Description: Five of a Kind: The Third Nero Wolfe OmnibusStout, RexPublished by The Viking Press, New York, NY, 1961 TOO MANY CLIENTSRex StoutPublished by Viking Press, New York, 1960 Trio for Blunt Instruments - A Nero Wolfe ThreesomeStout, RexPublished by The Viking Press, New York, USA, 1964 Father HuntRex StoutPublished by Viking Press, 1969ISBN 10: 9997405706 / ISBN 13: 9789997405708 Please Pass the Guilt: A New Nero Wolfe NovelStout, RexPublished by The Viking Press, 1973ISBN 10: 0670559946 / ISBN 13: 9780670559947 A Family AffairStout, RexPublished by Viking Press, New York, 1975ISBN 10: 0670306118 / ISBN 13: 9780670306114 Death Of A Dude, A Nero Wolfe NovelStout, RexPublished by Viking Press, New York, 1969ISBN 10: 0670261408 / ISBN 13: 9780670261406 Nero Wolfe is a brilliant, obese and eccentric fictional armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Montenegro and keeps his past murky. He lives in a luxurious brownstone on West 35th Street in New York City, and he is loath to leave his home for business or anything that would keep him from reading his books, tending his orchids, or eating the gourmet meals prepared by his chef, Fritz Brenner. Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's sharp-witted, dapper young confidential assistant with an eye for attractive women, narrates the cases and does the legwork for the detective genius. Stout published 33 novels and 41 novellas and short stories featuring Wolfe from 1934 to 1975, with most of them set in New York City. The stories have been adapted for film, radio, television and the stage. The Nero Wolfe corpus was nominated for Best Mystery Series of the Century in 2000 at Bouchercon XXXI, the world's largest mystery convention, and Rex Stout was a nominee for Best Mystery Writer of the Century. Title characterI suggest beginning with autobiographical sketches from each of us, and here is mine. I was born in Montenegro and spent my early boyhood there. At the age of sixteen I decided to move around, and in fourteen years I became acquainted with most of Europe, a little of Africa, and much of Asia, in a variety of roles and activities. Coming to this country in nineteen-thirty, not penniless, I bought this house and entered into practice as a private detective. I am a naturalized American citizen. — Nero Wolfe addressing the suspects in "Fourth of July Picnic" (1957)Although the Nero Wolfe stories take place contemporaneously with their writing and depict a changing landscape and society, the principal characters in the corpus (the term used by Wolfe fandom for the collection of books and stories, as the Baker Street Irregulars refer to the Sherlock Holmes tales as "the Canon") do not age. According to a memo prepared by Rex Stout in 1949, Nero Wolfe's age is 56, although this is not explicitly stated in the stories.[a][1]: 383 "Those stories have ignored time for thirty-nine years," Stout told his authorized biographer, John McAleer. "Any reader who can't or won't do the same should skip them. I didn't age the characters because I didn't want to. That would have made it cumbersome and would seem to have centered attention on the characters rather than the stories."[2]: 49 According to the same memo, Wolfe's height is 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) and his weight is 272 lb (123 kg). Archie Goodwin, the narrator of the stories, frequently describes Wolfe as weighing "a seventh of a ton" (equivalent to about 286 pounds). This was intended to indicate unusual obesity at the time of the first book (1934), especially through the use of the word "ton" as the unit of measure. In a single short story written in 1947, Archie writes, "He weighs between 310 and 390, and he limits his physical movements to what he regards as the irreducible essentials."[3][b] "Wolfe's most extravagant distinction is his extreme antipathy to literal extravagance. He will not move," wrote J. Kenneth Van Dover in At Wolfe's Door: The Nero Wolfe Novels of Rex Stout: He insists upon the point: under no circumstances will he leave his home or violate his routines in order to facilitate an investigation. The exceptions are few and remarkable. Instead of spreading the principles of order and justice throughout his society, Wolfe imposes them dogmatically and absolutely within the walls of his house—the brownstone on West Thirty-Fifth Street—and he invites those who are troubled by an incomprehensible and threatening environment to enter the controlled economy of the house and to discover there the source of disorder in their own lives. The invitation is extended to readers as well as to clients.[4]: 2 Wolfe's most remarkable departure from the brownstone is for personal reasons, not for business, and thus does not violate the rule regarding the conduct of business away from the office. That event occurs in The Black Mountain, when he leaves not only the brownstone but the United States to avenge the murder of his oldest friend. He abandons his cherished daily habits for a time and, despite his physical bulk, engages in strenuous outdoor activity in mountain terrain.
Price: 99.99 USD
Location: Utica, New York
End Time: 2025-02-09T15:08:18.000Z
Shipping Cost: 10 USD
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Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 60 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Book Title: Nero Wolfe
Signed: No
Book Series: Nero Wolfe
Ex Libris: No
Narrative Type: Fiction
Publisher: Viking Press
Original Language: English
Intended Audience: Adults
Inscribed: Yes
Vintage: Yes
Personalize: No
Type: Novel
Format: Hardcover
Unit Type: Unit
Language: English
Era: 1950s
Author: Rex Stout
Personalized: No
Genre: Mystery
Topic: Books
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States