“Rex Stout” was not a pen name. The author’s birth name was Rex Todhunter Stout.
This is encouraging. I’ll certainly keep it in mind the next time I want a mystery to read.
286 pounds, if he was a seventh of a ton as Archie claims. 
Wolfe’s weight varies over the years. There are several mentions of him thinking he’s gained too much and so reacts by rationing his beer or getting “exercise” by throwing darts.
William S. Baring-Gould wrote a 1967 “biography” titled Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-Fifth Street, probably the most remarkable instance of fanwanking in the pre-Star Trek/Star Wars era. However, it does helpfully compile every conceivable fact and stack them in one place.
Wolfe is 5 feet 11 inches, BTW.
Wolfe called them javelins, as I recall.
I love Wolfe and Archie. I have the entire set and participated on the Wolfelist discussion group for a few years (my canon nom is The Front Room). I finally had to drop out because it was sooooo time consuming. Read all the books, discuss, and start again. Fun though.
I never mind it when Stout has someone like Saul show up at the end and dump evidence into his lap because it’s one of his ways of tweaking Archie and using Archie to bamboozle us. We see everything through Archie; if Wolfe calls in the troops while Archie’s away, the reader and Archie are both surprised, plus we get the benefit of seeing Archie peeved at Wolfe, which is always hilarious.
Archie Goodwin is (IMHO, of course) the greatest narrator in detective fiction. It’s especially fun in The Black Mountain, where, for 2/3 of the book, everyone is speaking a language Archie doesn’t understand, and Wolfe has to translate for him; he’s very frustrated through most of the book, and he’s very funny when he’s frustrated.
I love Wolfe’s daily collection of beer caps, his yellow shirts, and snazzy ties, his orchids, Fritz’s food, Archie’s love of tarragon, the WWII novels beginning where Wolfe decides that he and Fritz need to get into shape so they can kill some Germans, Saul Panzer, Fred Durkin, Marko Vukcic, Inspector Cramer, and Purley Stebbins. Oh, and Lily Rowan, of course.
The Doorbell Rang was a great story. And I am rather partial to A Family Affair. I had to read the last several chapters over and over the first time I read it. I thought it was fantastic.
I could go on for pages, but I’ll stop before I seriously bore someone.
I second that concept. The mysteries don’t always play fair, and often there’s no real evidence to convict the guilty party (although I love the ones where Wolfe manages to induce suicide!), but that’s all by-the-way. It’s the character interactions that make the series.
While it’s true that Wolfe and Archie tend not to age, other secondary characters are, in fact, killed off – Johnny Keems, Marko Vukcic (the owner of Rusterman’s restaurant), and eventually Orrie Cather in A Family Affair which I disliked intensely.
Miss Marple did indeed age–her age is not specified, but she goes from fairly up and about and active to downright frail. Inspector Alan Grant(Josephine Tey) does not age, but he only got 5 books, so he didn’t get much chance. Luke Thanet and Wexford both age (more contemporary Brit mystery writer’s protagonists). Come to think of it, Jury doesn’t age… Hmmmm.
There are some intolerant references to homosexuality/race/religion in most of the Golden Age type books. I’d rather read them as is, than have them PC’ed up–the slurs reflect the times and while they make us cringe, it’s good to see how far we’ve come.
Most of what there is to say has been said. I can only say that I have read most of the books and I greatly enjoyed each of them. The A&E show, at least what little I was able to watch of it, was also very good. In both cases I found myself wishing I was Archie or even one of the other detectives. They all seemed like the type of people I would want to hang around/work with.
I dunno, the A&E Archie had some pretty ugly shoes.
Mrs. Plant enjoyed the A&E shows, but was not interested in the novels. I agree with another post that Sidney Greenstreet and Bogie would have made an excellent Nero Wolfe and Archie. I am remiss in mentioning how much I enjoyed the novels. As others have posted, they are comfortable characters. And I make feeble attempts at orchid growing.
This was one of my favorite bits. Archie comes home and finds that Wolfe is so obsessed with war fever that he’s out walking fast, ON PURPOSE.
I read Nero Wolfe stories when I want to go to a different world, in a different time.
I’ve missed one. I thought Stout quit writing during the war in order to concentrate on other activities.
The story Lynn referred to was Not Quite Dead Enough, a novella copyrighted 1942. The other WW2 Wolfe story Stout wrote was also a novella, Booby Trap, copyrighted 1944. According to the introduction of the 1992 Bantam anthology edition of these two stories, Stout also wrote The Broken Vase, Alphabet Hicks, and Black Orchids during the war years. Only Black Orchids is a Wolfe story (novella). Hmm, according to info on the Wolfe Pack website, *Black Orchids * was published in the August 1941 issue of American Magazine, *Cordially Invited to Meet Death * was published in the April 1942 edition, Not Quite Dead Enough in the Dec 1942 edition, and Booby Trap in the August 1944 edition.
From the Wolfe Pack website:
And in case anyone is interested, Rex Stout’s own description of Wolfe and Archie .
Thanks, Kittencat.
doesn’t sound like Bogie, though…
Jimmy Stewart, maybe? I used to have a bit of a crush on Archie.
You’re quite welcome.
Kind of sounds like Van Johnson. Or maybe one of these alternate Archies strikes you as a better fit.
I still do! 
Someone was wrong. This is not true in many detective stories.
Several of the Wolfe stories have Archie phoning the client and reporting on the trial and that the jury has convicted the murderer.
And in the Whimsey books, the last 2 chapters or so of Busman’s Holiday is all about the trial (covered in detail) and the subsequent activities up to the execution of the murderer.
Also, several times in the Nero Wolfe stories, he says to Police Inspector Cramer something to the effect of “I merely identified who the murderer is; it’s up to you to find the evidence to convict him”.
The point of that quote is that no matter how the mystery ends - whether it’s with the murderer being identified or some unwritten trial later - the conventions of the formal murder mystery have little if anything to do with the real world. Society is always saved from the murderer at the end of the book. That’s a comforting fantasy and it’s one of the hidden reasons why people read mysteries, but the way many of them are written that ending can never be anything other than pure fantasy. Which is the world Wolfe operates in.
I remember one Maigret story (not the title though) where a man is accused of murdering his wife but is acquitted at trial. At the end of the book, a colleague asks Maigret “so, did he really murder his wife or not?” and Maigret answers “I don’t know. I don’t think we’ll ever know.” I love Inspecteur Maigret!
Ah, the French. They are a different race.