Before Rex Stout created Nero Wolfe and the other characters who populate the old brownstone on West 35th Street in New York City, he tried his hand at a number of "psychological" novels. These remain largely unread today, and readers who have made the attempt say that they are mostly unreadable. But their existence may explain why one of the very best of the early Nero Wolfe novels revolves around a character with a most intense personality disorder.
The book is "The League of Frightened Men
Many years before the beginning of the story, a group of Harvard students were involved in a "hazing" incident against a younger student, Paul Chapin. The outcome was that Chapin was seriously hurt, with permanent injury to his legs and a serious warping of his personality. Now, he has gone on to become a successful novelist (of "obscene" novels, we are told). And, one by one, the older men who were responsible for his injury are dying. Are they being murdered? Is Chapin responsible? They think so - and form the "League of Frightened Men" which comes to Nero Wolfe, asking him to stop Chapin from killing them.
As I said, Chapin is a memorable character, creepy, sinister, twisted, terrifying. To me, he's one of the most interesting characters ever created by Stout. Is he really a killer? And how can Wolfe force him to stop terrorizing the remaining league members? You'll have to read the book to find out. After 76 years, it's still available; there's also a two-for-one edition with "Fer-de-Lance"
"The League of Frightened Men" is another entry in the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge at My Reader's Block blog.
I'm having problems with this posting thing tonight, Les. So if this comment posts twice, I apologize in advance.
I love this book! And isn't this one of the best titles for a book EVER conceived? I am such an adoring fan of Rex Stout. I have to write an essay one of these days talking about special the Nero Wolfe books are to me. ANd why I don't mind reading them over and over.
Posted by: Yvette | January 31, 2011 at 07:46 PM
I agree completely, Yvette. I reread all the Nero Wolfe books every few years and enjoy them just as much or more than I did the first time. You ought to check out the Wolfe Pack's website - http://www.nerowolfe.org - where you'll find all kinds of information. And, if you're in the NY area sometime when the group is meeting, stop by - I've been to several events now and enjoyed them all thoroughly.
Posted by: Les Blatt | January 31, 2011 at 08:19 PM
This is a Stout book that's still on my TBR list. It does sound mighty interesting...I may have to rearrange my vintage reading list. Or just add it on!
Posted by: Bev | January 31, 2011 at 08:34 PM
This is the first Nero Wolfe novel I ever read. I chose it because the cover on the old 1970s Bantam paperback was incredible. (Hey, I was a teenager - this was a big selling point for me then.)
I've only read three or four Wolfe books. Most of them I just can't finish. Even when I tried Some Buried Caesar a few years ago I lost interest. Can't explain it, but I am just not a Nero Wolfe fan. Ironically, I absolutely loved those TV adaptations with Maury Chaykin and Timothy Hutton. They were excellent!
Posted by: J F Norris | February 01, 2011 at 02:52 AM
I agree about the Maury Chaykin/Timothy Hutton TV adaptations. I've only seen a couple, but the ones I saw stuck very closely to the originals, right down to using Archie's narrations, word-for-word. I'm sorry you don't enjoy the books more - but then that's a matter of individual preference. If we all enjoyed the same things, there would be no need for multiple authors, multiple publishers, etc.!
Posted by: Les Blatt | February 01, 2011 at 10:25 AM
You know John, SOME BURIED CAESAR is not one of the best of the Nero Wolfe's. Why don't you try THE DOORBELL RANG? Before you give up on Wolfe completely. ;)
Les, I so rarely get into the city anymore due to various reasons. But maybe one of these days I might show up at a Wolfe Pack outing - hey, you never know. They sound, from your previous descriptions, like a helluva lot of fun.
Posted by: Yvette | February 01, 2011 at 12:33 PM
TLoFM is certainly an interesting read. Since it comes early in the Wolfe saga it is much less formulaic than many of the works that would folllow. When first reading it I thought the story was going in a completely different direction than Stout eventually took it but I found the story satisfying anyway.
Posted by: Bob Schneider | February 05, 2011 at 12:35 PM