The Black Orchid (A Nero Wolfe Group) Message Board

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The Black Orchid (A Nero Wolfe Group) Message Board

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1Eurydice
Lug 27, 2006, 4:45 am

Hi, Alxa! Do you have more Stout uncatalogued, or a newer interest in Nero Wolfe?

2etrainer
Lug 27, 2006, 5:01 am

Hello. It's been a few years since I read any Stout, I liked them. I'll start looking for titles I haven't read.

3Eurydice
Lug 27, 2006, 5:01 am

I wish I was gifted with Nero Wolfe's subtle, autocratic and inspired methods of - well, grilling people. Not being, however, I'll vent my curiosity in a rather simplistic and obvious way - starting us off with a few questions.

Thus: How long have you read Stout? What books are your favorites? How do you feel about the characters (admiring antagonism for Wolfe - surely not!)? Who are your favorite minor players? (Fans of Saul, unite!)

Are the plots merely adequate - or great? What's the secret of the books' appeal? And so on and so forth... ad infinitum.

Lastly: do you own any 'extra' books - The Nero Wolfe Cookbook, Nero Wolfe of Thirty-Fifth Street, a biography of Rex Stout? I'd love to hear your opinions.

Grab a glass of milk, a bottle of beer, or ask Fritz to make you tea; settle in, and be welcome. Whether you're in for dancing at the Flamingo, or being grllled by Wolfe - this could take hours...

4Eurydice
Lug 27, 2006, 5:04 am

LT is a great place for looking... fanatical collectors and no worries about what's in print.

I have all but one of his Nero Wolfe books, and several of the others - which I think are inferior. The group's library should be ok for a start. :)

5Wombat Primo messaggio
Lug 27, 2006, 9:49 am

Eurydice,

Thank you for the invitation, and for creating this group!

What a surprise, all of our "shared books" are Wolfe books! I wonder if there's a way to find out what books we share that aren't by Rex Stout. It might be a good source of reading ideas. Not that I have any shortage of those ;-)

I've been reading Nero Wolfe for most of my life. My parents gave me Gambit, for my birthday when I was about ten. I played a lot of chess when I was young, and they were trying to encourage me to read more. It worked!

I've since managed read all of the Nero Wolfe books. I think that between my parents' library and my own, we also have copies of all of them.

Hmmm. Lots of food for conversation in your introductory message, but work calls...

-- Wombat

P.S. Count me in the Saul Panzer fanclub too!

6casa_tali Primo messaggio
Lug 27, 2006, 11:57 am

Yes, thanks for the invite Eurydice :-)

Wolfe fan here too, but I do have a soft spot for Tecumseh Fox. Can't remember when I read my first Stout, I must have been something like eleven or twelve at the time. Mum was the book-pusher here too.

And while Saul is great, my favourite secondary character has to be Lily Rowan.

And at least one of my Stouts is in my native Finnish, so the group library just became a little bit more exotic ;-)

Sari, the other half of casa_tali

7Linkmeister
Lug 27, 2006, 2:56 pm

I'm glad to be here! Thanks for the invitation.

Hey, Wombat, that's a coincidence. "Gambit" was the first one I read too; I think it was the dictionary-burning that hooked me. (I've never used "infer" when I meant "imply" again.)

8tardis
Lug 27, 2006, 10:13 pm

Thanks for the invitation!

I can't tell you how long I've been reading Stout - a long time, anyway. The basis of my collection came from my parents but I've added to it. I don't think it's anywhere near complete, though - I add as the opportunity arises.
He is my favourite of the classic American mystery writers. I also like the Lockridges, but never really liked Queen or Gardner above lukewarm.

I can't pick a favourite - it's been a while since I went on a Wolfe binge. They're always re-readable though because the characters are great, the writing is sharp, and the plots always work for me.

I don't have any of the adjunct books but I do have one non-Wolfe ripping yarn type thing - Under the Andes.

Have you read the Lord Darcy stories by Randall Garrett? Wolfe and Archie feature in Too Many Magicians, although under pseudonyms. Totally recognizable though - even the red leather chair is there :).

9Linkmeister
Lug 27, 2006, 10:38 pm

I succumbed to buying one of the pastiches Death on Deadline, but it just wasn't the same.

I owned the final book A Family Affair in hardback, but it got lost somewhere, so I was delighted to find the Bantam paperback copy at a used bookstore a couple of weeks ago.

I own The Nero Wolfe Cookbook, the biography by John J. McAleer, and the "Nero Wolfe of 35th Street" book by Baring Gould.

There's a fansite here (full disclosure: I helped with the Wolfe readiing list):
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8907/nero.html

with full bibliography, a couple of articles about the A&E TV series, and other miscellany.

10cogitno Primo messaggio
Lug 28, 2006, 12:25 am

Thank you for the invitation. It was timely.

In a couple of hours I will be dragging feet to my own appointment in the underworld .... the dentist. I expect to be late. There is no hope for redemption, no soothing music in this hell, just the shrill sound of torture. I have been considering the book to accompany me in the waiting room - Dentists' dictionaries do not appear to have definitions for 'Appointment'. I have read your invitation as a message from the 'Fates'; so Nero Wolfe it is. The question is which one?

I have a picture in my minds eye .... and the dentist looks exactly like Arnold Zeck. For that Eurydice, I do not thank you.

11Eurydice
Lug 28, 2006, 12:49 am

Cogitno: Fate is not always kind. I do not expect to be thanked. I DO expect you to follow my dictates: you will go, you will take In the Best Families; you will vanquish Arnold Zeck.

Citizen of the Underworld, Fate's handmaiden...
Eurydice

12Eurydice
Lug 28, 2006, 1:35 am

Wombat: how wonderful to have another Saul Panzer fan! It's always been hard to be sure, but I may prefer him to Archie, even!

Linkmeister: Glad you've joined. I remember sharing a zillion books with you, when LT was new and I'd catalogued mainly mysteries. :) I've always wondered if Saul contained elements of self-portrait. (I can elaborate on why, if that's any help.) Does the biography shed light on the issue?

Tardis: I'm not interested by Erle Stanley Gardner, either, though I keep thinking I will give Ellery Queen a better try. I do however like a number of books by John Dickson Carr, though it's easy to forget he's actually American.

In contrast to the lukewarm contemporaries, Stout's writing always pleases me; sharp and funny; wonderfully erudite, orotund yet astringent when we come to Wolfe (would I be correct in saying, Johnsonian?). Then, too, it's larded with diversionary interests, more serious opinions or concerns (literary or political), and, frequently, great maneuvers, details, and tricks - good in themselves, or in keeping re-reading pleasurable. I think the reliable setting of West Thirty-Fifth Street and its immutable routines is perpetually welcoming, just as the Wolfe-Archie relationship gives a depth and catalyst for plot elements we don't see in his other books (or at least the handful I have).

Tecumseh Fox seems most successful to me at The Zoo: out of context and outside real relationships, his character feels weaker and less defined. Am I missing a Tecumseh mystery that would wow me, Sari?

Incidentally, the Dol Bonner mystery The Hand in the Glove has always seemed to me the most successful of his other mysteries, though a secondary character in the Wolfe series. The Sound of Murder runs it a close second, in my memory.

Death of a Doxy was my first Wolfe, but the dictionary-burning of Gambit is a quintessential moment, and delighted me. Especially Wolfe's exchange about it with Archie.

This feels gargantuan, so I'll leave the rest for another posting...

13Linkmeister
Lug 28, 2006, 3:06 am

Eurydice: "Does the biography shed light on the issue?"

First, find the biography. It's here somewhere.

Double-stacked books are a nuisance, but I can't seem to persuade the other occupants that we're not using the living room anyway, so why not put nice lovely library shelves down there?

14Eurydice
Lug 28, 2006, 5:15 am

Aside from my sincere thanks to all of you for joining the group, what have I left...?

I haven't read more than a paragraph teaser by Goldsborough. Hasty judgment? Maybe. But that was enough for me.

Too Many Magicians actually sounds fun, though.

I look forward to taking another look at the fan site tomorrow, Linkmeister. Getting his reading list together was a stroke of brilliance - one of the things I'd sometimes wished I had to hand. Montaigne gets high honor in Wolfe's bedroom, and in other Rex Stout stories; which oddly enough is what convinced me to read the volume of essays I had. Thanks for looking into the biographical issue...

Odd as some of the recipes seem now, I love The Nero Wolfe Cookbook, and have enjoyed what I've used. Corn fritters rule - but I've yet to make a hedgehog omelette.

Cogitno: I hope you don't mind being teased by spirits of the underworld (pun intended)? Best wishes with the appointment.

How do you all feel about the A&E series? (Or am I asking too many questions? :) )

15Wombat
Lug 28, 2006, 10:41 am

I hadn't heard about Too Many Magicians. A good friend raves about the Lord Darcy books, so I may have to add it my reading list.

I've heard that Wolfe and Archie also appear in a James Bond short story by Ian Fleming, but I've never seen it. Does anyone have the reference?

16Wombat
Lug 28, 2006, 10:45 am

I've never seen the A&E series. (I don't even know if it's still on!) I too would be interested in hearing other people's opinions. Do they borrow from the plots of the books, or does it make up new plots? How is the characterization? Does the cast match up with what you picture from reading the books?

Does anyone remember the older TV Series, that was on in the late 70s or early 80s? That one I watched religiously. Since I was young and impressionable, it had a strong impact on my mental images of the characters---particularly Inspector Cramer, for some odd reason.

17Linkmeister
Lug 28, 2006, 1:43 pm

The A&E series lasted two seasons. I watched every episode. It stuck very closely to the texts.

IMDB's info site: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283205/

Timothy Hutton played Archie and directed most of them. Hutton said at the time that he was a true Wolfe fan, and it showed.

Maury Chaykin was pretty darned good as Wolfe; Bill Smitrovich played Cramer (better in some episodes than others). It was like repertory; a lot of the same actors turned up playing different characters in different stories.

It started off with a bang, too: the first episode was "The Doorbell Rang," followed by "Champagne for One" and "Prisoners Base."

It's worth buying/renting.

18Eurydice
Lug 28, 2006, 3:31 pm

There's no question about the fandom involved in the series.

I was VERY impressed with the level of fidelity to the texts, not only in the use of quotes, dialogue, and plot; but even in details of decor, etc. And the whole thing was very stylish - funny, well-directed, inventive.

