Home
The Daily Dose/April 14, 2010
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
Notes from around the Human Experience...
CAPSULE BOOK REVIEW: In The Best Families By Rex Stout: One of the best parts of reading is re-reading favorite books. We don't re-read Nero Wolfe mysteries as often as we used to, but we're usually good for one every couple of years or so. They have aged very well, and are as much of a pleasure to read now as they were then, which you can't say about every book in the library.
Warm, Personal Remembrance: We were first introduced to Wolfe on tee vee, actually, when I caught dad watching an episode of Nero Wolfe which was airing on NBC. We did some research and the series ran on NBC in 1981, which more or less is how we remembered it, though if pressed for a date we would have said 1979 so it shows what we know.
Anyway, like Dad, I enjoyed the show and Dad mentioned Wolfe and Archie Goodwin and the rest of the crew had originally been a series of mystery stories so the next day at school I found one in the school library and so it began.
Back On Message: In The Best Families still ranks as our personal Nero Wolfe fave. What's funny, though, is that the murder mystery is not only secondary to the main part of the story, it isn't even that great a murder mystery. There isn't much of a motive and it is plain the murder of Mrs. Barry Rackham one day after visiting Wolfe to have him look into how her husband is getting his spending cash is merely the vehicle that takes us to Wolfe's takedown of the evil arch-criminal Arnold Zeck.
Dry, Technical Matter: Zeck and Wolfe's paths had crossed twice previously, including one time when Zeck had some people shoot up the plant rooms that are on the top floor of Wolfe's Manhattan brownstone.
We Now Return To Our Regularly Scheduled Murder: Turns out Barry Rackham was involved with Arnold Zeck and the day after Mrs. Rackham's visit Wolfe receives a package that turns out to contain tear gas and almost immediately after that receives a phone call from Zeck.
Wolfe flees to go into training. He tells Archie nothing, on the theory that Archie can best deny knowing where Wolfe is if he really doesn't know. Over the course of a couple of months Wolfe loses over one hundred pounds, goes to Hollywood and starts fleecing rich people out of their money and then returns to New York, as Pete Roeder, and soon finds himself a part of Zeck's organization, an organization he manages to get Archie into.
Standard Internet Disclaimer: Though Gaylon is fairly well read he is not Einstein for Pete's sake and is not a professional book reviewer. Reviews are based on his own personal tastes, are completely subjective and not measured against established literary standards. He has a habit of re-reading selected favorites and books that were published as early as the 20th century.
We Interrupt This Program For A Word From The Ratings Department: Following Is The Official Writer's Shack Capsule Review Rating scale:
EX - Excellent; as good as the medium can produce in every respect.
VG - Very Good. Well worth your time.
GD - Good. More or less worth your time.
AR - All Right. Not completely without merit.
SP - Nothing of substance; a steaming pile, utterly without merit.
Final Rating: VG. We're not going to spoil the rest of the story for you. The Nero Wolfe series has aged so well because Rex Stout is one of the most talented writers this country has produced. Archie is funny and Wolfe uses the English language like few other fictional characters. And while the actual murder to be solved is secondary, Wolfe satisfies his fans by solving it in classic Nero Wolfe fashion, in his office, with all suspects in attendance.
LOOK IT UP: Noah Webster copyrights the first edition of his dictionary on this date in 1828. It comes in two volumes and has about 70,000 words. Upon Webster's death in 1873 all unsold books and the rights to use the Webster name on a dictionary were purchased by George and Charles Merriam.
Ah, Hell: the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, is shot on this date in 1865 by actor John Wilkes Booth. The shooting occurs at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. while Lincoln and his wife and a guest were watching a play. Lincoln would die the following morning.
FunFact: Lincoln was the second president to die in office and the first to be assassinated.
Eff This Noise: Booth's original plan was to kidnap Lincoln, but after hearing Lincoln's speech on April 11 about how blacks should be allowed to vote, Booth determined to kill Lincoln.
Not Too Bright: Secretary of State William Seward was attacked at his home at about the same time. His attacker, Lewis Powell, had told Seward's butler that he had brought Seward - who was bedridden following a carriage accident - some medicine. Seward's son became suspicious but Powell managed to get into Seward's room. His gun misfired, so he attacked him with a knife, with Seward suffering moderate injuries. Powell would be arrested on April 17.
Fly In The Ointment: A plan to assassinate Vice-President Andrew Johnson failed when his designated attacker lost his nerve and fled town.
Editors Note: From time to time this baseball season the On This Date feature will spotlight a record from the major league record book.
Editor's Note II: This tasty morsel is actually from yesterday, but we couldn't be bothered to do a column yesterday and we were actually sitting in the centerfield bleachers with a couple of drunk older broads when this record was established and we wanted to show off we had the good sense to be there, so we are including it today.
This Ball Is Gone…And Gone…And Gone: The San Diego Padres become the first team in major league history to lead off a game with three consecutive home runs at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium on April 13, 1987, as Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk all connect of San Francisco's Roger Mason. The Giants would win though, 13-6.
FunFact: The fourth Padre batter of the game, Steve Garvey, flied out to the warning track in centerfield.
Fun Dry, Technical Matter: This record would be equaled in 2003 by the Atlanta Braves. No American League team has accomplished the feat.
Thought For The Day: Now he belongs to the ages. - Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, on Lincoln's death.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was the person who informed Harry Truman that her husband had died.
Today's Stumper: Where is Nero Wolfe's confidential assistant Archie Goodwin from? - Answer next time!
Comments? Recipes? Complaints? Email the Writer's Shack here!
Home |
|