This is a bibliography of fiction by and works about the American writer Rex Stout (December 1, 1886 – October 27, 1975), an American writer noted for his detective fiction. He began his literary career in the 1910s, writing more than 40 stories that appeared primarily in pulp magazines between 1912 and 1918. He then wrote no fiction for more than a decade, until the late 1920s, when he had saved enough money through his business activities to write when and what he pleased. In 1929, he wrote his first published book, How Like a God, an unusual psychological story written in the second person. He wrote a pioneering political thriller, The President Vanishes (1934), before specializing in detective fiction. His 1934 novel Fer-de-Lance introduced his best-known characters, detective Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin, who were featured in 33 novels and 39 novellas and short stories between 1934 and 1975. In 1959, Stout received the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. The Nero Wolfe corpus was nominated as Best Mystery Series of the Century at Bouchercon XXXI, the world's largest mystery convention, and Rex Stout was nominated as Best Mystery Writer of the Century.
In addition to writing fiction, Stout was a prominent public intellectual for decades. He was active in the early years of the American Civil Liberties Union and a founder of the Vanguard Press. Stout served as head of the Writers' War Board during World War II, became a radio celebrity through his numerous broadcasts, and was later active in promoting World Federalism. He was the longtime president of the Authors Guild and served a term as president of the Mystery Writers of America.
Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe books (novels and collections of novellas and short stories) are listed in order of publication. For specific publication history, including original magazine appearances, see entries for individual titles. Years link to year-in-literature articles.
Stout responds in verse after a review of The League of Frightened Men states "the fact that Rex Stout was a legitimate novelist before he took up the trade of mystery monger"[2]: 261 [3]
Concluding a feature story titled "The Orchid" that was photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt, Archie Goodwin "investigates and explains the deep satisfactions of his boss's orchid-fixation."[4]
Archie Goodwin reports that the previous evening Nero Wolfe and "Rex Stout, my literary agent" filled 27 pages in his notebook with their discussion of Invitation to an Inquest by Walter and Miriam Schneir, a recently published book regarding the case against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg that they are reviewing for Ramparts magazine[1]: 101
1973
The Nero Wolfe Cook Book
Viking Press
August 8, 1973
Edited by Rex Stout and the editors of the Viking Press[1]: 118 Recipes and pertinent quotes from the corpus illustrated by vintage New York City photographs by John Muller, Andreas Feininger and others Chapters include "Breakfast in the Old Brownstone", "Luncheon in the Dining Room", "Warm-Weather Dinners", "Cold-Weather Dinners", "Desserts", "The Perfect Dinner for the Perfect Detective", "The Relapse", "Snacks", "Guests, Male and Female", "Associates for Dinner", "Fritz Brenner", "Dishes Cooked by Others", "Rusterman's Restaurant", "Nero Wolfe Cooks", and "The Kanawha Spa Dinner"[5]
Short story featuring Alphabet Hicks, plus Nero Wolfe recurring character Sergeant Purley Stebbins; also titled "By His Own Hand" and "Curtain Line" in anthology reprintings[1]: 69
A novel of Balkan intrigue and murder about a very dangerous woman; serialized in five parts, in All-Story Weekly and The Cavalier (May 2–9, 1914) and All-Story Cavalier Weekly (May 16–30, 1914)[1]: 3–4 [9][7]
Included in The Bedroom Companion, a humorous collection of risque stories, cartoons, essays, ditties, short plays and poems contributed by authors including Ogden Nash, Marc Connelly, Philip Wylie and Mark Hellinger[1]: 119 [21]
Bourne, Michael, Corsage: A Bouquet of Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe (1977, James A. Rock & Co, Publishers; Hardcover ISBN0-918736-00-5 / Paperback ISBN0-918736-01-3). Posthumous collection produced in a numbered limited edition of 276 hardcovers and 1,500 softcovers. Shortly before his death Rex Stout authorized the editor to include the first Nero Wolfe novella, "Bitter End" (1940), which had not been republished in his own novella collections.[1]: 56 Corsage also includes an interview Bourne conducted with Stout (July 18, 1973; also available on audiocassette tape),[23] and concludes with the only book publication of "Why Nero Wolfe Likes Orchids," an article by Rex Stout that first appeared in Life (April 19, 1963).