Timothy Hutton makes a marvelous Archie (dead on). Maury Chaykin's very good (only disappointing me at moments); Bill Smitrovich impressive as Cramer. Conrad Dunn did a marvellous job, bringing Saul Panzer convincingly to life. Fred was excellent... And the often silent, but highly expressive Fritz was perfect! Most of the 'one-time' characters were played with an edge of campiness, though in part this highlighted the re-use of the actors. More successful sometimes than others, in sum I thought it was great. :)

We own both seasons. My favorite adaptations are of Champagne for One, Over My Dead Body, and the linked scenes of the novellas Eeney Meeny Murder Moe and Disguise for Murder. (No touchstones here, as they won't work.) These are in the first season. But the second-season Death of a Doxy was great. Among other things, I'd never been able to visualize or hear Julie Jacquette quite as I thought Stout meant her - but the ubiquitous Kari Matchett caught it... Mod, funny, sharp and endearing.

19Linkmeister
Lug 28, 2006, 3:34 pm

I forgot! The score was great smoky jazz!

20Eurydice
Lug 28, 2006, 3:36 pm

How odd... I meant I'd used no touchstones for the novellas. I DID use brackets on the novels' titles - and they seemed to pick up. (Alas for imperfections. :) )

21Eurydice
Lug 28, 2006, 3:37 pm

Linkmeister: wasn't it great?

22Linkmeister
Lug 28, 2006, 4:32 pm

Well, I'm a sucker for a lonely saxophone, and as I recall, it had one. Very evocative of the Fifties era with Monk, Coltrane, et. al.. I don't think those guys would have played the Flamingo, though.

I don't know NY at all, but I've always wondered what venue Stout was trying to reference when he had Archie dancing there with Lily.

23Eurydice
Lug 28, 2006, 4:36 pm

No, I don't know either. I sort of figured it was an amalgam he had in mind, but would love to hear more specific ideas. Reagrdless, I did love the jazz. (And much of the music for the other episodes.)

24laytonwoman3rd Primo messaggio
Lug 28, 2006, 6:49 pm

Chiming in for the first time. Thanks for the invitation!
I have a priceless (to me) photocopy of an article from the Journal of Modern Literature (March 1983), entitled For the Record; Rex Stout and William Faulkner's Nobel Prize Speech. The article was written by one of my college English professors (several years after I had taken courses from him). Now if you look at my LT catalog, you will see that I am a devotee of William Faulkner so this article is just my cup of tea. Professor Rife notes that the phrase "the last ding-dong of doom" appearing in Faulkner's Nobel acceptance speech may have been "borrowed" from Stout, who used it in The League of Frightened Men in 1935, where Wolfe says "this vote is not the last dingdong of doom." Wolfe further makes reference to the destiny of the human race, which is also the famous topic of Faulkner's speech.
This is my ultimate weapon in any argument that begins with disparaging remarks about the quality and worth of mystery novels!

25nperrin
Lug 28, 2006, 11:29 pm

Thanks for inviting me too Eurydice! (Okay, actually you invited username "lloyd," who is my other half, and whose library I just re-subsumed into my own after he decided he didn't really want his own separate catalog. So I kind of invited myself, but I didn't want you to think he was ignoring the lovely offer.)

Anyway, I first got into Wolfe through him, and he got into it through his parents. Death of a Doxy was my first Wolfe too, and it's still one of my favorites. Hmm, other favorites include Too Many Cooks and Plot it Yourself, I think, though really I like too many to list.

Oh, and linkmeister, we'd already found that website while surfing around looking for info on the books Wolfe reads. I was thrilled to see someone had put together a list, it was very informative.

And on the A&E series: I've only seen a brief part of one episode, the Death of a Doxy one, but I completely agree that Julie Jacquette was just so much fun, and Archie was great, that I've been trying to convince Lloyd ever since that we should watch it and it won't be disappointing. Now I have you all to back me up!

26jest Primo messaggio
Lug 28, 2006, 11:49 pm

Hello! Thanks for the invite.

My roomie just put me onto the Nero Wolfe books a month ago and they have pretty much taken over my life ever since... The dishes haven't been done in at least a week and if the dog didn't occasionally beg to be taken out I would be in danger of taking on Wolfe-like proportions. :)

I had a moment of crisis earlier today when I realized that after this book, and the next book, I only have about fifteen books left. Horrible thought, that.

I am crazy about Saul Panzer.

27Eurydice
Lug 29, 2006, 2:21 am

Laytonwoman3rd, nperrin, and jest: you're all welcome, in the double sense. I'm glad to have you!

Laytonwoman3rd: that's wonderful. To think Faulkner borrowed from Stout pleases me no end.

Speaking of doom and the human race, has anyone else read Stout's The President Vanishes?

Nperrin: I will definitely back you up on that!

Jest: Any friend of Saul's is a friend of mine. :) It was an awful feeling, drawing near and knowing that soon I'd never sit down with a Nero Wolfe mystery that was new to me again. For me, thankfully, the reading was spaced out over two years or so, of necessity. I can't imagine going through a month of intense Wolfe readership and facing the withdrawal! ;)

28cogitno
Lug 30, 2006, 1:55 am

Saul ... Saul, Saul, Saul, Saaauul. Everybody loves Saul. What about poor old Fred Durkin. The plodding everyman; the "please pass the ketchup" simplicity; aware of his limitations, and appreciated for that by Wolfe himself - albeit banned from the dining room. But I do love Saul, how could you not:) Really!

Never the less, Fred Durkin has a special place for me in the Nero Wolfe world. Stout was at his best when he drew us characters that resonate in real life. And he was at his very best with "simple" characters. He showed us these considerable talents in the very first Nero Wolfe, Fer-de-Lance: his treatment of the young Golf Caddies for example. Fer-de-Lance has been criticized as a trifle florid. Maybe, yet it remains one of my favourites. When he created Anna Fiore, I was hooked as a life long fan. I don't know whether a character like Anna Fiore can exist in today's world, but I believe that she was real in the 1930's. I was moved by her circumstances and touched by her (misplaced) loyalty. I didn't expect it and was still surprised when I re-read it!

Eurydice: I have never been able to a get my hands on a copy of The Presidents Men. I did manage a copy of the film (directed by William Wellman, 1934). It is a little confusing, which is unusual for the normally reliable Wellman. Two stars at best. Stout didn't write the dialogue. It is a little sad that a 1934 film is more easily attainable than abook of similar vintage, the Southern Hemisphere notwithstanding.

Did I say that I was a Saul fan!

29cogitno
Lug 30, 2006, 1:57 am

Correction, The Pesidents Men should be The President Vanishes.

30Eurydice
Lug 30, 2006, 3:16 am

Well..... Saul is special. :)

However, I do find Fred endearing. Among other things, his ability to know his own limits, keep within them, and yet know that what he did well was valuable - without resentment or being intimidated by others' gifts - is something I respect and appreciate. He's very dear - from his fidelity, right down to the vinegar on his oysters, or his embarrassments in Too Many Women.

Fritz inspires similarly fond feelings. Perhaps stronger. Stout was very good with fidelity - as much in the series characters as, somewhat differently, in Anna Fiore.

My copy of The President Vanishes was found by chance, for a dollar or so, in a used bookstore, and snapped up before it could vanish likewise. I'll mull over some comments and give them to you when I'm more awake...

When our comments on secondary comments have run the gamut (not that they will ever run dry), we may eventually go on to some discussion of Wolfe and Archie, themselves. :)

Meanwhile: for members of the Saul Panzer fan club, why is Saul such a favorite - or what stands out to you about him? Perhaps we'll get nothing but a gushing of pro-Saul feeling, but it's also possible our reasons and recollections differ, and pick up on somewhat different parts of Stout's creation. Also, is there anybody whose favorite 'minor' character could be Horstmann? A fellow orchid lover who feels disadvantaged, overlooked? Someone who tends their own plants with more tenderness than Wolfe?? Please - hypothesize with me. ;)

31Linkmeister
Lug 30, 2006, 2:08 pm

Theodore wasn't well-looked-upon by Archie, as stated in In the Best Families:
"Look, Theodore," I said, "I don't give a good goddam what you like or don't like. Mr. Wolfe has always pampered you because you're the best orchid nurse alive. This is as good a time as any to tell you that you remind me of sour milk."


I always liked Vukcic. Anyone who could say (from the same book), "I am stealing it from my old friend Nero to spend on beautiful women or olive oil" has my approval. ;)

32Eurydice
Lug 30, 2006, 4:59 pm

Linkmeister: I asked precisely because I found it hard to imagine. :) However - Vukcic is another matter. Great quote.

33nperrin
Lug 30, 2006, 6:13 pm

I find it hard to imagine liking Theodore too, but I find it equally hard to imagine liking any character that Archie didn't like. I'm extremely partial to Archie, as I think anyone who really enjoys the series must be, and I think it relatively unlikely that we would disagree with his character judgment -- especially since we get all our information about the characters through him.

34Linkmeister
Lug 30, 2006, 6:43 pm

nperrin, that's a good point. I certainly don't like Rowcliff or Con Noonan. Stebbins seems likable, and Cramer's one of the more ineresting recurring characters for me.

35Wombat
Lug 30, 2006, 8:16 pm

Thanks everyone for the comments on the A&E series. It sounds like something I should look into. Fortunately my birthday is coming up in a few weeks!

36LisaLynne Primo messaggio
Lug 30, 2006, 9:49 pm

Thanks for the invitation!

I have been reading Nero Wolfe since I was a tot. My first was The League of Frightened Men, but since my parents owned most of the series, it wasn't long before I had worked my way through them all. My favorite is still Some Buried Caesar, in part for the introduction of Lily Rowan, but mostly because it was the first one I solved before Mr. Wolfe!

As a young reader, I had a terrible crush on Saul Panzer - Archie was a little flighty for me. (And I recently found a fansite that has been posting fanfiction - of the slash variety - about Saul and Archie. Maybe there was a little more than professional rivalry there...?)

I have to say that I hated the A&E series; I found Wolfe to be terribly portayed. The first one I watched he was shrieking at someone in his office, something I simply couldn't imagine the "real" Mr. Wolfe ever doing.

I have the Nero Wolfe Cookbook, which is great reading even if I don't think it would make for great cooking. I'm also working on getting the books on audio as they come out - they make great listening during my long commute.

37jest
Lug 30, 2006, 9:54 pm

Oh, but I love Fred too! I'm just more vocal about my affection for Saul. As you say, Saul, Saul, Saul, Saaauul. :)

Up until recently I thought pretty much everyone had a soft spot for him. However, the other day, I had a customer in ye olde bookshoppe who argued that Saul is a boring non-character because he is too perfect... I got a bit frosty after he said that and told him that we didn't have any Nero Wolfe books left which was a complete lie but I don't apologize. He shouldn't have talked about Saul that way.

