WRITER

Rex Stout

1886 - 1975

Photo of Rex Stout

Icon of person Rex Stout

Rex Todhunter Stout (; December 1, 1886–October 27, 1975) was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. His best-known characters are the detective Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin, who were featured in 33 novels and 39 novellas or short stories between 1934 and 1975. In 1959, Stout received the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Rex Stout has received more than 501,754 page views. His biography is available in 31 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 30 in 2019). Rex Stout is the 1,374th most popular writer (down from 1,128th in 2019), the 1,681st most popular biography from United States (down from 1,375th in 2019) and the 152nd most popular American Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 500k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 59.24

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 31

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.88

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.63

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Fer-de-lance
Private investigators, Nero Wolfe (Fictitious character), Friend authors
From a cover blurb: As any herpetologist will tell you, the fer-de-lance is among the most dreaded snakes known to man. When someone makes a present of one to Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin knows he's getting dreadully close to solving the devilishly clever murders of an immigrant and a college president. As for Wolfe, he's playing snake charmer in a case with more twists than an anaconda -- whistling a seductive tune he hopes will catch a killer who's still got poison in his heart. This is the very first Nero Wolfe novel that Rex Stout published. You can see the hallmarks of Wolfe's world already, Archie Goodwin, beer, food and clever villains.
1934
Under the Andes
Classic Literature, Fiction
1985
The League of Frightened Men
Hazing, Private investigators, Nero Wolfe (Fictitious character)
I LOVED REX STOUT AND HIS BOOKS...IT MIGHT BE OF SOME HELP IF YOU SHOW HOW TO PUT THIS EBOOK IN MY MACHINE TO READ
1935
Too many cooks
Private investigators, Nero Wolfe (Fictitious character), Fiction
1938
Champagne for one
Private investigators, Nero Wolfe (Fictitious character), Fiction in English
Fiction about a stout Private Investigator, Nero Wolfe ,his home, pastimes and his unparalleled murder solving ability. Stories told by his helpmate (flunky) Archie Goodwin. Rex Stout is the author and there are about 46 stories in the Nero Wolfe vein.
1958
The golden spiders
Private investigators, Nero Wolfe (Fictitious character), Fiction
1953
Prisoner's Base
Fiction, Private investigators, Detective and mystery stories
1952
Champagne for One
Fiction, mystery, Private investigators
Archie Goodwin sits in for a friend at a charity dinner dance for unwed mothers, and one of the guests drops dead on the dance floor. The young woman was depressed and known to carry poison - but Archie is sure that this was murder.
1958
If Death Ever Slept
Fiction, mystery, Nero Wolfe (Fictitious character)
Published 1957. Millionaire Otis Jarrell retains Nero Wolfe to get sufficient information on his daughter in law to persuade his son to divorce her. Susan Jarrell is not only unfaithful but she's selling business secrets to one of Jarrell's competitors - or so Jarrell claims. Archie goes undercover as the millionaire's new personal secretary but two murders later, Wolfe has to call in not only his usual trio of PIs but also Sally Colt and Dol Bonner to help with the legwork tracking down a very clever and cold-blooded killer.
1957
Too Many Cooks
Fiction, mystery, Private investigators
Nero Wolfe leaves his Manhattan brownstone to travel to the resort of Kanawha Spa, in order to give a speech to a group of famous chefs (and not coincidentally, to eat each man's specialties, prepared for an annual dinner). When one of their number is killed, Wolfe and Archie have to wade through a tangled web of lies and clues, both criminal and gustatory.
1938
The League of Frightened Men
Hazing, Private investigators, Nero Wolfe (Fictitious character)
This is the second Nero Wolfe book (1935). From Wikipedia: "When two men die under mysterious circumstances and a third disappears after appealing to Wolfe for protection, suspicion falls on Paul Chapin, a controversial author and friend of the three men who was severely injured many years ago at their hands as a result of a hazing prank. The remainder of the men involved, united together as a "League of Atonement", are in fear for their lives against Chapin's vengeance, but when a third man dies Wolfe determines that he may not be the only threat they face."
1935
Fer-de-Lance
Fiction, mystery, Private investigators
From a cover blurb: As any herpetologist will tell you, the fer-de-lance is among the most dreaded snakes known to man. When someone makes a present of one to Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin knows he's getting dreadully close to solving the devilishly clever murders of an immigrant and a college president. As for Wolfe, he's playing snake charmer in a case with more twists than an anaconda -- whistling a seductive tune he hopes will catch a killer who's still got poison in his heart. This is the very first Nero Wolfe novel that Rex Stout published. You can see the hallmarks of Wolfe's world already, Archie Goodwin, beer, food and clever villains.
1934

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Rex Stout ranks 1,374 out of 7,302. Before him are Ildefonsus, Émile Gaboriau, Hartmann Schedel, Joanot Martorell, Hartmann von Aue, and Nicolás Gómez Dávila. After him are Robert Wilson, Seymour Hersh, Viktor Suvorov, Robert Browning, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, and Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1886, Rex Stout ranks 56. Before him are Willem Drees, Tsuguharu Foujita, Giovanni Battista Caproni, Jisaburō Ozawa, Raymond A. Spruance, and Georg Stumme. After him are Raoul Hausmann, Frank Lloyd, Gyula Gömbös, Karl Korsch, Nikolay Gumilyov, and Sessue Hayakawa. Among people deceased in 1975, Rex Stout ranks 47. Before him are François Tombalbaye, Bernard Herrmann, Joseph Bech, P. G. Wodehouse, Carlo Levi, and Thornton Wilder. After him are Al Lettieri, Guy Mollet, Faisal bin Musaid Al Saud, Marguerite Perey, Luigi Dallapiccola, and Avery Brundage.

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Others Deceased in 1975

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Rex Stout ranks 1,681 out of 20,380. Before him are Busta Rhymes (1972), Serena Williams (1981), Aaron Spelling (1923), Edwin G. Krebs (1918), Stephen Jay Gould (1941), and Héctor Elizondo (1936). After him are Peter Bogdanovich (1939), Robert Wilson (1941), Jerry Reed (1937), Maria Mitchell (1818), Ralph Bellamy (1904), and Seymour Hersh (1937).

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Among WRITERS In United States

Among writers born in United States, Rex Stout ranks 152. Before him are Hunter S. Thompson (1937), Anthony Bourdain (1956), Maria Shriver (1955), Jean M. Auel (1936), Thornton Wilder (1897), and Diana Gabaldon (1952). After him are Robert Wilson (1941), Seymour Hersh (1937), Don DeLillo (1936), Robin Hobb (1952), Robert Bloch (1917), and Virginia Henderson (1897).

American born Writers

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