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Friday, April 10, 2015

One or Two of the Many Reasons Why I Love Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Books


In CHAMPAGNE FOR ONE (1958) Archie Goodwin states:

'If, to the pass the time, you tried to decide what was the most conceited statement you ever heard anybody make, or read or heard of anybody making, what would you pick? The other evening a friend of mine brought it up, and she settled for Louis XIV saying L'etat, c'est moi. I didn't have to go so far back. Mine, I told her, was "They know me." Of course, she wanted to know who said it and when, and since the murderer of Faith Usher had been convicted by a jury just the day before and the matter was closed, I told her.

Wolfe said it that Friday night when I got home and reported. When I finished I made a comment. "You know," I said, "it's pretty damn silly. A police commissioner and a district attorney and an inspector of Homicide all biting nails just because if they say suicide one obscure citizen may let out a squeak."


"They know me," Wolfe said.


Beat that if you can. I admit it was justified by the record. They did know him. What if they officially called it a suicide, and then, in a day or a week or a month, Wolfe phoned WA 9-8241 to tell them to come and get the murderer and the evidence? Not that they were sure that would happen, but past experience had shown them that it was at least an even-money bet that it might happen. My point is not that it wasn't justified, but that it would have been more becoming just to describe the situation.


He saved his breath. He said, "They know me," and picked up his book.'


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More of Nero Wolfe's admirable conceit, from THE RED BOX, (1937):

"But I haven't got ten thousand dollars, not this minute. I think I could have it in a week. But even if I did, my God, just for a couple of hours' work - "

"It is not the work." Wolfe wiggled a finger at him. "It is simply that I will not allow my self-conceit to be bruised by the sort of handling you are trying to give it. It is true that I hire out my abilities for money, but I assure you that I am not to be regarded as a mere peddler of gewgaws or tricks. I am an artist or nothing. Would you commission Matisse to do a painting, and, when he had scribbled his first rough sketch, snatch it from him and crumple it up and tell him, "That's enough, how much do I owe you?" No, you wouldn't do that. You think the comparison is fanciful? I don't. Every artist has his own conceit. I have mine. I know you are young, and your training has left vacant lots in your brain; you don't realize how offensively you have acted." 

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Most days at lunch, I re-read my favorites from my stash of Nero Wolfe paperbacks. I am thankful that I had the prescience to buy as many as I could from a friend's soon-to-close bookstore, years ago. They books show wear and tear, but that's the price of affection. This daily ritual began for me a couple of years ago and I'll continue it - on and off - until I tire of the books - which will be: never.
                                                       
 I do agree with Lena Horne (yes, THAT Lena Horne) in her introduction to my paperback edition of CHAMPAGNE FOR ONE:

'And, of course, there was Archie Goodwin, Nero's legman. Archie had superior wit, a deadpan style, and a deceptively 'unrequiteted' love life. Archie had depth - and he had New York. It was the New York that I missed whenever I was somewhere else. Archie knew the city streets and avenues: brownstones in the West Thirties, bars and grills on Eighth Avenue, coffee shops on Lexington, the Village. He took the subway and buses and taxis; he read the Sunday New York Times. I could picture it all. It satisfied all sorts of homesickness. When I reread Nero Wolfe now, I can see that old beloved New York, and I still miss it...'

Me too, Miss Horne, me too.

New York in the 50's. My hometown.

Just as a fresh reminder, my Five Favorite Nero Wolfe books - at the moment:

MIGHT AS WELL BE DEAD (1956)
THE DOORBELL RANG (1965)
PLOT IT YOURSELF (1959)
MURDER BY THE BOOK (1951)
THE RUBBER BAND (1936)

A complete list of all the Wolfe books at The Wolfpack.

26 comments:

  1. Wonderful Yvette, couldn't agree more (with you and Lena Horne - I've got that Bantam edition too) - Wolfe is always really entertaining. And I still haven't read MURDER BY THE BOOK - must get a copy! Thanks again chum.

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    1. Yes, you must, Sergio. :) It's one of the best. Well, you knew that because it's one title that is always on my 'Top Five' list. I do love to hang out at the brownstone during lunch.

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  2. I think I told you before that I had a ton of Nero Wolf paperbacks, like yours, not in the best of shape but well loved, that I'd picked up for less than a dollar each at book sales, yard sales, etc. But when we moved to Philly, I got rid of them all and I deeply regret it. Never again!

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    1. Oh, heartache! Oh well, better start stock-piling up again. :) Plenty of used book stores in Philly that's for sure. :)

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  3. Yes, Stout's Wolfe is great! But I have a confession. The TV movies of a couple of decades ago spoiled me, and I can no longer read Stout's novels without seeing the actors in their roles. And to be honest, I prefer the TV movies to the books. Yes, shame on me.