Saul *is* Special.

Aside from Fred and Fritz, Lily Rowan is a favourite with me. I pretty much like all the characters that Archie likes.

38jest
Lug 30, 2006, 10:04 pm

LisaLynne: Saul/Archie slash? Should I be terrified? Where does one find this story?

39Eurydice
Lug 30, 2006, 10:21 pm

LisaLynne, I agree that Maury Chaykin tended to miss Wolfe's character in that area. But he also played some of the calmer scenes brilliantly, and often did a great deal with just a look or a nod. The comic side of Wolfe - and his childishness - was convincingly portrayed, which I think is difficult when you deal with a brilliant and formidable chracter. It's a far sight from Sydney Greenstreet in the role on radio. Chaykin isn't perfect, and maybe in an area that for you makes it unacceptable, but he comes close.

Choose a simple recipe, like lamb braised in white wine, or the corn fritters, and the cookbook is excellent. I have hopes of some of the breakfast dishes, or the walnut pudding, or something, in coming months.

As for Saul - I refuse to let anyone denigrate him as 'too' perfect. What a milk-and-water term. Not even under torture will I say so, jest, but - your customer got what was coming to them.

40Eurydice
Lug 30, 2006, 10:31 pm

Michael Prichard seems far too blunt and deadpan in delivery, to me. He's not Archie. There's not enough wit and playfulness... nor does he seem to read along with the cadences of Stout's writing naturally. Though I've heard the audiobooks are extremely popular.

41cogitno
Lug 31, 2006, 10:19 am

I can recommend the Montana trout deal. It's simple, and works a treat. Especially when you catch it yourself ..... so I'm told ):

Did anyone else find Timothy Hutton's dress sense a bit garish in the A&E series. Or am I letting my 1980's sensibilities get in the way? (No, I never moved on)

42LisaLynne
Lug 31, 2006, 2:20 pm

Jest,

Not terrified, if you like that sort of thing. (And I admit that it's one of my guilty pleasures.) Send me your email and I'll send you a link. lisalynne@gmail.com.

43LisaLynne
Lug 31, 2006, 2:24 pm

Eurydice,

I admit that I didn't watch much of the series after the first shouting scene - it was a dealbreaker for me. Just a hurdle I couldn't get over.

As for the audiobooks, I don't mind Michael Prichard. I have heard some really terrible readers (I had to stop listening to the Robert B. Parker audio series when they had Burt Reynolds reading ), but it's enuogh to have the series on audio.

I have made some of the dishes, but they are mostly the sort of recipe I like to read, rather than cook. The food has always been one of my favorite parts of the books.

44Eurydice
Lug 31, 2006, 4:55 pm

On Timothy Hutton's clothes: Archie was always... dapper, natty, fashionable. One or two of the suits (the yellow one, and one that was liver-colored) were a bit much, but overall I enjoyed his clothes enormously. They were very beautifully cut, if nothing else. (Though, growing up on movies from the 40s, the hatbrims from these slightly later decades seem much too broad!)

45Eurydice
Lug 31, 2006, 5:06 pm

LisaLynne: Michael Prichard sounds ok now. I've always loved the food element in the books, as well. (I suspect that was obvious. :) ) A few years ago, I had a Nero Wolfe dinner party, and have always intended to follow up with one of Fritz's 'snacks' on trays in the office... Chestnut soup, roast beef sandwiches, shrimp & cucmber sandwiches, watercress, and apples baked in white wine (see Too Many Clients, or page 127 of the Nero Wolfe Cookbook.

(Bypassing squirrel stew, and the like....)

46cogitno
Ago 1, 2006, 4:24 am

Reading the posts on this Group reminded me of an mp3 recording I downloaded some time ago: Rex Stout as one of a 3 member radio quiz panel called "Information Please". I think it was about 1939. Certainly pre WWII. I have just replayed it, and was as delighted today as when I first heard it.

The recording lasts 28 minutes, of which Mr. Stout is on air for about 6 or 7 minutes. I originally expected to hear Nero Wolfe and was pleasantly surprised when I heard some of Archie as well!

If anyone is interested, I will find an Internet source or, failing that, will make it available by some other means.

47Eurydice
Ago 1, 2006, 4:44 am

I'm very interested - thank you! That would be wonderful to hear.

48cogitno
Ago 1, 2006, 5:26 am

As soon as I posted I realised what a dumb question it was. Fancy asking such a question of The Black Orchard group! The web site is:

http://www.avenarius.sk/stout/

The reference to the recording is a little hard to find. It is about two-thirds the way down this very long page. Search for the phrase "entire recording". It is click to play or (in my browser), a right click to "save link as".

The web site is a fine resource. The .sk domain is Slovakian. Which is a nice touch - they brew wonderful beer.

49Eurydice
Ago 2, 2006, 3:41 am

Cogitno - I wasn't able to listen to the whole thing, as yet, but did get to hear Stout on presidential moustaches and beards. :) I can't wait for the rest. I agree the site is excellent - but I hope he can get a copy of The Hand in the Glove - far and away superior to Red Threads, IMHO, even if I enjoyed the peek into the textiles industry in the latter.

Sincere thanks.

50LisaLynne
Ago 2, 2006, 7:45 pm

Has anyone else been obsessed with getting the right covers on their books? I'm surprised at how touchy I am about this. After all, I want everyone to know I have been collecting these books for a long time - none of these fancy amazon.com covers for me. Bring on the old old old covers!

51Wombat
Ago 2, 2006, 7:58 pm

Well, I haven't gone to the effort of scanning in the covers from my older books, but I'm always pleased to find another user who has uploaded the same cover(s). It's not that I care so much about whether other people realize what my books look like; it just doesn't feel right to me if the cover isn't what I expect.

52LisaLynne
Ago 3, 2006, 12:25 pm

Rats. It is just me being a freak then.

Not that I mind or anything.

53Linkmeister
Ago 3, 2006, 2:07 pm

Considering that most of my copies are at least one printing back (there's no artist's image of Wolfe on the back), and if I hadn't given the 1960s printing away when I graduated from high school and moved, the odds of finding the correct image without scanning my own copies are marginal. I haven't a scanner anyway, so that's not an option.

LisaLynne, I can sympathize with your desire, but...;)

54etrainer
Ago 3, 2006, 2:38 pm

I don't like it when I don't have the right cover image for my books. I alternate on using or not using an available INCORRECT cover. I have access to a scanner, but not enough time to sit and scan dozens of covers.

Most of my books are paperbacks from the 70's and 80's. Some go back as far as the 50's. And of course I have some newer ones. I'm particularly fond of the 60's editions covers of Edgar Rice Burroughs's science (?) fiction books. I found most of them using Google.

This has nothing to do with Rex Stout!

55cogitno
Ago 3, 2006, 7:04 pm

Bought my first Nero Wolfe because of the cover - Too Many Cooks. I didn't have much scanning to do for LT, as I already had them scanned for my off-line database ..... which includes a fields for the cover artist / photographer, dimensions, printing history etc etc.

I want to stress that I did not include weight!

LisaLnne, I consider your obsession to be quite reasonable.

56Eurydice
Ago 3, 2006, 8:01 pm

LOL. The cover issue is the one obsession I haven't quite entered into; but most of the time (and to a good degree here) I can perfectly echo cogitno - I think them quite reasonable. :) Particularly when it comes to getting (or having) things 'right.'

57moretoastplease Primo messaggio
Ago 7, 2006, 11:12 am

I will probably make myself unpopular here, but yes on the Saul "coolness" vote but after watching the A and E series I began to love - Fritz!

I loved the series because it was very evocative of the lifestyle. How lush Wolfe's world was, and what an entire world he had going on in how townhouse. I thought that the design on the series (including the clothing, sure) was just lovely. And I loved the ensemble thing.

58Eurydice
Ago 7, 2006, 1:50 pm

But wasn't Fritz marvelous on the series?? Great use of silence where there was no written dialogue. - And what a very sweet, loyal, amusing, brillaintly able chef he is in the books!

It's hard to make yourself unpopular with me by liking one of Stout's characters, can you tell? ;)

I can't really PREFER Fritz to some of the others; but then in Stout, books as well as film, ensemble is one of the strengths. The characters are great, but especially as they interact. Or do any of you disagree? Is Stout better at isolated characters than I think?

Thinking of it again, he also had a genius for endearing men. But I lay the proposition before you all.

59cogitno
Ago 7, 2006, 11:19 pm

Questo messaggio è stato cancellato dall'autore.

60cogitno
Ago 7, 2006, 11:21 pm

I seem to be losing my Touchstones?

moretoastplease: I thought the Fritz in the A&E series and the Fritz in the books were almost different characters. The latter shy and almost self-effacing (except in the kitchen); the former, with some wit, albeit non-verbally. I have no preference for either, and admire them both, though it took some time to forget the beard.

Eurydice: I happily admit to admiration for Stout's minor characters. True, some are almost caricatures, and yet I have never (almost never) not heard their distinctive voices in the office denouement scenes.

Let me point out a few: Anna Fiore (Fer-de-Lance) is memorable and sad; Arnold Zeck (Best of Families) remains one of the best renditions of a modern master criminal in literature; the morally deformed Paul Chapin from The League of Frightened; the competing chefs in Too Many Cooks; the ultimately chilling Janet Nichols in 'Cordially Invited to Meet Death' (Black Orchids). I am an old fashioned FAN of Nero Wolfe, and acknowledge that it may result in some uncritical views. But I can't help it.

The plots however ......

61Eurydice
Ago 8, 2006, 2:18 am

Yes, afraid this is my area of 'fandom,' too. Though I think we've enough loyalty to make criticisms without threatening it. :)

Agreed on minor characters, including Zeck; he's a marvelous and more-than-usually believable version. Paul Chapin leaving the office at the end of The League of Frightened Men is hard to forget; far more serious and disturbing, more human, than many of Stout's characters or denouments.

And, ah yes, the plots.... The best of men has a weakness.

62cogitno
Ago 8, 2006, 4:15 am

Plans of West 35th Street, inlcuding Basement and Roof, together with a list of sources from which the plans were derived. The plans include some 3-D rendering:

http://johnclaytonsr.com/Wolfe/

I must admit that this sort of minutae doesn't particularly excite me, but other may find it so. Came across it during my (apparently forloon) search for a picture of the Nero Wolfe (or Archie Goodwin) orchid.

