WEST PALM BEACH, — Bantam has reprinted the first two Nero Wolfe novels in a very attractive trade paperback. "Fer-De-Lance" and "The League of Frightened Men" (written in 1934 and 1935 respectively) both hit the ground running; there's never a trace of insecurity in Rex Stout's writing.
I've always felt that Stout was consciously inverting Sherlock Holmes when he created Wolfe. The former is tall, thin and extremely active, the latter is short, fat and dislikes leaving his house. Like Holmes, the stories are narrated by the assistant.
I think the last factor is why Wolfe has never really been successfully adapted into other media; the stories are slightly claustrophobic, and don't have enough movement, even with the peregrinations of Archie, Wolfe's assistant and general dogsbody. Change Wolfe into someone more active, and you lose the character.
At any rate, the mini-omnibus volume offers new introductions by Loren Estleman ("Fer-De-Lance") and Robert Goldsborough ("League of Frightened Men") along with a document that Stout wrote in 1949 outlining the physical characteristics of both his characters and the layout of their townhouse.
On another subject entirely, "John Ringo: King of the Cowboys" (U. of North Texas) is a compelling look at a famous gunfighter who became a lawman, had a peripheral involvement in the Earp-Clanton feud that resulted in the Gunfight at the OK Corral, and ended a probable suicide — he seems to have had a nasty drinking problem. Ringo's name has been used in the movies many times over the years, usually in stories that have absolutely nothing to do with his historical reality (John Wayne plays the Ringo Kid in "Stagecoach," and Gregory Peck plays one "Jimmy Ringo" in the classic "The Gunfighter"). Mainly, this seems to be because he had a great name.
At any rate, David Johnson's book is excellent and worthy of a place on the shelf of histories of the American West.
Mike Browning's Word of the Week...
halidom: something considered sacred or holy.
Scott Eyman writes for The Palm Beach Post. E-mail: seyman AT pbpost.com