Ask the Critic: Best Rex Stout book to start with?

Robyn asks:

What's the best Rex Stout book to start with? Critics seem to differ in their favorites, but often say one or another of his books is "good for beginners." I'm confused!

One of my favorite writers! Rex Stout and his wonderful Nero Wolfe series don't seem to be talked about much these days, but they were early favorites of mine and have retained their appeal over the years.

(Note that Stout did write a handful of books other than the Wolfe series, but I haven't read any of them, and they're not supposed to be especially good.)

The quick answer is to say that I don't think it matters a whole lot which of the Nero Wolfe books you begin with. The characters don't really change much over the years, and there isn't a great deal of continuing story matter in the books. So you should be safe reading pretty much any of them.

However, there are some plot lines that continue (most notably the Arnold Zeck books: And Be a Villain, The Second Confession and In the Best Families), and some details that carry over from book to book, so I would recommend you start reading some of the earlier novels in the series and then move on from there.

So...Try picking up one of the early books and see what you think. Titles that I recall enjoying include The League of Frightened Men, Black Orchids,  Too Many Cooks, Some Buried Caesar...Really, most of them are quite good, so it's hard to go wrong.

Happy reading!

Comments

[Bill Peschel]

Stout's one of my favorite authors as well, so I'd like to kick in a few opinions as well.

First, avoid "A Family Affair" until later. It's not bad, but something happens to one of the series regulars. Save it for later.

I've been told that "Some Buried Caesar" is considered his best, but I haven't read it enough to judge.

"Fer-De-Lance" is the first one, and rather clever.

"The Doorbell Rang" was one of his coolest, in which Wolfe goes up against J. Edgar Hoover's FBI.

You may want to check out his novellas. They're usually grouped in books with "three" in the title ("Three Men Out" which contains "The Zero Clue", one of my favorites, "Curtains for Three" and "Death Times Three."

If you find yourself hooked, looked for "Red Threads," which doesn't have Wolfe, but does have Inspector Cramer. That was a fine mystery.

I remember reading a review of one of his pre-Wolfe novels, "Forest Fire," which sounded like a psychological avant-garde novel.

Stout himself was a pretty interesting character, and I recommend his biography. He bummed around the U.S. in his early days, and at one point walked into a New York hotel and talked himself into a job managing the place. He didn't know beans about running a hotel, but he knew that the most important people there were the maids and the doormen. He gained their sympathy and talked them into teaching him the ropes. That tells you something of his character, and I think it comes out in his stories.

[Linda Coyner]

I just discovered Rex Stout and his Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin characters with the Nero Wolfe Primer (And be a villain, Black Orchids, and Champagne for one) Where was he all my life? I like Bill's suggestions. Can't wait.

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Maybe his first book would be the correct option, "How Like a God", it is a psychological story written in the second person, that probably will blow your mind.