63Eurydice
Ago 8, 2006, 4:29 am

A noble search, nonetheless.

I'm terrible with floorplans, but it's interesting. Thanks for sending it on, cogitno. Tastes do indeed differ. - Thankfully, if inexplicably. ;)

64Wombat
Ago 8, 2006, 10:30 am

I agree with the comments on plots and characters. Stout created some remarkable characters, and ultimately, the characters and their interactions are what draw me back to re-read the novels. After all, I remember most of the plots, so there aren't any surprises there.

Speaking of remembering the plots, and of Paul Chapin I'm currently re-reading The League of Frightened Men. It's been so long since the last time I read it that I actually don't remember who the murderer is! But I remember both Paul and Dora Chapin vividly.

It turns out that Thayer Hall at Harvard, where Paul Chapin had his accident, is a real place. I'm going to make a point of taking a look the next time I'm in the neighborhood. There are a number of good bookstores in the area, so it probably won't be long...

65Eurydice
Ago 8, 2006, 1:59 pm

It's been so long since the last time I read it that I actually don't remember who the murderer is! But I remember both Paul and Dora Chapin vividly.

Exactly. I don't remember the murderer, but I cannot forget the Chapins; and this is something of a plus.

Though there are plenty of books where I remember the plot well, as we all do, I am more likely to remember some piece that draws me or doesn't interfere; a place, a character, the setting in this or that industry, a single moment (or more) vividly alive. Stout didn't create gnawing suspense, or perfect puzzle-like plots that end with a bang, like Agatha Christie (to name one 'illustrious' contemporary); but the majority of her characters, detectives excepted, are thin, largely anonymous, and unalluringly cold; types rather than even vivid caricatures. The extreme distrust and commonly mercenary motives eventually pall. Once the puzzle is gone, one may appreciate plot elements, but there's far less to re-read for.*

However, while the overall plot construction is not his strong point, there are aspects of them I love. Namely, Nero Wolfe's tricks. - His escapades, ploys, and ingenuity. (As seen in numerous books: The Doorbell Rang, The Mother Hunt, and In the Best Families just three that spring to my muddled mind.) They aren't always present; but there are features I love in the way Stout envisions the books, and Wolfe's work, even if they coexist with weaknesses - even within the same books.

(Incidentally, there are some similarities between the aforementioned Christie's The Big Four and Stout's In the Best Families. However improbable the latter novel, it is vastly better than The Big Four. Though I enjoyed its twenties vintage at one time, too. :) )

* To be fair, I did not say nothing. But I haven't felt drawn to doing so in quite a long time.

66Linkmeister
Ago 8, 2006, 5:29 pm

You know, I don't really think the premise behind In the Best Families would be all that improbable to a newcomer to the books. Sure, those of us who'd read 20 or so already might have boggled at the idea of Wolfe leaving the brownstone, but it was foreshadowed in The Second Confession during his conversation with the Sperlings, so if you were a newcomer to the books you might not have had to pick your jaw up off the floor when Archie gets back to NY and finds the door open.

(I just re-read all three of the Zeck books; I ain't that good!)

67Eurydice
Ago 9, 2006, 8:49 am

Agreed, and I laud your honesty!

I am leaving this morning, and hope to keep in touch with you all a little, but may not be around for more than a week. However, I will return, most gladly. Though sorry to lose Linkmeister's orchids, I am switching to another black orchid variety... so no one grows bored.

68etrainer
Modificato: Ago 10, 2006, 4:54 pm

Started rereading Fer-de-Lance last night - just the first chapter before going to bed. Also trying to get the titles I don't have. I notice that Stout is on book store shelves, while Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald are not (well, not counting used books stores). That seems strange to me.

69Eurydice
Ago 10, 2006, 11:05 pm

Actually, etrainer, I find both Hammett and Chandler at at least a couple of the large chain stores near my home. - Including the great new pulp-cover reprints of Hammett - you know, the ones I want to buy just for the covers, though I already have the books. :) Anyway, there was a project to reprint the whole Stout canon, starting in the 90s; but perhaps its viability is due to the greater ease and comfort of reading the books, plus a wider readership of those first exposed through the A&E series. He's harder to find in used bookstores, though, and I've theorized that more of us choose to KEEP Stout's books! The others' absence in your stores (and Ross Macdonald's in mine) is nevertheless a pity. And for many, a loss...

70oroboros Primo messaggio
Ago 11, 2006, 2:05 pm

Howdy all. I’ve read with interest the various conversations posted and finally can’t resist the urge to toss in my ‘too sense’. I read my first NW novel about 20 years ago or so (can’t remember which one). Up to that point I had pretty much immersed myself in Chandler, Hammett, Ross (and John D.) MacDonald but when at last I tried the NW oeuvre, I really sat up and purred. I knew I had a new quest. Soon I had acquired all the books but my goal is to have them all in hardcover (I lack only 8). Haven’t read them all yet; I’m pacing myself, stretching out the pleasure of anticipation and reading them in chronological order. For me (and aside from the intriguing Lily Rowan) it’s all about Wolfe and Archie. Saul et al. are always interesting and satisfying but, for me, the presence and dynamism of the Wolf-Goodwin interaction is paramount and endlessly entertaining; it drips with that ole “jes’ say qua” ;^).

71Eurydice
Ago 11, 2006, 4:59 pm

...but, for me, the presence and dynamism of the Wolf-Goodwin interaction is paramount and endlessly entertaining; it drips with that ole “jes’ say qua” ;^).

Quite right - I may love the others rather more than you do, euroborous, but otherwise, you've put it extremely well and I agree. Without that, there would be no books worth our ardor. :) His others (IMHO) simply do not make it. I enjoy them as an auxiliary, but they would never transform me into a fan.

72oroboros
Ago 11, 2006, 6:14 pm

I have a few of the others but they're not a real part of my library. BTW I do have Nero Wolfe of Thirty-Fifth Street, and consider it a worthwhile member of my collection. Haven't even seen the McAleer biography.

Here's a question: does anybody know if a matched set of the NW books have ever been published in hardcover? It's a dream of mine to find such in some little hole-in-the-wall used bookstore...

73oroboros
Modificato: Nov 5, 2006, 3:26 pm

Questo messaggio è stato cancellato dall'autore.

74Eurydice
Ago 20, 2006, 10:21 pm

OROBOROUS: Yes, I'm here. :) Sorry; at least for myself, I can say I was not here until late last night. Hence the silence. (And hello again to all.) My own knowledge of Rex Stout publications, particularly in hardcover, is extremely shoddy. In answer to your question, I can only honestly say... I have no idea.

Glad to have yet another recommendation on Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-Fifth Street; thanks!

75Wombat
Ago 21, 2006, 10:37 am

Welcome back Eurydice,

I've been off-line (and on vacation) myself. I spent the past week at my parent's beach house, which also happens to be where most of their Rex Stout books are.

Oroborous: I'm not sure what you mean by a "matched set" of hardcovers. My parents have a lot of the Viking hardcovers that were published in the 50's and 60's. The dust covers have long been lost, and the "naked" hardcovers have a similar appearance in terms of size, binding and printing (on the spines). But they aren't identical.

While I was away I re-read Too many cooks and Some buried Caesar. In both books Nero Wolfe is working someplace outside of his home. It seems that despite his distaste for leaving home, he wound up doing so in a lot of the early novels. In addition to the above, he also makes business-related forays out of his house in The league of frightened men and (I think) The red box. That's four of the first six novels!

76Eurydice
Ago 21, 2006, 2:20 pm

Nice counting, Wombat - and welcome back, yourself. Hope you enjoyed the vacation. - Aside, of course, from re-visiting our venerable Wolfe and Archie, on (and off) West Thirty-Fifth Street. That you must have enjoyed. ;)

I'm afraid I read no Wolfe while I was gone - though I did get a book closer to finishing both Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald's canons.

One wonders if, perhaps, Stout was unsure about pulling off a complete book with a 'primary' detective who truly wouldn't leave his house, in those early years? In the former books, at least, he was somewhere else on another pretext, before the case appeared... but my favorites are the books where he actually leaves to hide out - as in The Mother Hunt and In the Best Families - or of course the actual journey of The Black Mountain.

77Wombat
Ago 21, 2006, 4:04 pm

Ross MacDonald's books are also in my parent's library. Maybe I should try them sometime. I gather you like them if you're working your way through the entire "canon."

Isn't there also a book where Wolfe leaves home and hides out at Saul Panzer's? I always liked that scene.

All in all, it seems there are a lot of stories where Wolfe leaves home for one reason or another. It's probably not 2 out of 3 across the entire canon, but there are a lot.

It seems that part of Wolfe's character are his strong likes (orchids, good cooking, beer, reading) and his strong dislikes (leaving home, women, et al.) One of the best ways for Stout to convey how much he hates to leave home is to force him to do so. Then we get to see his expression in the back seat of the sedan, his disappearing acts to get back home, his manouvering to find a comfortable chair, and so on.

I have to think that in the early books, Stout was feeling his way toward exactly how the series and the characters would work. I've always been amazed at how quickly the characters and their routines are set in place. It's pretty much all there by the second book, The League of Frightened Men.

But it would make sense if there were other little things that Stout took longer to work out. Wolfe also gets shot twice in the first few books. I don't know if it happens again after that (maybe in The Black Mountain?) Despite the number of times Archie takes a gun with him on various errands, there is remarkably little gunplay in the books.

78etrainer
Ago 21, 2006, 4:22 pm

Wombat, please do try the Ross MacDonalds. If you truly haven't read them, I think you will really enjoy them.

79Eurydice
Ago 21, 2006, 6:53 pm

I agree. MacDonald was prolific enough I may not finish the entire canon - or may leave that pleasure as a comfort to myself in declining years - but they are worth reading. One must, after all, have somewhere to go after Chandler and Hammett... so to whom can we turn but the third and latest of the triumvirate?

Isn't there also a book where Wolfe leaves home and hides out at Saul Panzer's? I always liked that scene.

So did I! But I'm just up from a nap, and I can't recall where in the books it lies. (Unless, of course, they stop there briefly in The Mother Hunt, as well...?)

80cogitno
Modificato: Ago 22, 2006, 4:35 am

Wolfe at Saul Panzer's house.......

I can recall two instances:

1) The novella "Next Witness" from Three Witnesses (1956). Wolfe leaves court before being called to testify in a Telephone scam case. He takes refuge in Saul's apartment and is served a smorgasbord feast, including "three kinds of cheeses". Archie gave the impression that Saul was trying to hard. I think he described Saul as prancing.

