of those are wrong, though. I want people to move past these clichés and realize that the character isn't what everyone probably thinks he is."
"Sherlock Holmes for Dummies," published in 2010, has been nominated in the best critical biography category for the Edgar Awards, the top honors of the mystery genre, and in best nonfiction for the Agatha Awards. Doyle will attend both ceremonies at the end of April.
