Fish, Robert L., (The Incredible Schlock Homes: 12 Stories from Bagel Street) [hc, Simon & Schuster, 1965-66] 978-9997533999 [pb, Avon Books, 1976] 978-0380006366
United Kingdom · Fiction author
Robert L. Fish
Robert L. Fish (1912–1981, born in Cleveland, OH, died in Trumbull, CT) was an American writer of crime and mystery fiction, known for his clever plots and authentic settings. He authored numerous short-story parodies of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes in a series called Schlock Homes, incorporating a distinct Jewish and Yiddish subtext primarily through wordplay, setting, and nomenclature. The stories are all set in England, mainly in London. [Google/AI]. [Note: See also the James Bond parodies of Sol Weinstein in the U.S. crime fiction Bibliography]
Jewish Elements in the Schlock Homes Series
Bagel Street: Instead of the canonical 221B Baker Street, Homes and his companion Dr. Watney reside at 211B Bagel Street.
The Protagonist’s Name: The name ”Schlock” is derived from the Yiddish word shlak, meaning something of poor quality or “junk,” immediately signaling the satirical and “low-rent” nature of the detective’s deductions.
The “Bagel Street Regulars”: In a nod to Holmes’s “Baker Street Irregulars,” Homes is assisted by a group called the Bagel Street Regulars.
Humor and Perspective: The series is frequently described as having a Yiddish perspective, using Jewish humor—characterized by irony, absurdity, and self-deprecation—to deconstruct the logic of the original Conan Doyle stories.
Puns and Wordplay: Fish uses Yiddish-inflected humor to name secondary characters and villains, such as Inspector Balustrade (a pun on Lestrade) and Professor Marty (a pun on Moriarty).
Publication History: The stories originally appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine starting in 1959 and were later collected as follows: [Google/AI]
Fish, Robert L., (The Memoirs of Schlock Homes: a Bagel Street dozen) [hc, Bobbs-Merrill, 1974] 978-0672519871 [pb, Avon, 1975] 978-0380003679
Fish, Robert L., (Schlock Homes: The Complete Bagel Street Saga [hc, Gaslight Publications, 1990]) 978-0934468169