2) The novella "Fourth of July Picnic" from And Four to Go (1958). Wolfe hiding from the authorities after a murder is committed at a "Picnic" for the Restaurant Workers Union. Wolfe reluctantly consented to give a speech to honour his undertaking to Marko Vukic's estate. Has a good description of Saul's apartment.

..Edit was a missing bracket.

81Wombat
Ago 22, 2006, 9:08 am

Thanks Cogitno! "Next Witness" is the one I was thinking of.

Eurydice & etrainer, I'll add Ross MacDonald to my reading list. I might actually get around to reading him, too. Since my parents have a number of his books, this means I won't have to pack reading material the next time I visit them!

82Eurydice
Ago 22, 2006, 2:34 pm

Cogitno: many thanks. :) I'd actually conflated them; though it is the description of Saul's apartment (one of the few details the A&E series mauled) which I particularly loved.

83Linkmeister
Ago 22, 2006, 4:01 pm

Somebody somewhere has probably done it, but from what I know of Manhattan real estate (which ain't much), Saul's apartment would run upwards of $10K a month. I'm basing that on the fact that he has a piano in the living room.

Wolfe's brownstone? I don't know. It would be an amusing project to check out the going prices on 35th Street. ;)

84Eurydice
Ago 22, 2006, 4:38 pm

My recollection is that the building (like Saul) didn't look fancy from the outside - and that Saul owned it. (Perhaps I'll look up the passage and quote it for us later on.)

I suspect Archie gives us useful guessing figures, as he often mentions how much the whole shebang takes to run. Extrapolate from them, and.... who knows?

85Wombat
Modificato: Ago 22, 2006, 10:54 pm

In today's Manhattan, West 35th street is not a residential neighborhood. According to zillow.com a single family brownstone in a pleasant area on the east side (245 E. 32nd street) is worth about $4.25 million.

I don't have Three Witnesses or And Four to Go here. But according to Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-Fifth Street (by William S. Baring-Gould), Saul lives, "by himself on the top floor---living room, bedroom, kitchenette, and bath---of a remodeled house."

It's hard to say what a place like that would rent for. According to a friend, a recently rennovated two bedroom apartment in the building where I grew up is now going for about $5K/month.

Somehow I imagine Saul owning his own place. If you look up the passage, Eurydice, let us know!

86Eurydice
Ago 22, 2006, 10:56 pm

I've put the description on a new thread; I'm not sure where the mention of his owning his building and another lies. As far as I recall, it went with a comment about his ability to work as much or as little as he desired, picking and choosing assignments at top dollar... and being both canny and modest in many of his living expenses (take dress for an instance).

87oroboros
Ago 23, 2006, 1:19 pm

Thanx Eurydice & Wombat. I guess the closest thing to a matched set would just be a book club edition of each novel. I was hoping that there would be a set like you see of, say, Erle Stanley Garner--which I scored at a thrift shop some years ago. Haven't imput them into my catalog yet tho.

I also greatly enjoy both MacDonalds and recommend them highly to all; especially the Travis McGee mysteries of John D.

88cogitno
Modificato: Ago 24, 2006, 9:23 am

I recall a reviewer or critic drawing a parallel between McGee / Meyer and Goodwin / Wolfe. I can't see it myself, except maybe McGee bares some (minor) resemblance to what Archie could have been were he a Florida beach bum in the post sexual revolution 60's ..... and free of Wolfe's domineering influence. Domineering isn't quite right, but can't think of a better term?

I re-read the McGee books a couple of years ago and found them a little condescending. But still highly enjoyable. John D. Macdonald books are better plotted the Rex Stout's, but don't have the warmth and charm, nor the wonderfull phrasing.

The deletion below was a duplicate post.

89cogitno
Ago 24, 2006, 9:11 am

Questo messaggio è stato cancellato dall'autore.

90etrainer
Modificato: Ago 26, 2006, 2:31 pm

I reread my Fer-de-lance and wanted start The League of Frightened Men. But the local bookstore didn't have it. I bought Not Quite Dead Enough and started rereading Triple Zeck, finishing And Be a Villain and currently working on The Second Confession. Frankly, I haven't remembered much about any of these three that I read back in the late 70's or early 80's. I guess that makes them more fun to reread {looking on the bright side}.

91Linkmeister
Ago 26, 2006, 5:28 pm

Regarding re-reading:

I remember once driving between Tucson and Phoenix on I-10 in the dead of night, exhausted after packing my belongings for a summer away from school. I pulled over to the shoulder under an overpass (flyover?) and started re-reading Champagne For One to wake myself up.

I arrived in Phoenix safe and sound, so it must have worked.

92cogitno
Modificato: Ago 29, 2006, 9:08 am

Today, I finished reading A Prize for Princes, Rex Stout's third novel (1914). I feel traitorous by saying it was terrible; but it was, and I said so in a review. If anyone has a contrary opinion, I hope they will write a counter-review.

93Eurydice
Ago 29, 2006, 3:55 pm

Cogitno, I bought it (used, of course), but could never stomach reading it, once I'd leafed through a little. Your review seems nicely on target, being honest both about this book, and about his greater talent.

94darron.shaffer
Ago 31, 2006, 6:02 pm

Thanks to everyone for clearing up the James Bond reference.

The quote from Stout about Bond getting the girl was what I remembered. I'm not sure I agree with Stout -- I think some women would prefer Archie.

95Eurydice
Ago 31, 2006, 6:04 pm

I would. :)

96cogitno
Ago 31, 2006, 10:26 pm

Heck, so would I.

97cogitno
Set 4, 2006, 12:10 am

An on-line review stated that Wolfe's Heron sedan was replaced by a Cadillac. I was under the impression that a Packard replaced the Heron. Did Wolfe ever own a Packard?

Wolfe's cars were often referred to as "Town Cars". Does a Town Car have any features that distinguish it from a Sedan, or is it simply prestige sedan?

98Eurydice
Modificato: Set 10, 2006, 7:29 pm

Ah, I remember why I didn't answer this, now: I got lost trying to figure it out. The intricacies of current and vintage car designations, branding, and 'what the books say' was simply beyond me. Apologies. I hope someone else knows the answer....

On another note: BookMooch's user Amber is surrendering a handful of Rex Stout books to trade, including some harder-to-find titles like Plot it Yourself and Red Threads, and the early mysteries The League of Frightened Men, The Rubber Band, and The Red Box, which latter trio took me forever to find and assemble. And not only that, cost a bit more, too. If you're missing any of them, don't hesitate to pick them up. From my limited experience, BookMooch is really nice - and the trade ratio is great.

99Wombat
Set 11, 2006, 11:14 am

I've always associated the Heron with Wolfe. Off-hand, I can't remember a Packard or a Cadillac.

I'm no car expert, but I believe that "Heron" is a fictitious brand. A quick on-line search shows that the only listings for "Heron" sedans are models where the manufacturer has used the term to describe the color (i.e., white).

For me, the term "town car" has always referred to specific make---a Lincoln Town Car. Wikipedia's Town Car page says that the name refers to "a classic style of limousine, popular in the 1920s, which had an open chauffeur's compartment up front."

100Eurydice
Set 11, 2006, 6:35 pm

Yes: which I found far more plausible than the 'city car' it redirected me to! Almost exactly the opposite thing!!!

101cogitno
Set 12, 2006, 12:04 am

Thanks for that Wombat. I was reminded of a book in my library; The MacQuarie Dictionary of Motoring defines a Town Car as:

Old term for a formal vehicle with an open driver's seat and an enclosed passenger compartment. Similar to a SEDENCA DE VILLE.

The same as the Wikipedia definition. While I could see Wolfe as a Town Car passenger - he did describe himself as magisterial - I can't see Archie as the chauffeur. Fred would certainly chauffeur, Saul might ;), but Archie wouldn't!

I believe that my memory of Packard's was faulty; my research has not thrown any up in the Wolfe corpus. It has thrown up one Cadillac: Archie refers to "his" Cadillac convertible in the short novel "Man Alive" from Three Doors to Death (1947). I suspect that the on-line review site I referred to was wrong: the Cadillac pre-dates the Heron, and I have only found that single reference to it.

It had also been my impression that the Heron was just about always Wolfe's car. I cannot however, find any reference to it prior to the 1958 novel Champagne for One, where Archie describes it as Grey, and notes that his initial preference was for a smaller car. He also notes that a Rolls Royce had been considered, but given Wolfe's requirement that cars be changed each year, the Rolls would have been a waste. Except for that one Cadillac reference, I have found no specific make / model references prior to 1958; Wolfe's vehicles are referred to simply as either Sedans or Roadsters. After 1957, the Heron is often mentioned, right up to the '70's.

I should point out that my research is sketchy at best: simple (book) page browsing while engaged in interminable conference calls.

102Eurydice
Set 16, 2006, 1:06 am

Well, cogitno, I appreciate your research, whatever its limitations. ;) I agree: Archie marked off in any servile role is hard to see. So... presumably what Stout intended was a sizeable car, perhaps imposing, but not quite so formal as is described? And certainly not a 'city' car, to which Wikipedia referred me, and is nearly the opposite to a 'town' car!

Opinions, anyone?

103cogitno
Set 17, 2006, 9:47 am

I think the clue in the early books is that Archie often mentions that he is taking "the sedan" or the "the roadster". And a sedan cerainly doesn't conjure up images the traditional 1920's Town Car. While Wolfe may well be magisterial, I suspect his sympathies are "traditional" Libertarian, which doesn't sit well with what a "proper" Town Car implies.

I noticed a Rolls Royce was used in the TV series.

104Linkmeister
Set 18, 2006, 5:12 pm

You gotta remember that the books were written before product placement came into being for creative works. Now you see labeled goods in movies all the time, and wasn't there a book a while back which was deliberately written as an ad for a fashion or perfume brand?

Seriously, I suspect that Stout really didn't want to use names which might imply an endorsement (other than Archie's ties -- I seem to remember him going out to buy a Sulka!).

105cogitno
Set 22, 2006, 2:53 am

Talk about naivety, product placement in books had never occurred to me!

It should have, as I devoured Ian Fleming's Bond stories as a teenager, in which just about every consumable, service or asset was branded. Another item to add that to the the repertory of arguments against Fleming and Stout co-authoring a Bond / Wolfe novel.