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    1. Shame on you is right, RT. Ha! Well, to each his own as I always like to say. But really....no, I won't harangue you. My confession: I never did get into the tv series.

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    2. I liked the last tv series, and the radio series, and have no problem returning to the fiction...did you read Matha Foley's autobio, Yvette, with her reminiscenses of her friendship with Stout? Ivan Shreve's links on the last Tuesday's A/V include his survey of the radio series...

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    3. And do you ever try the annual pastiches in AHMM?

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  4. My favorites at the moment: Fer-de-Lance, Some Buried Caesar, The Silent Speaker, Champagne for One, and The Mother Hunt. But I do love all of them, and The Rubber Band is also a favorite.

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    1. My favorites (except for one or two) change with my mood, Tracy. I too love THE SILENT SPEAKER and CHAMPAGNE FOR ONE, especially.

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  5. Yvette, I'm going to sit out and follow the thread on Rex Stout and his master character. I have not yet read his books.

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    1. Oh, you have to try and find Nero Wolfe, Prashant. You won't be sorry.

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  6. I read all the Nero Wolfe novels years ago, but your enthusiasm (and the great quotes you used) make me really want to go back and read them again. Sure wish I had kept all of my old paperbacks.

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    1. Yes, you definitely should have kept them, Sam. :) Welcome to the blog. Thanks for dropping by.

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  7. Agree on every point, Yvette. And Archie and Wolfe really are inseparable. Without Wolfe, Archie is just another smart mouth, not really equipped to solve the tough ones. Without Archie, Wolfe is just another overweight egoist too lazy to breathe on his own. Together, they are unstoppable.

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    1. Well, I think in several of the books, Les, Wolfe strongly hints that without Archie he wouldn't be. The great mind and the man of action: a perfect duo. In many ways it's a symbiotic relationship.

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  8. Lena knew what she was talking about, and so do you!

    Oddity: My copy of "Murder by the Book" isn't as worn out as some others that I haven't read as often.

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    1. Thanks, C.W. :) Lena Horne and her family lived next door to Rex Stout and his family in upstate NY for a time, so she actually knew him and his ways.

      Maybe you treat MURDER BY THE BOOK with a little bit more reverence. :)

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  9. Yes, how wonderful is Nero Wolfe's conceit. It has made millions of readers smile and laugh.
    I'm thinking of the portly, eccentric curmudgeonly genius sitting at his desk in his study issuing
    commands to Archie, Saul, Fred, and everyone else, including the several suspects he's
    called together in order to reveal the denouement.
    And while he's at it, he telling the chef how to cook and barking orders. Yet, out of his
    mouth come the brilliant deductions and revelations -- all done with Rex Stout's
    incredible wit.
    These books were fun to me when I was 15 decades ago and still are. They are timeless.
    And, yes, they are a tribute to my favorite city New York.
    I feel like a cat lapping up milk or a kid eating an ice cream cone on an August day
    when I read these books. I just sink into the brownstone and watch the events.
    The books provide relaxation and escapism like few others.
    And when one is going through a bad period or is ill -- just read some of Wolfe
    and Goodwin's repartee. It's bound to cheer up everyone and bring a smile or
    the joy that we fans know.

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    1. Exactly, Kathy. These books are the perfect 'cheer me up' when cheering up is what you need. :) It's hard to feel blue when you find yourself in Wolfe and Archie's company.

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  10. You know this blog is why I started reading Rex Stout. I'm working my through chronologically -- up to the early 60s now.

    I think it's almost a misnomer to call them Nero Wolfe mysteries. They're almost Archie Goodwin comedies. He as consistently funny a narrator as any I can think of and the primary reason I love these stories.

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    1. Funny thing, it took me a while to cotton up to Archie. I didn't really start appreciating him until I was almost middle-aged and decided to begin my on-going year to year re-reading of the canon. When I was much MUCH younger, it was Wolfe whom I fixated on. I sort of, kind of, had a crush on the big man. I was always an admirer of genius. :)

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  11. I like the repartee between Wolfe and Goodwin, Wolfe's prouncements on any and every subject and Goodwin's good-natured responses.

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  12. You must see The Imitation Game about Alan Turing and breaking the Nazi code during WWII. Benedict Cumberbatch is brilliant, but the story is both fantastic and depressing and maddening due to Turing's being persecuted for being gay.

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  13. I have so many of these, just sitting around, waiting to be read. One day I will pick one up, I promise!

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  14. I am a child of the 50's. Can remember the day my Mamma took me to see Gone with the wind. All these Movies I have see, except for a few That Crawford one Above Suspicion. Love your posts
    yvonne

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