Books by Michael Dirda
Michael Dirda is a Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and longtime book columnist for The Washington Post. He is the author of several collections of essays as well as the memoir An Open Book. A lifelong Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle fan, he was inducted into the Baker Street Irregulars group in 2002.
On Conan Doyle
by Michael Dirda
“To write my own book I read almost all of Arthur Conan Doyle. There were a few of his books I didn’t get to – some of the spiritualist tracts, for instance, that he wrote in his later years. I drew on the letters, of course, but also his essays and memoirs, the Sherlockian scholarship of the Baker Street Irregulars, various biographies. I naturally touch on the many films and stage plays and pastiches that employ the great detective.
In short, I aimed to distil a lot of information about Conan Doyle’s writings and the full range of Sherlockian activities into an easy-going, highly personal short book. If I have any talent at all as a writer, it lies in conveying real enthusiasm about the authors I love. I certainly hope people enjoy my book for itself but also use it as a means to better appreciate the Sherlock Holmes stories and as a gateway to Conan Doyle’s other work.”
Interviews with Michael Dirda
The Best Sherlock Holmes Books, recommended by Michael Dirda
Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 56 short stories and four novels starring his fictional sleuth. Michael Dirda – Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, writer and lifelong Sherlockian – gives us his personal choice of the best Sherlock Holmes books and tells us more about their creator.
