I was at the dentist a few weeks ago to get a filling. I mentioned that I really loved detective novels, especially those with great writing and characters. He asked me if I had ever read any Nero Wolf. My answer was, “Who is Nero Wolf?” The dentist went upstairs (the office is in his basement), and found six paperbacks for me. “Here, read these, and come back for some more when you’re done.”
I started reading them, and I get lost in them. The stories and writing are so 1940’s, but they really are good. I can’t get enough.
The thing I like best about Rex Stout’s Nero and Archie is that they stay the same age. From pre-World War II to post Watergate, they remain approximately 50 and 30. This was a stroke of literary genius.
Agreed. I discovered those books when I was a teenager, I think, and I still enjoy them. It’s not just Nero and Archie, though. The secondary characters like Saul Panzer, Lily, Fritz, and Theodore are also well drawn. Lily is a remarkable woman.
One of these days I’m going to have to sort through things, see if I have a complete set, and, if I don’t, fill in the gaps.
Lucky you! You get to experience the joy of discovering new (that is, yet to be read) Nero Wolfe books.
I don’t know which titles you’ve read, but here’s a quick overview of the Wolfe corpus:
The first Nero Wolfe novel, Fer-de-Lance, was published in 1934; the last novel, A Family Affair, was published in 1975. The first book introduces Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin as an established team. Although it is often said that the characters don’t age throughout the series, I’m not sure that is strictly true. Archie definitely matures and grows through the first part of the corpus, maybe up until World War II. In the early books Archie is more thuggish, more the hard-boiled detective of the 1930s, and definitely an employee. In the later books he is much more urbane and sophisticated, and more Wolfe’s partner than his employee. Plus, Rex Stout once wrote a memo where he described Archie as not older than 34. I think he started with a late 20s Archie, aged/matured him until he’d gotten him just where he wanted him.
Anyway, the stories are mostly stand alones, that can be read in any order without suffering from having missed any earlier action. There are a few exceptions, though. And Be a Villain, The Second Confession, and *In the Best Families * should be read in that order if possible. These are often known as the Zeck books, and record Wolfe’s encounters with baddie Arnold Zeck. A Right to Die, published in 1964, is something of a sequel to Too Many Cooks, from 1938. Paul Whipple, a witness from TMC, a college student at the time, is now grown up with a grown child of his own and approaches Wolfe for help in getting his son out of a jam in A Right to Die. It’s kind of weird that Paul Whipple has aged 27 years, but Wolfe and Archie are virtually unaged. Note the difference in Archie’s atttitude toward negroes from the earlier book to the latter. Finally, put off reading A Family Affair * for as long as possible. This was the final book written, and once you’ve read it you will never look at some of the supporting cast the same way again. While AFA * is not really a sequel to Death of a Doxy, they are often looked upon as companion pieces.
For more information on Nero Wolfe and Rex Stout. be sure to visit The Wolfe Pack. Enjoy your visits with Wolfe anf Archie!
I love the Wolfe novels. I still chuckle when I think of Wolfe tearing pages out of a dictionary and burning them because the editors included what he considered a sub-literate word form (or definition or something).
There are several Nero Wolfe books on audio, which I’ve listened to quite a bit. Most are pretty good, and many (from various companies) are unabridged. The TV series that Timothy Hutton produced and starred in (as Archie) is pretty good, too.
I don’t like all the Nero Wolfe’s I’ve read , and I haven’t read all of them by any means.
In the 1980s and 1990s Robert Goldsborough wrote a series of Nero Wolfe novels, bringing the character into what was then the present day. Despite the fact that he shares the same name as a sappy singer, his books are pretty good, and he tries to do his best to imtitate and continue Rex Stout, but something’s missing.
IMO the earlier ones, from the 30s and 40s are best, and that as the years go on, they get more formulaic.
