April 23, 2010, Newsletter Issue #239: Nero Wolfe Mysteries

Tip of the Week

Nero Wolfe is the detective created by mystery writer Rex Stout.  Debuted in 1934, Wolfe's stories are recorded by his confidential assistant, Archie Goodwin, and most are set in New York City.  Stout chronicled his detective genius' exploits in some 33 novels and 39 short stories from the 1930s to the 1970s.
Like all great fictional detectives, Wolfe has own story and quirks.  Although he is reluctant to discuss his past, he admits to being born in Montenegro, and says only he arrived in the States "not penniless."  Wolfe has expensive tastes and apparently the income to indulge them, and lives in a luxurious three-floor New York brownstone on West 35th Street.  He's renowned as an amateur orchid grower, with 10,000 plants in the brownstone's greenhouse.  Goodwin frequently describes Wolfe as weighing "a seventh of a ton."  (In 1934, when the first book was written, this 286 pounds would have been very unusual size.)  Perhaps his most interesting quirk is Wolfe's policy of never leaving his house for business reasons; in fact, he seldom leaves the house at all.
Stout also followed a quirk of his own in the series.  Although the stores are all set contemporaneously, the principal characters do not age.  Although Wolfe's age is not mentioned in the stories, Stout gave his age as 56.

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