106Linkmeister
Set 22, 2006, 8:11 pm

I'm a cynic. ;)

107Eurydice
Ott 8, 2006, 11:42 pm

Rightly so, I'm afraid! ;)

108Eurydice
Ott 8, 2006, 11:48 pm

By the way, my apologies for not posting to this group much, lately. It's been nagging at me. Let us, anyway, put it that I miss the group and all of my fellow fans, as well as Stout's inimitable creations. :)

At the best mystery bookstore here (aside from a purveyor of first editions which I am not fool enough to frequent), I saw a beautiful hardcover of Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-Fifth Street a week or so ago, and almost bought it. I loved the dust jacket: beautiful gun-and-orchid in black and white. BUT - I'd have had to trade the rest of what was in my hands for the thing, and I wasn't sure I wanted to. Probably wrong, there. ;) Now it's haunting me...

109cogitno
Ott 9, 2006, 12:35 am

There's always tomorow, or next year.

Haunted! I'm haunted by the absence of even a "worst mystery bookstore" in my town.

What is an appropriate age to introduce Nero Wolfe to younger readers. I have a number of Nieces and Nephews who may be candidates, but have so far be reluctant, lest I spoil their appetites by a premature introduction? Any thoughts would be welcome.

110Eurydice
Ott 9, 2006, 1:39 am

Mm.... 13, 15? I'm just guessing. I was in my early twenties before I stumbled upon him. Younger, perhaps, if you feel they'll appreciate Archie's tone, and not be put off by the vocabulary. Wolfe's diction is just darn cool. :)

111Eurydice
Ott 9, 2006, 1:39 am

(Groans at the number of years to wait before introducing her own nephews....) ;)

112Linkmeister
Ott 9, 2006, 3:29 pm

I was in my early teens when I first found a Wolfe book, but I don't know how I did. My parents were big readers, but not paperback buyers. I remember the shelves over my desk at home being stuffed to the gills with Agatha Christie and John Blaine.

113MrsLee
Nov 19, 2006, 2:24 am

Hello, I'm new to the group and I'm trying to answer some of the questions posed in message 3. I may have said some of these things in other places, so I hope I don't bore anyone.
I have been reading Stout for about twenty years. My husband's aunt, a mystery lover, introduced me to Stout and Sayers. She "willed" me the Triple Zeck hardcover. It is still my favorite, for sentimental reasons and I enjoy the trilogy. Wolfe skinny!
Wolfe reminds me of a crusty, super-intelligent, warm-hearted uncle of mine. He would rather die than allow anyone to see his tenderness, and he was quite the gourmand. Also, being an attorney, he loved to hear himself talk.
Archie is a dream. He is the reason I have read the canon three times at least. He's just a good friend to visit, which answers the appeal question I think. I do love Saul, and I married someone very like him, only he is a sleuth of arcane information such as five-vowel words, instead of criminals. I love Fred's faithfulness. Orrie is my least favorite, but wasn't it planned that way? Given time, he would mature. I also see the glass half full. Fritz has got to be the most patient chef ever on this earth. As for plots, I don't read mysteries for plots...I just like to enjoy the ride and let the sleuths solve the puzzle. I do not even enjoy it if I can figure it out, which I seem to be doing more often these days.
I own The Nero Wolfe Cookbook and several hardbacks with titles having to do with poker. I also rescue Wolfe books from our library sale, they seem to be purging. My husband, who is compulsive in gift giving (did I say he was a great guy?), bought me all the Wolfe stories in paperback over the last 15 years, as well as several of Stout's other works. I did not enjoy the odd novels much, except the stories with Cramer as the detective and Theodolina? Sorry, it's been a long time since I've looked at them so I don't remember the titles, if you want to know I will look them up for you. Still, not like the Wolfe stories. My delima. Do I get rid of the paperbacks as I aquire the hardbacks? Most of the paperbacks have interesting tidbits of info in the introductions and look cool together on the shelf. Easier to pack if I move. But can I bring myself to get rid of the hardbacks? They hold up better over the years. Sigh. I guess I can put the decision off until there is no more room in my house for books. OK, now I'm going to read the rest of these messages.

114MrsLee
Nov 19, 2006, 2:58 am

Please forgive me, I'm posting as I read through all these messages, and this one is going to be vague, it's been several years since I've had a read through the Wolfe canon, but on the idea of extra characters, I've always had a soft spot for the woman who was almost a bag lady who came to Wolfe for help and was then run over by a car. I believe that Golden Spiders used the same idea, only it was a young newspaper boy. Anyway, I've always liked her. He gives so much personality to these expendable people. That really draws you into the stories. Also, I see that this is where I should have talked about the A&E series. Oh well, that is on another message board.

115MrsLee
Nov 19, 2006, 3:29 am

Still plodding along through the messages, #70, oroboros, I am AMAZED at your self-control. Wow. I try to vary my reading between history, classics, and educational things, then I throw in a mystery to lighten the load. My problem is, when I begin the mystery, I end up reading through the night and finish it in one day. Always sad to see it done.

116MrsLee
Nov 19, 2006, 3:45 am

Another thought on the Bond/Archie issue, message #94. It seems to me there must be a fanfic out there doing this story. If I were to do a version, Archie would deliver the girl from Bond's influence, not necessarily for himself, but just for her sake. I don't think he would have much nice to say about Bond at all. I think deep-down, as much as Archie tries to be a man-about-town, he has a great mid-western respect for women.

117MrsLee
Nov 19, 2006, 3:55 am

All caught up now, please don't everybody leave the discussion just as I arrive, I promise not to post this many in a row ever again!

118Eurydice
Nov 20, 2006, 8:48 am

LOL. No worries. I'm just sorry to be so slow. It has been a bit quiet around here, but I imagine that's much my own fault, for not keeping up discussion lately.

I love Archie's voice. It's one of the great appeals of the series. And now that I am working on a mystery, myself, I appreciate it all the more - and hope indeed no one is reading for the plot!

Married to a Saul, Mrs. Lee? You are fortunate, indeed!

Archie, I agree, looks incredibly concerned for women compared with Bond. As I may have said: I always wished I could date Archie a little, and marry Saul. It has not worked, yet. ;) Ah, well. We hope there is still time.

It's been just long enough I am beginning to think about making my way through the canon, again. I may go chronologically, this time, as despite other re-readings, it's the first time I've actually owned all the books. Meanwhile, I've been reading and collecting John Dickson Carr.

More soon. And welcome!

119Eurydice
Nov 20, 2006, 8:51 am

Ah, about the odd titles you mentioned, Mrs. Lee: Red Threads has Cramer but not Wolfe, and The Hand in the Glove is a Dol Bonner mystery. I think her name is Theodolinda, actually. I must look it up.

Are there any others with Cramer, sans Wolfe, do the rest of you know?

120darron.shaffer
Nov 20, 2006, 11:07 am

One of the most interesting things about Red Threads, for me, was how Cramer uses the same tactics for handling witnesses that always fails so utterly with Wolfe. And it works.

It put the Cramer/Wolfe relationship into a new light for me.

121Eurydice
Nov 20, 2006, 8:56 pm

I ought to re-read it, then. Oddly, I don't remember that as well as some descriptions of textiles, or locations. But it was distinctly different - and interesting - to see Cramer off on his own, functioning as something other than a satellite to Nero Wolfe.

122PhilipMarlowe
Nov 21, 2006, 1:49 am

I've only heard MP3's of the Nero Wolfe radio show (from the Soap Detectives Podcast... very fun thing). What books do you recommend as an intro to Nero Wolfe?

123Eurydice
Nov 21, 2006, 2:14 am

Hey, love the name, PhilipMarlowe!

Were they the ones with Sydney Greenstreet? Some episodes I have also star Gerald Mohr as Archie. I didn't like him as Archie Goodwin, but he was a marvelous (you guessed it) Philip Marlowe! If you haven't heard his 'Adventures of...', try to find it. It's one of the two or three best radio series I've ever heard.

The first book is, as usual, a good if not perfectly representative place to begin. Fer-de-Lance. Last I knew, it was stlll in print and most large bookstores stock it. Some Buried Caesar and Over My Dead Body are, in chronological order, the next which I know to be in print. All three are from the 1930s. Some Buried Caesar isn't a favorite of mine, but does introduce recurring minor character Lily Rowan, which is not to be missed.

The other option is to start with some of the most famous books of the '50s and '60s. If you'd rather do that, we could draw up a list in no time. :)

Hope that helps.

124Linkmeister
Nov 21, 2006, 4:32 pm

"recurring minor character Lily Rowan"

What?!? Who you callin' minor????

If it weren't for that book I'd have never ever read the word "Escamillo" in print. Archie's description of her as "a gazelle in a herd of Guernseys" is lovely. I've been looking all my life for a woman to say that to. ;)

125Linkmeister
Nov 21, 2006, 4:34 pm

"the woman who was almost a bag lady who came to Wolfe for help and was then run over by a car."

That was one of the short stories. Tammy something-or-other was a T-woman, and counterfeiting was the crime.

126Eurydice
Nov 21, 2006, 5:31 pm

Oh, Linkmeister, my apologies!

She's a very IMPORTANT minor character. ;)

Or, to try again: 'Meeting Lily Rowan, one of the recurring, secondary characters with whom Stout excelled, is not to be missed. - And that though Some Buried Caesar is, otherwise, not one of my favorite books.'

I wish I was a gazelle and not one of the Guernseys. Darn it.

127MrsLee
Nov 21, 2006, 10:37 pm

A gazelle of the spirit and heart dear! The right men will recognize it :)

As for Some Buried Caesar, I love the comparison of the chicken and dumplings in the different church women's tents. Was it Methodist and Baptist? I can't remember who won, but it inspired me to work at it until I could make marvelous chicken and dumplings myself. Light fluffy dumplings, rich gravy and tender chicken...think I need to go cook now.

128MrsLee
Nov 21, 2006, 10:43 pm

Questo messaggio è stato cancellato dall'autore.

129MrsLee
Nov 21, 2006, 10:45 pm

If another message, very similar to #127 appears, it's because this thing is swallowing my posts. I suppose patience is the order of the day and that is what is meant by the green words at the bottom.

130MrsLee
Nov 21, 2006, 10:50 pm

Is there a link somewhere to find all of the Wolfe mysteries in chronological order? I would like to read through them again and I find the lists in the beginning of my books a poor help.

131Eurydice
Nov 22, 2006, 12:02 am

You're very kind. :)

And you're perfectly right about the chicken and dumplings. Lovely scenes and most tempting. Don't spare any chicken-and-dumpling making advice you may have for us.