Some Buried Caesar for some reason is my all-time favorite. Especially the bit about the chicken fricassee. “…and I marveled at the hellish disposition that could have driven him away…”
Also Lily Rowan leaning on the fence addressing Archie as “Escamillo”. These are people I’d like to hang out with. Except that they probly wouldn’t let me, as I’m nowhere near kewl enough; I’d have to hang wistfully on the sidelines, like Steve Buscemi.
I’ve always been partial to “antelope legs” and the what Archie said to get Lily to say that (I’m working from memory, so please bear with me), “I said you looked like an antelope in a field of Guernseys.”
My brother thought I should have a well rounded education, so he made sure I read all the Nero Wolfe and Ellery Queen and Doc Savage there was. I’m in the process of re-reading many of them now…they still are so good.
Wow, I never thought there were others out there still reading these. I’m hoping the dentist is able to find more when I’m done with what he gave me. He thinks he can, but his wife wasn’t so sure.
Can you name a major mystery writer of the 30s or 40s for whom this wasn’t true?
No, it didn’t. It was a descriptive dictionary that said that people used these words interchangeably. It was the first major dictionary to be descriptive rather than prescriptive, doing away with all the pejoratives that used to accompany non-standard words. All dictionaries since have followed in its path.
I’ve read all the Nero Wolfe books several times. Perhaps that’s why I got burnt out on them. Except for a few interesting standouts, he wrote the same book over and over and his plotting wasn’t near the level of the other major writers. As the dictionary episode shows, he and Archie were relics of the past and that became acutely embarrassing by the last few novels.
The Doorbell Rang is perhaps the best. It was a truly courageous book to write when J. Edgar Hoover was still alive and so powerful that he terrified presidents. Stout actually had a large FBI file and documents later showed that the Bureau tried to retaliate against him for the book.
Although many liked the Nero Wolfe series on A&E a few years back, I’ve always thought that the only movie version ever to capture Wolfe was the 1977 Thayer David Nero Wolfe film based on The Doorbell Rang. Unfortunately, David died before the film could be aired and it came and went in an instant and never gets seen today.
I listened to one (Too many cooks, I think) on AudioBook and enjoyed it, but haven’t tried to find more. Some of this was due to my discomfort with language which was much more acceptable at the time the book was written than it is today (referring to Italians and maybe Polish people). Mostly, though, I’m just lazier about seeking older materials out than I am about seeking new materials.
I’ve been on a major Nero Wolfe kick for the past 6 months or so. My first exposure to Wolfe was the A&E television series, then that ended and Wolfe kind of fell off my radar. The I was browsing a bookstore one day, remembered the show, and decided to give Fer-de-Lance a shot. Instant addiction! I’ve been plowing through the books ever since - I’ve probably read about 12-15 in the last 6 months.
I also ordered the complete Nero Wolfe DVD set, and I watched them all. I think they did a fantastic job on that show capturing both the details and the spirit of the books. Timothy Hutton is perfect as Archie, and Maury Chaykin as Wolfe also. Great job casting the supporting roles and, if you haven’t seen it, they had a “repertory” company of actors playing the various one-time characters for each episode. Very fun concept. Kari Matchett, in particular, plays lots of the ingenues, and she’s absolutely wonderful. If you like the Wolfe books, I really think you’ll like this show.
The warnings about NOT reading A Family Affair have me both concerned and curious at the same time… :eek:
I haven’t read the books yet, but intend to. My wife has read all of them, and she agrees that the A&E series was great, up to the color of Wolfe’s shirt. There was an earlier series on ABC, starring Bill Conrad as Wolfe, which was awful. No attempt to get the setting right - one show had Archie driving by a sunny marina. :eek: Avoid at all costs.
I began reading detective fiction about ten years ago, and spent most of that time reading relatively recent stuff, except for a Dashiell Hammett five novel collection I found at a yard sale.
About a year ago, while looking in the mystery section at the library for a new author, my eyes passed over the name Rex Stout. I had read references to him, so I picked it up. I am unsystematically reading my way through them now. Delightful.