Bill PeschelRezensionen

This was a moderately fun, easy, quick read. Mostly just a list of gossip and 'dirt' on various writers - authors, playwrights, essayists, and the people surrounding them. From some of the old stories we've all heard to some new ones, and from the 'lofty writers' to the 'lowliest writers'. There's not a ton to it, but its an easy entertaining read.

Local author too, did much of his research at the Hershey Public Library, so thats kinda cool too. (The library copy I borrowed was even signed by the author.)

There are certainly some astonishing real life stories in here. The book is an easy read with a conversational style. The style is perhaps a little too mild, though. All the anecdotes feel the same, despite how racy, dangerous or horrifying they should be. And the very occasional f or c bomb feels decidedly out of place instead of expected. Could have been a lot more entertaining, but it is still a most interesting read.

This was a moderately fun, easy, quick read. Mostly just a list of gossip and 'dirt' on various writers - authors, playwrights, essayists, and the people surrounding them. From some of the old stories we've all heard to some new ones, and from the 'lofty writers' to the 'lowliest writers'. There's not a ton to it, but its an easy entertaining read.

Local author too, did much of his research at the Hershey Public Library, so thats kinda cool too. (The library copy I borrowed was even signed by the author.)

I was excited to receive an autographed copy of this one! It was the best kind of fate that I accidentally caught the first BBC episode of Sherlock when it originally aired. I loved it instantly (watched it twice, back to back) and I've been working through all of the Sherlock books. It has taken me a while to get to this one for review, with so many other books on deck, as I at least wanted to finish reading 'The Hound of the Baskervilles.'

Punch magazine was a weekly British satire/humor/political magazine running from the mid 19th century to their final issue in 2002. This book collects everything Arthur Conan Doyle related (mostly Sherlock) published in Punch magazine during Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's lifetime. Contained within are kooky parody stories from other writers (mainly Wodehouse and R.C. Lehmann), cartoons, reviews, and a story published from ACD himself. Supposedly Punch magazine even helped coin the term "cartoon". The short stories are sometimes too short to have much of a plot. My favorite pieces are the poem celebrating Sherlock's "resurrection" and the amazing cartoon featuring Sherlock and his creator. There are other volumes in Peschel's series featuring other years. Peschel's series is a fun collection to have on the shelf beside Arthur Conan Doyle's work -- a real glimpse into the reception of his writing. What I found most informative are the helpful footnotes, all of them necessary and should not be skipped. I laughed at the imagine of ACD, Jerome K. Jerome and J.M Barrie playing on the same cricket team. Who knew so many writers are also athletic? Peschel does a great job researching and collecting these together as I don't think Sherlock and Watson's fans will disappear anytime soon.

To err is to be human, or after reading this book, to err is to be a writer. That said, this book demonstrates that writers really are just that: all to horribly human, and often in the worst possible conotation of the word. I'll admit I started this book amused by the crazy wild behavior of these writers, many classical writers that have helped guide and shake our culture for hundreds of years, and by the end of the book i was absolutely horrified. its like one bad reality television shoe flung throughout hundreds of years of history...that said, like a deer caught in the headlights, its hard to look away from this book. a lot of the stories are really funny, and it is certainly a good read, though certainly not for the faint of the heart, and i wouldn't urge any highschool students to meet their favorite authors this way. wow. i think that really says it all?

A fun read. I always knew authors were a special breed, but some of these stories are really outrageous.½

I'm a bit biased since I wrote the book, so even though it's not out until November, I'm happy to recommend it to all of my Goodreads friends who are interested in true, strange, sad and sometimes funny stories drawn from the lives of famous writers.