I leave the link question for a couple of the members who have proved themselves so good with them.

132Linkmeister
Nov 22, 2006, 7:56 pm

Mrs. Lee,
I thought I'd posted this link before, but Firefox isn't finding the phrase on this page.

This website has the books listed in publication order, but you've got to page down to get past the lists you see first (those are alpha). Once you see "Fer de Lance" in bold, centered, you've found the chronological list.

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8907/nero.html

Eurydice, if you'd called Lucy Valdon a minor character I wouldn't have objected, but Lily? Lily once necked with Nero Wolfe! How could she be minor? ;)

133Eurydice
Nov 22, 2006, 10:36 pm

Quite right. I stand chastened.

134MrsLee
Nov 23, 2006, 5:07 am

Thank you for the link, not for nothing are you named Linkmeister! Looks like a great site, but I better wait until after Thanksgiving to explore.
Eurydice, I would be happy to share the chicken and dumpling recipe with you. Shall I post it here, or to your profile?

135jest
Nov 24, 2006, 6:48 am

darron.shaffer,

That point about Cramer's tactics is the most interesting thing I've ever heard about Red Threads. Now I'm feeling inspired to actually read it.

136Eurydice
Nov 24, 2006, 12:01 pm

MrsLee, that would be marvelous. A fresh thread here, or email it to me - as seems good to you. My email address is on my profile.

137laytonwoman3rd
Modificato: Dic 1, 2006, 8:21 am

"It's the birthday of American detective novelist Rex Stout, (books by this author) born in Noblesville, Indiana (1886). He was 46 years old when he wrote his first novel featuring Nero Wolfe, a detective who weighs more than 300 pounds, collects orchids, and never leaves his house. The first Nero Wolfe novel was called Fer-de-Lance, and it was published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1934. It was a huge success, and Stout went on to write another Wolfe novel almost every year for the rest of his life. He ultimately published 46 novels in the Nero Wolfe series." CREDIT GARRISON KEILLOR'S WRITER'S ALMANAC for this date.
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/

138MrsLee
Dic 12, 2006, 4:55 am

I'm not sure if this is encouraged here, please tell me if I'm in the wrong, but I found this link on another site and thought it might be of interest to those of you who are budding or blooming :) authors.

http://tinyurl. com/yes832

Can you write a novella?

139tsjafo Primo messaggio
Dic 26, 2006, 5:42 pm

I've just now discovered your invitation. Thank you. I'm surprised that in the discussions of other books similar to Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series no one has mention the Glen Cook Garret P.I. series. I've heard it described as Nero Wolfe set in fairyland. They definitely remind me of the Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin dynamic.

140Eurydice
Dic 26, 2006, 8:03 pm

MrsLee: How cool! I wish I thought much of my deductive skills, for a detective's use, but it looks terrific and fun.

tsjafo: Welcome. Nero Wolfe set in fairyland? My goodness. The only problem seems to be the early volumes' relative scarcity or expense. Where would you recommend starting, or, what's best?

141MrsLee
Dic 27, 2006, 5:09 am

Has this been discussed on another thread? Are there Nero Wolfesc type of stories out there? I know there are tons of English Lords or aristocracy who do detecting and also Holmes type stories. I really have to read the Wolfe type in fairyland...

142tsjafo
Dic 27, 2006, 4:17 pm

www.fictionwise.com has a downloadable version of Angry Red Skies for about $7. They also have four Nero Wolfe novels for 9 bucks each. Shows you the relative popularity of Nero Wolfe!

Your local library might carry some Glen Cook but you'd probably be better off hitting the used paperback stores. I don't have a favorite but any of the books should give you an idea about the books. Sweet Silver Blues is the first in the series but any of the books should do.

I like Rex Stout's style and the interplay between Wolfe and Archie. Since Stout has stopped writing them for some reason (*grin*) I enjoy seeing his style carried on by other writers.

143MrsLee
Dic 27, 2006, 4:48 pm

Thanks, we have a used paperback store right across from our library, so maybe between the two I'll come up with something.

I agree with you about the interplay between Wolfe and Archie. That would be hard to duplicate. Having read the one or two novels written after Stout died, I had given up. They just didn't have that spark as far as I was concerned.

144Eurydice
Dic 27, 2006, 7:26 pm

I read part of a Goldsborough in a reprint of Stout, and simply couldn't stomach it. Derivations and borrowings can be great things, but outright imitation is usually awful. I'll keep an eye out at my favorite used bookstores, then, tsjafo. I'm looking forward to it. Thank you!

MrsLee, I don't really know about Wolfe-style stories outside the Stout canon. There are a variety of odd-couple detective pairs, but I don't know many of them, nor do they necessarily replicate the Wolfeian feel. (I know this is obvious, but... I'm tired enough to say it, anyway. :) ) Maybe someone else can contribute, here?

145tsjafo
Dic 27, 2006, 9:29 pm

The novels by Goldsborough seemed to me to be more concerned with providing laundry list of Wolfe/Goodwin cliches than an original mystery. As if he were working so hard to make Wolfe fans comfortable, to carry on the tradition, that he forgot to tell the story.

146Eurydice
Dic 27, 2006, 9:35 pm

How boring (and sad). It has to be hard, failing in a mimicry of someone else's creation. (Though perhaps he didn't know, and I know there were enough of them, perhaps he didn't think he'd failed.)

147quartzite
Modificato: Dic 29, 2006, 6:39 am

I believe the series which includes The Ruby-Red Clue and the The Chartreuse Clue by William F. Love were clearly modelled on the Wolfe/Archie stories. The crime solvers in question are New-York-based Catholic Bishop Regan, who is wheelchair bound, and thus often more or less house bound, as the brains, paired with his live-in assistant, Jewish ex-cop and ladies' man Dave Goldman, who does the running around and provides the muscle and wisecracks. Given the strong parallels, I had trouble judging the series on its own merits. For me it did not live up to its model and I dropped it after two books.

148MrsLee
Dic 29, 2006, 4:17 am

I agree, that sounds more like mimicry. I wondered if the Norths would compare, they certainly wise-crack, but that's about all they do that is similar. Funny, I don't want something too like, and I won't settle for anything less, so I guess it's back to re-reads :)

149etrainer
Gen 27, 2007, 5:02 pm

I picked up a very old used paperback copy of Too Many Cooks today at my favorite local used book store. It's a Dell, originally $0.25. Interesting since I just finished reading A Right to Die, where a character from Cooks makes a return appearance. I'll have to read it carefully - it's old and brittle!

150Eurydice
Gen 27, 2007, 10:52 pm

Oh, etrainer, I envy you the find and sympathize: I recently got a very old John Dickson Carr and after opening have been afraid to read it. I also read A Right to Die previous to Too Many Cooks. The racism Stout is trying to portray and combat makes for uncomfortable reading, but I greatly appreciated his effort to treat the subject, anyway (- and in 1938). He was excellent on human dignity, whether the infringment was racism, communist regimes, denial of free speech - or murder.

151etrainer
Feb 4, 2007, 12:53 pm

Finished Too Many Cooks and The Rubber Band. Both excellent, but I really enjoyed The Rubber Band.

152etrainer
Modificato: Feb 18, 2007, 6:51 pm

What's happened to all the Wolfe fans?

I finished A Family Affair, I believe the last Wolfe book (Edited to say that I see by own list that there are a couple of more - one from 1977 and three stories from 1985). I frankly did not remember a thing about it, although it's been on my shelf for many years. And it was something of a shocker. Who else read and enjoyed this Wolfe book?

153etrainer
Feb 18, 2007, 7:07 pm

I've read all the Nero Wolfes that I previously owned and about a dozen I've purchased since this group got started. By my count I have 16 more to go.

154Eurydice
Feb 18, 2007, 7:50 pm

Etrainer, my apologies. I've been lax in answering, and not especially good at generating topics in any of my groups, lately.

You're right about A Family Affair: a definite shocker, but I can't say I enjoyed it. I'm grateful to note everyone in the group has been carefully discreet about when it's come up. :) The main question is, do you think Stout's central argument in solving the case is fair? Does it hold water, for you? In my case, the answer is 'yes'. I'm presuming, since you suggest you enjoyed it, that your own answer is the same?

It sounds to me like you're at enviable spot: enough of the canon behind you to be really well-informed and get full enjoyment from all the routines and inconsistencies, with a number ahead that's both achievable and not yet frighteningly close to no more NEW Nero Wolfes!. Getting down to five or so, knowing each one brought me closer to never again seeing a brand-new case, caused something like dread. :)

Probably my lack of re-reading in the last year has caused ideas to fizzle. The deterrent has been that I finished the Wolfe canon relatively recently - March of last year - and had read Wolfes rather intensively in the two years before. However, I do love them, and it has been a while. If anyone would care to toss out two or three suggestions, I'll make one my next light read. (I have two other 'light' books in progress, so I may not start till next week.)

155Linkmeister
Feb 18, 2007, 8:41 pm

For fun comparisons, try reading Over My Dead Body and then read something like Please Pass the Guilt. Wolfe doesn't change much, but Archie!

156Eurydice
Feb 19, 2007, 1:06 am

A good thought, that, Linkmeister. As MrsLee would like to join a read of the Zeck trilogy, which AdonisGuilfoyle left an interesting and unanswered post on, I'll start with that. But definitely, Archie went through great changes, and it would be fun to see some of the incarnations side-by-side. Next time up.

Anyone interested in joining us for the Zeck, I think we'll start on the 21st. No one need do so - it'll be fun as it is - but anyone is welcome to.

157cogitno
Modificato: Mag 7, 2007, 8:29 am

I came across 5 Nero Wolfe related podcasts on the Radio Detective Story Hour: episodes 87 through 91. The link is:

http://www.podango.com/podcast/546/Radio_Detective_Story_Hour

The episodes can either be listened to directly from your computer, downloaded and played at you leisure or, subscribed to as a feed to you podcatching client.

The shows concentrate on Archie, using rare recordings of episodes that high-light the various "Archie's". Be warned that the podango site can very quickly obliterate any residue of free time left you.

....Edit: can't work out how to make the link live!?

158Linkmeister
Modificato: Mag 7, 2007, 1:50 pm

cogitno, do you mean the html wouldn't work if you tried to embed it? The (a href= ) part? 'Cause I had that same problem yesterday.

One solution for users of Firefox -- find the Linkification extension and install it. It turns all raw URLs into active links and doesn't take up more than an itsy-bitsy amount of space.

