01-25-12 : Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger Perform 'A Study in Sherlock' Holmes as Archetype and Inspiration As the 21st century evolves into an electronic version of the Victorian era, it comes as no surprise that Sherlock Holmes remains as popular and as relevant as ever. Doyle's original stories have aged well. They're still fresh and exciting, written with verve and nerve. The problem is that Doyle himself only authored sixty works, and his story-hungry future cannot seem to get enough of the character. But by now Holmes has become something more than a mere character; he's become an archetype and an inspiration. The canon has inspired Leslie S. Klinger's 'New Annotated Sherlock Holmes,' which has set the standard for Holmesian scholarship. Laurie R. King's Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novels represent the best fiction that is both inspired by the Holmes canon and includes Holmes himself. Recent Commentary • Archive Review: Neal Asher 'The Skinner' : The Balm of Violent Ecology • Sara Paretsky Nails 'Breakdown' : The Machine Stops • Téa Obreht Conjures 'The Tiger's Wife' : The Grammar of Vision • Commentary Archive

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What is The Agony Column?

"He took down the great book in which, day by day, he filed the agony columns of the various London journals. "Dear me!" said he, turning over the pages, "what a chorus of groans, cries, and bleatings! What a rag-bag of singular happenings! But surely the most valuable hunting-ground that ever was given to a student of the unusual!"

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Red Circle