Darby, Ken, The Brownstone House of Nero Wolfe (1983, Little, Brown and Company; ISBN0-316-17280-4). Biography of the brownstone "as told by Archie Goodwin." Includes detailed floor plans.
Gotwald, Rev. Frederick G., The Nero Wolfe Handbook (1985; revised 1992, 2000). Self-published anthology of essays edited by a longtime member of The Wolfe Pack.
Kaye, Marvin, The Archie Goodwin Files (2005, Wildside Press; ISBN1-55742-484-5). Selected articles from The Wolfe Pack publication The Gazette, edited by a charter member.
Kaye, Marvin, The Nero Wolfe Files (2005, Wildside Press; ISBN0-8095-4494-6). Selected articles from The Wolfe Pack publication The Gazette, edited by a charter member.
McAleer, John, Rex Stout: A Biography (1977, Little, Brown and Company; ISBN0-316-55340-9). Foreword by P.G. Wodehouse. Winner of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical Work in 1978. Reissued as Rex Stout: A Majesty's Life (2002, James A. Rock & Co., Publishers; Hardcover ISBN0-918736-43-9 / Paperback ISBN0-918736-44-7).
McAleer, John, Royal Decree: Conversations with Rex Stout (1983, Pontes Press, Ashton, MD). Published in a numbered limited edition of 1,000 copies.
McBride, O.E., Stout Fellow: A Guide Through Nero Wolfe's World (2003, iUniverse; Hardcover ISBN0-595-65716-8 / Paperback ISBN0-595-27861-2). Pseudonymous self-published homage.
Mitgang, Herbert, Dangerous Dossiers: Exposing the Secret War Against America's Greatest Authors (1988, Donald I. Fine, Inc.; ISBN1-55611-077-4). Chapter 10 is titled "Seeing Red: Rex Stout."
Symons, Julian, Great Detectives: Seven Original Investigations (1981, Abrams; ISBN0-8109-0978-2). Illustrated by Tom Adams. "We quiz Archie Goodwin in his den and gain a clue to the ultimate fate of Nero Wolfe" in a chapter titled "In Which Archie Goodwin Remembers."
Townsend, Guy M., Rex Stout: An Annotated Primary and Secondary Bibliography (1980, Garland Publishing; ISBN0-8240-9479-4). Associate editors John McAleer, Judson Sapp and Arriean Schemer. Definitive publication history.
Van Dover, J. Kenneth, At Wolfe's Door: The Nero Wolfe Novels of Rex Stout (1991, Borgo Press, Milford Series; updated edition 2003, James A. Rock & Co., Publishers; Hardcover ISBN0-918736-51-X / Paperback ISBN0-918736-52-8). Bibliography, reviews and essays.
^"'Their Lady' may have been published in 1912," wrote biographer John J. McAleer. "No copy of it has come to light. All-Story editors twice credited Rex with its authorship, once in notations accompanying 'Warner & Wife', 27 February 1915 and again, in notations accompanying 'Justice Ends at Home', 4 December 1915. … In addition, beginning on 16 May 1914, during All-Story's serialization of A Prize for Princes, Rex was thrice credited with having written 'Their To-Day.' 'Their To-Day' probably had read 'Their Lady' in a hasty script and had been misread by a compositor."[2]: 546 The solution to the mystery of this missing story was finally revealed by Ira Brad Matetsky in “The ‘Their Lady’ Mystery Solved” in The Gazette–The Journal of the Wolfe Pack, Fall 2018, p. 7 (“Their Lady” turns out to have been published as "Her Forbidden Knight").
^Stout, Rex (1916). "The Last Drive". In Davies, Ross E.; Matetsky, Ira Brad (eds.). The 2012 Green Bag Almanac and Reader. Washington, D.C.: Green Bag Press (published 2011). pp. 255–312. ISBN1933658134.
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