159etrainer
Mag 8, 2007, 4:16 pm

Cognito, I'm listening to the first of the episodes now. The introduction criticizes the Archie actor's voice. I find the Nero to be MUCH more annoying - especially the "Baaaah!" instead of "Pfui"!! I've never seen the TV series or heard the radio episodes, but I imagine Nero sounding more like Raymond Burr in 'Perry Mason'. Not at all like the sound I'm hearing now. What do you think?

160cogitno
Modificato: Mag 8, 2007, 11:08 pm

Linkmeister: thanks for the tip. A very clever little extension. I confirm that I couldn't the the "href= " to work. But that isn't surprising as I know next to nothing about html.

Etrainer: I've heard all the episodes now and have come to the conclusion that the various Nero Wolfe radio series were less about fidelity to the original characters, than the were in high-lighting idiocyncratic behaviour.

I guess Raymond Burr's Perry Mason would be a good fit, but it has been so long since I've seen any of the episodes, it is difficult to be definitive. Perry Mason's tone was commanding and his manner was occassionally curt, characteristics which are both required to render Stout properly. I've always had the impression that the Wolfe's voice would a have a hint of European in it, which Raymond Burr lacks. Sidney Greenstreet has it, but is a little gruff. Orson Welles also (somehow) has it, but is perhaps, a little to cultured. Sidney Greenstreet features very effectively in one of the episodes, despite his inappropriate injection of humour ... and extraordinarily bad puns.

The only perfect voice is the one in the book.

161etrainer
Mag 9, 2007, 7:40 pm

cognito, right about the accent. I was thinking more of the pure sound of the voice. Raymond Burr with the proper accent would be close to the voice I 'hear' as I read Wolfe's words.

162MrsLee
Mag 14, 2007, 8:11 pm

I just listened to an old radio broadcast of a Nero Wolfe story on:

http://www.otr.net/

Sidney Greenstreet was Wolfe. I am with you cogitno, the only perfect voice is in the book. Mr. Greenstreet was to gravelly for my taste. The sound quality was not ideal though. I loathed Archie's voice, but I've forgotten the actor's name. He sounded too old and whiny to me. The story was somewhat lame, I thought, but what can you do with only half an hour?

163Eurydice
Mag 16, 2007, 5:16 pm

Gerald Mohr, probably, was Archie. I agree he was a rotten Archie, and missed the character completely; but let no one overlook him as Philip Marlowe. In 'The Adventures of...', a fine series, he was marvelous.

Still, I enjoyed The Adventures of Nero Wolfe, too, for all their disappointments. Though he was too silly, I liked Sydney Greenstreet in the Wolfe role.

My belated hello to all of you! Sorry for the absence. I've been visiting a good friend in a lovely city, and essentially ignoring the internet; besides recovering on coming home. At least there was a row of Wolfe titles ever-visible in the Saul-like living room; and I gained a copy of At Wolfe's Door, a perfectly-chosen gift; besides lingering in the Lincoln Park Conservatory's Orchid Room, and wishing a Theodore were handy, to ask about unlabeled blooms.

164MrsLee
Mag 16, 2007, 9:26 pm

Sounds lovely Eurydice, good to have you back. :)

165Eurydice
Mag 16, 2007, 11:51 pm

Thank you; it was. :) Nice to be back in your midst.

166etrainer
Mag 19, 2007, 6:03 pm

I went to the bookstore looking for a used The Woods by Harlan Coben. Didn't find it, but I DID FIND four more Wolfes that didn't have:

Too Many Clients
Three Men Out
Curtains for Three
The Father Hunt

167etrainer
Mag 19, 2007, 6:07 pm

Where did the edit your message button go? Touchstones not working in #166.

168wormread Primo messaggio
Mag 20, 2007, 9:12 am

The Father Hunt is one of my favourite Wolfe books.

169etrainer
Lug 3, 2007, 9:14 pm

I'm having trouble finding the last 8 or 9 Wolfe books I need complete my effort to read them all, but I did fine three Robert Goldsborough books featuring Archie and Wolfe -Murder in E Minor, Death on a Deadline, and The Last Coincidence. I'll start them until I find the next true Wolfe.

170quartzite
Lug 6, 2007, 3:13 pm

Just came across a little factoid, I had not heard before. Apparently Algonquin Roundtable denizen Alexander Woolcott, best known today perhaps as the model for Sheridan Whitehead in The Man who Came to Dinner claimed that he was the also the model for Nero Wolfe. Stout begged to differ.

171laytonwoman3rd
Lug 6, 2007, 4:22 pm

Stout should know!

172etrainer
Modificato: Lug 29, 2007, 3:12 pm

When I started reading the paperback The Last Coincidence , I found the title page was autographed by Goldsborough (if it is not a fake!).

Trying to display image here



Sorry for the poor scan.

173fieldsjj
Modificato: Apr 27, 2014, 8:08 am

There was a Heron model racing car from New Zealand built by Ross Baker
I believe he used Fiat motors.
I don't know much about Rex Stout, is it possible he was a Formula 1/Grand Prix racing fan?

174Crypto-Willobie
Ott 22, 2015, 10:55 am

This group shouldn't be dormant!

175jhicks62
Ott 22, 2015, 3:29 pm

Agreed!! Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe books are my favorites!

176MrsLee
Nov 1, 2015, 9:02 pm

I check here frequently for new messages. I have a great love of my Nero Wolfe books, but I'm not reading them at the moment.

177tottman
Nov 2, 2015, 1:32 am

I'm mostly listening to the audio versions this time through. I recently listened to Death of a Dude and Death of a Doxy . While both were really good, I'd forgotten how truly wonderful Death of a Doxy was.

178Crypto-Willobie
Nov 2, 2015, 8:44 am

Those are probably from the same audio series I listen to about ten yrs ago-- they were pretty good I recall. May have to dig them out again.

179MrsLee
Nov 2, 2015, 3:45 pm

Hmm, after I finish my Jim Butcher reads on audio, I may have to look into these!

180jhicks62
Nov 3, 2015, 3:04 pm

I've read them all before, and some several times (Fer-de-Lance), but I'm trying something new this time -- I'm reading them chronologically by published date -- I'm up through Some Buried Caesar so far.

181Crypto-Willobie
Nov 3, 2015, 3:25 pm

Great project! I did that once and it was very revealing. Since you've read them before this shouldn't be a spoiler (exactly) but for instance I was surprised to find that the famous Red Leather Chair first appears pretty far in, sometime in the (later?) 1940s, iirc.

I first read Wolfe in around 1968 or so? and I haven't kept good track but I think i can say I've read all of them at least 3 or 4 times and a handful or more of my favorites (League, Best Families, Doorbell Rang among them) at least half a dozen times.

The Goldsboroughs, however.... I really wanted to like them but I only managed to get through one and 2/3. The 'voice' wasn't there and they tried too hard.

182tottman
Nov 3, 2015, 11:52 pm

If I recall correctly, I think my first exposure to Nero Wolfe was through a big hardcover omnibus someone bought me as a gift. After that for a while the Robert Goldsborough books were the only ones I could find because they were "new" at the time. After a handful though, I realized that there was a WHOLE WORLD of Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout and I spent the next several years buying reprints when I could and scouring every used book store I could find until I had collected every last one. I haven't had the heart or desire to read any more of the Goldsborough ones.

183MrsLee
Nov 4, 2015, 8:52 pm

Same here on Goldsborough, though I must admit that it was not entirely unpleasant reading the one he wrote about Archie's first encounter with Wolfe, Archie Meets Nero Wolfe.

I'm slowly replacing my paperback collection with hardcovers which will stand up better to many rereads. :) For awhile I thought I would keep the paperbacks too, because my husband bought them all for me and they have extras in them, a really nice set, but I don't have room for both.

184Crypto-Willobie
Nov 5, 2015, 4:54 am

extras?

185MrsLee
Nov 5, 2015, 10:10 am

>184 Crypto-Willobie: Usually an introduction of praise from a famous author or publisher or person, then at the back some photos or copies of newspaper articles, letters Stout wrote to his publishers, movie poster images and the like.

186Crypto-Willobie
Nov 5, 2015, 12:47 pm

Ooh, I'd keep those! or at least transfer them to the new copies?

187MrsLee
Nov 6, 2015, 9:48 am

>186 Crypto-Willobie: I know, I know, but I need shelf space for my other favorite authors, too! :D I decided to let them go whole for another reader to discover Wolfe and Archie.

188jhicks62
Nov 6, 2015, 1:10 pm

181: You're right! I am enjoying discovering Stout's first use of things in the stories that we just imagine have been there all along. Like Lily first appearing in Some Buried Caesar, and just how standoffish that Archie was towards her in the beginning.

I didn't read (but bought them anyway), the first 6 or 7 Goldsborough books from the 80s and 90s. But I have enjoyed the three newer ones, starting with Archie Meets Nero Wolfe.

I also agree with you on favorites, except I would also add Fer-De-Lance and the other two Arnold Zeck books, as well.

189Crypto-Willobie
Nov 6, 2015, 4:55 pm

Oh, those were just some of my favorites! Agree on the other Zecks and Ferdelance. Also Might as Well be Dead; Too Many Cooks; oh so many...!

190tottman
Nov 6, 2015, 5:52 pm

It's easier to list the ones that weren't great. Just really good.

191jhicks62
Nov 9, 2015, 3:40 pm

I really enjoy the ones where Mr. Wolfe gets to engage with an intelligence nearly as great as his own. I enjoy the interplay when someone dares to underestimate him that way. Can't think of them all, but Paul Chapin from The League of Frightened Men comes to mind.

192MrsLee
Nov 10, 2015, 9:16 pm

>191 jhicks62: I haven't had time to think through this properly, but do you think Wolfe beats the other superminds because of his understanding of humanity?

193jhicks62
Nov 16, 2015, 11:11 am

MrsLee -- what an excellent question! I think it's that, combined with his ability to think things through logically and thoroughly. As Sherlock Holmes said: "Logic is rare."

194etrainer
Nov 16, 2015, 11:54 am

Wow, I haven't checked in here in quite a while!

195tottman
Nov 16, 2015, 12:52 pm

I don't know that I would entirely agree that Wolfe's understanding of humanity is the reason he beats the other "superminds" because he defers almost entirely to Archie's judgment on anything related to women. On the other hand, he is almost preternaturally skilled at divining motives.

Maybe it's partly the fact that any of the criminals he opposes has an agenda, and no matter how brilliant they are, that agenda leads them to do things which expose them to detection to someone brilliant and dogged enough to follow the clues or devise stratagem to uncover the threads.