This section lists the biographical publications regarding Rex Stout's varied and interesting life as well as the many commentaries (of course containing biographical data) about Nero Wolfe and the world of the brownstone on West Thirty-Fifth Street, Manhattan). There are a links to a number of reading copies as well.
Use the following links to view the listings and slide shows of the cover art from the publications.
- Listing of Stout biographies (below) with links to some scanned reading copies
- Listing of Nero Wolfe Commentaries (below) with links to some reading copies
- Cover Art Page for Biographies of Rex Stout
- Cover Art Page for Commentaries on Nero Wolfe & his world
Don't forget to stop by the Corpus Summary Page for more information and links.
Biographies of Rex Stout
Anderson, David R., Rex Stout,(1984, Frederick Ungar,)
Anderson, David R.,
"Crime and Character: Notes on
Rex Stout's Early Fiction", The Armchair Detective (1980, The Mysterious Press, Spring, 1980, Volume 13, Number 2, p. 169-171)
Bourne, Michael (Editor), Corsage: A Bouquet of Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe (1977 James A. Rock & Co., Publishers)
"Rex Stout: An Informal Interview"
Audio Cassette of the interview available separately [may be in stock]
McAleer, John J. - Rex Stout: A Biography with foreword by P. G. Wodehouse, (1977, Little, Brown)
- Rex Stout: A Biography, Brownstone Mystery Guides, Volume Six, (1994, Borgo Press)
- Rex Stout: A Majesty's Life (reprint, with additional forewords, of Rex Stout: A Biography) (2002, James A. Rock & Co., Publishers,
- Queens Counsel - Conversations with Ruth Stout on her brother Rex Stout, (1987, Pontes Press, Ashton, MD
- Royal Decree - Conversations with Rex Stout (1983, Pontes Press, Ashton, MD)
Review of McAleer Biography from Noblesville, IN Library/Rex Stout Archives
Julian Symons NY Times Review of McAleer Biography and the firestorm of rebuttals
John J. McAleer's "Some Thoughts on Being a Literary Biographer
Also:
- John & Andrew McAleer Site: www.crimestalkers.com
- John J. McAleer Obituary (Boston Globe, 11/21/2003)
Townsend, Guy M. (Editor) with McAleer, John, J. and Sapp, Judson C. and Schemer, Arriean, Rex Stout An Annotated Primary and Secondary Bibliography, (1980, Garland)
"Rex Stout's Most Extraordinary Meal" (1973, Harper's Magazine)
An interview with Mr. Stout regarding his unusual trip to war-ravaged Europe in 1945.
Nero Wolfe Commentaries
(listed alphabetically, by author)
Mr. Wolfe's biographies and career assessments are represented with the following works. However, they also contain insight into Mr. Stout's career as Archie's Literary Agent.
Baring-Gould, William S., Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-fifth Street (1969,, Viking)
Additional Information:
Clark, John D., "Some Notes Relating to a Preliminary Investigation into the Paternity of Nero Wolfe"
- The Baker Street Journal, Vol. VI, No. 1, New Series, Jan, 1956
- The Gazette, Volume II, Number 4 – Autumn 1983 (available for purchase)
Cannon, Ammie Sorensen, "Controversial Politics, Conservative Genre: Rex Stout's Archie-Wolfe Duo And Detective Fiction's Conventional Form" (August, 2006, Brigham Young University, Master of Arts Thesis, Department of English)
Dale, Alzina Stone, Mystery Readers Walking Guide: New York, (1993, Passport Books, NTC Publishing Group, Lincolnwood, IL.)
Darby, Ken, The Brownstone House of Nero Wolfe (As Told By Archie Goodwin) (1983, Little, Brown)
DeVoto, Bernard, "The Easy Chair - Alias Nero Wolfe", (July, 1954, Harpers Magazine)
Gotwald, Rev. Frederick G.
- Rex Stout, Name-dropper
- The Nero Wolfe Handbook, Revised, 2000
- New York City Walkabout, Revised, 1998
- Nero Wolfe Companion ( 10 volumes)
Photo on the right: The Rev. Gotwald at the Wolfe Pack's 2002 Black Orchid Assembly. The books by Rev. Gotwald, a longtime Wolfe Pack member, were privately published and are no longer available.
Kaye, Marvin, Editor
Collected articles from The Gazette , The Journal of the Wolfe Pack:
- The Nero Wolfe Files, Wildside Press, Publishers, 2005
- The Archie Goodwin Files, Wildside Press, Publishers, 2005
McAleer, John J., Rex Stout Journals (1987, Pontes Press, Ashton, MD)
- No. 1 - Autumn, 1984
- No. 2 - Spring, 1985
- No. 3 - Autumn, 1985
- No. 4 - Spring, 1986
No. 5 - Autumn, 1986/1988
McAleer, John J., "Rex Stout Newsletter", The Armchair Detective, (Spring, 1980, The Mysterious Press, Volume 13, Number 2, p. 108-109)
McAleer, John J., "Misogynist Rex", (1979, Murderess Ink, Editor, Dilys Winn, Workman Publishing. Pages 86-89)
McBride, O. E., A Stout Fellow: A Guide through Nero Wolfe's World (2003, iUniverse, Incorporated)
O'Shaughnessy, H. M., Trivia and Treasures from Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Detective Stories-- from the mother of Perri O'Shaugnessy (the pen-name for two people, Pamela and Mary O'Shaughnessy, sisters and authors of the many bestselling Nina Reilly novels.)
Penzler, Otto, Private Lives Of Private Eyes: Spies, Crime Fighters, and Other Good Guys, (1977, Grosset & Dunlap, New York)
Ruaud, André-François, Les Nombreuses Vies de Nero Wolfe: Un Privé À New York, (2008, les moutons électriques)
This beautiful new homage to Nero Wolfe & Rex Stout is available online from Amazon France. Even if you do not read French, the hundreds of illustrations are worth the purchase price!
Roseman, Mill, Penzler, Otto, Steinbrunner, Chris, Lachman, Marvin, Detectionary, (1977, The Overlook Press, Woodstock, New York)
Spiesman, Anthony, "Nero Wolfe Consultation", Murder Ink, Editor, Dilys Winn, (1977, Workman Publishing, Pages 88-90)
Stout, Rex & The Editors of Viking Press, The Nero Wolfe Cook Book (1987, Viking Press)
Polsby, Nelson W., "Alimentary, my dear Watson," (August, 1973,
Harper's Magazine)
A review
of the cook book (to the right)—Harper's online scan has the right side of the 2nd page cropped too close to the margin.)
- There are many Wolfe-themed recipes on various sites on the web.
- Some sites are listed on our links page and you can also search the web to find many more sites with Wolfe recipes.
Symons, Julian; Adams, Tom (Illustrator) The Great Detectives, Harry N. Abrams, (Nero Wolfe pastiche with fabulous full color illustrations by Tom Adams. Click the READ button to view scans of the artwork. (Thank you Harry N. Abrams.)
Townsend, Guy, "Nero Wolfe Saga" in The Mystery Fancier magazines, multiple volumes, May 1977 / June 1980.
Van Dover, J. Kenneth
- At Wolfe's Door -- The Nero Wolfe Novels of Rex Stout (2003, James A. Rock & Co., Publishers) (A reprint, with additional material, of the original, 1991, Borgo Press)
- At Wolfe's Door -- The Nero Wolfe Novels of Rex Stout (1991, The Borgo Press)
Zuckerman, Molly Jane Levine, Rex stout Does Not Belong in Russia: Exporting the Detective Novel (2016, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, New York)
