Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle

An interesting book about a fascinating and enigmatic man. Enigmatic because it is difficult to understand how a mind that could create Sherlock Holmes, the ultra-clinical, ultra-sceptical detective, could also believe in fairies, table-tapping, "voices from beyond," and pretty much any other mystical twaddle that came his way. This book, however, goes some way to reconciling these polar opposites, explaining how Scottish good sense prevented Doyle from using Holmes as a mouthpiece for his Spiritualist agenda, while placing that agenda in the context of Doyle's personal grief at losing his son in the Great War.

As it was the author's intention to emphasise the period in which Doyle's Spiritualist beliefs came to dominate his life, this show more biography may not be for those looking for a personification of the Great Detective. For balance, The Secret Life of Houdini by William Kalush and Larry Sloman is a cracking read, telling the story of how the escapologist and Doyle became first close friends, and then bitter enemies as Houdini carried out his crusade to expose fake (aren't they all?) Spiritualist mediums. show less

The author is himself a novelist and knows how to tell a good story. And, let's face it, Conan Doyle's life is a good story. This is perhaps the most readable biography of him since John Dickson Carr's, and of course it pays proper attention to his literary career, neither downplaying nor over-emphasising his major achievement, Sherlock Holmes. In addition, the book acknowledges the central place of Spiritualism in Conan Doyle's later life, rather than trying to ignore it, as some have done.
Alas, like all his predecessors since Pierre Nordon, Mr Stashower has been denied access to the Conan Doyle papers; until they are made available the definitive biography cannot be written. The best studies of Arthur Conan Doyle are the two that show more deal with specific periods of his earlier life: Owen Dudley Edwards' The Quest for Sherlock Holmes and Geoffrey Stavert's A Study in Southsea. These, of course, are necessarily incomplete.
Meanwhile, Teller of Tales is an admirable account, very attractively presented, of a man who achieved remarkable things - the most remarkable being something he considered trivial.
Reviewed by: Roger Johnson, [District Messenger 198, 2000] show less

Reviewed by Roger Johnson, [District Messenger 198, 2000] The author is himself a novelist and knows how to tell a good story. And, let's face it, Conan Doyle's life is a good story. This is perhaps the most readable biography of him since John Dickson Carr's, and of course it pays proper attention to his literary career, neither downplaying nor over-emphasising his major achievement, Sherlock Holmes. In addition, the book acknowledges the central place of Spiritualism in Conan Doyle's later life, rather than trying to ignore it, as some have done.
Alas, like all his predecessors since Pierre Nordon, Mr Stashower has been denied access to the Conan Doyle papers; until they are made available the definitive biography cannot be written. show more The best studies of Arthur Conan Doyle are the two that deal with specific periods of his earlier life: Owen Dudley Edwards' The Quest for Sherlock Holmes and Geoffrey Stavert's A Study in Southsea. These, of course, are necessarily incomplete.
Meanwhile, Teller of Tales is an admirable account, very attractively presented, of a man who achieved remarkable things - the most remarkable being something he considered trivial. show less