John McAleer, "Rex Stout: A Biography"

Kirkus Reviews
Treating the late (in 1975, at 89), great Rex Stout to a 500-page biography is like crowning Fred Astaire with a solid gold top hat: very ennobling, but how's the man supposed to dance? And dance is what a Stout biography should do, to keep up with the career-switching, cause-embracing, book-producing stamina of the creator of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin: child math whiz, sailor, magazine fictioneer (Justice Ends at Home, p. 247), mastermind of the lucrative kiddiebanking Educational Thrift Service, publisher, defender of authors' rights, WW II's radio "lie detective" and Hate-the-Germans propagandist, gardener, chef, and Baker Street highly-Irregular ("Watson was a Woman").

McAleer, beneficiary of Stout's authorization, cooperation, and comments, has lavished every virtue on this project except that of selectivity; if Rex did it, said it, heard it, or received it, it's there—in detail. And, despite careful analysis of the psycho-sexual pre-Nero novels and a pedantic, socio-metaphorical interpretation of the detective stories, he never demonstrates that Stout's oeuvre justifies such an approach or that his life deserves such grandiose frames ("Book V / The Years of Choice").

Still, some of the densely documented materials hold historical interest (the hair-splitting, wartime feuds) or are simply intriguing (number of days spent on each book). And, for the Neronian who's willing to wade through this overstuffed crackerjack box, there are dozens of prizes: the genesis of "Me Barzun, you vain," tributes to Stout from every camp, and a bounty of Stout observations (asked about future books at 87: "I've been told [this is a rumor], that after you're cremated it's pretty hard to write stories").

Authoritative beyond question or the call of duty—a belabor of love.

Contents

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Illustrations Foreword Stout Family Tree Introduction In the Beginning Book I: Heritage  1. Rootstock and Genes—The Stouts  2. Rootstock and Genes—The Todhunters Book II: A Prairie Boyhood  3. Cabbages and Kings  4. John and Lucetta  5. Stout Traits—Todhuntery Ways  6. Everything Alive  7. Hackberry Hall  8. Mr. Brilliance  9. Know-It-All in Knee Pants  10. Dramatic Interlude Book III: The Nomadic Years  11. The Mayflower Years  12. Logic and Life  13. A Brownstone in New York  14. Literary Apprenticeship  15. Underground Novelist  16. The Heart Has Reasons  17. Crime Fiction Book IV: A Liberal Awakening  18. Melons and Millions  19. Pied Piper of Thrift  20. Civil Libertarian  21. His Own Man  22. Expatriate Novelist Book V: The Years Of Choice  23. Squire of High Meadow  24. A Literary Farmer  25. Stout Fellow  26. Lazy Bloodhound  27. Mystery Monger  28. Commander over the Earth Book VI: Minister Of Propaganda  29. King's Gambit  30. Nero Wolfe Gets Smaller  31. Crusader by Inner Compulsion  32. The Lie Detective  33. Chairman Rex  34. Hunting with the Hounds  35. Ideological Racketeer  36. A Man of Sovereign Parts Book VII: Citizen Of The World  37. Under Viking Sail  38. A Superman Who Talks like a Superman  39. Beyond High Meadow  40. King Rex  41. Watch Out for Rex Stout  42. The King in Action  43. More than a Duke  44. Master of Mystery  45. The Best We Have  46. A Majesty's Life Book VIII: A King's Ransom  47. A Fish at Wolfe's Door  48. Champion of Justice  49. The One and True Paradigm  50. A Man Who Gloriously Acts and Decides  51. Nero Equals Archie  52. Sage of High Meadow  53. Hip Hooroy, You Bearded Boy Notes A Rex Stout Checklist  Early Publications   Poetry   Novels   Short Stories  Later Publications   Novels 1929–1975   Novellas 1940–1964   Short Stories 1936–1955   Novella Collections   Omnibus Volumes   Edited Volumes   Articles   Forewords, Introductions, Prefaces, Jacket Essays   Fugitive Verse   Broadcasts in Print   Reviews  Interviews  Selected Criticism  Alternate Titles of Rex Stout Books  Alternate Titles of Rex Stout Novellas and Short Stories Acknowledgments Index

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Tags: qBiography, qMystery, qLiterature

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