The League of Frightened Men
About the Author:
Rex Stout
Rex Stout wrote many articles and romance and
adventure short stories, even some moderately successful novels. But when he
introduced readers to Nero Wolfe and his personal assistant Archie Goodwin in Fer-de-Lance, he found success. Readers
loved the eccentric 286-pound detective who rarely left his brownstone and
whose major interests were beer, gourmet food, and orchids and worked only when
his bank account was low. Wolf uses Archie to gather clues and suspects for him
and then solves the cases through mental deduction a la Sherlock Holmes without
leaving his armchair. Stout went on to
write 70 more detective novels, 46 of them featuring Nero Wolfe and Archie
Goodwin. He wrote one or more novels, as well as numerous short stories, every
year until his death in 1975. Robert Goldsborough has continued to write Nero
Wolfe novels since then. Nero Wolfe Mysteries, a television series that
aired for two seasons (2001-2002) on the A&E Network, starred William
Conrad and then Maury Chaykin as Nero Wolfe and Timothy Hutton as Archie
Goodwin.
Rex Stout was born
in Noblesville, Indiana
of Quaker parents. He enlisted in the Navy and became a yeoman on President
Teddy Roosevelt’s yacht. Having a strong social conscience, he served on the
original board of the American Civil Liberties Union. During WW II, he worked
with the Friends of Democracy advocacy group and the Writers War Board. He was active in liberal causes and was one
of the writers on Hoover’s private
enemies list. Stout was once president of the Mystery Writers of America, which
presented him with their Grand Master Award, and the Author’s League of
America. He died in Danbury, CT
on October 28, 1975
leaving behind his wife and two daughters. Some of his many
Nero Wolfe novels: Fer-de-Lance, The
League of Frightened Men, The Rubber Band, Too Many Cooks, The Broken Vase, Too
Many Women, The Golden Spiders, Plot it Yourself, Too Many Clients, The
Doorbell Rang, Death of a Dude, and his last A Family Affair.
Other Books By Rex Stout:
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