[PREV - STICKY_BLADE]    [TOP]

MEN_AT_WORK

                                             October 10, 2008

The foreground action of a typical
example of one of Rex Stout's Nero
Wolfe stories will have Archie Goodwin
continually dealing with relatively
low-level practical issues:

     E.g., despite their lack of any
     legal authority, Goodwin needs to
     convince someone to come to Nero
     Wolfe's office and talk to them.


Despite Goodwin's tendencies toward sarcasm
and irreverence, he never objects to this sort
of assignment, no matter how difficult it
seems at first glance --

To the extent that there's any emotional
drive to these stories at all, it has to
do with the vying of the male characters
about their relative competence.  They
have their different roles in the operation,       My impression is that
and they constantly snipe at each other            these stories are
concerning how well the other is doing --          more popular with
anxiety arises when Goodwin finds he can't         women than many
deliver (for whatever reason: performance          detective series.
counts, not excuses), joy occurs when Goodwin
comes through, even if it's purely a matter             It may be because
of luck (which he happily admits to the                 here, competence is
reader, but rarely to Wolfe).                           only occasionally
                                                        equated with skill
                                                        at violence-- there
                                                        is actually very
   "You admit you are answerable?"                      little on stage
   "No, I was unlucky."                                 violence.
   "That doesn't absolve you.  A man is
   as responsible for his luck as for                     Then, there's the
   his judgement. ... "                                   obsession with food
                                                          and flowers...
     --p. 95 of _Death Times Three_
       (pbk ed), "Frame-Up For Murder"
       Wolfe, talking to Goodwin.                         (The non-violent
                                                          character of these
                                                          stories, is an
                                                          observation I owe to
                                                          Mickey Waldeman:
                                                          the radio show
                                            WBAI          she did in
                                                          tribute to them
                                                          are what prompted
                                                          me to start
                                                          reading them.)


--------
[NEXT - MEN_OF_THE_WEST]