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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. Goodwin needs to convince           
     someone to come to Nero Wolfe's          
     office and talk to them, despite         
     the fact that neither Wolfe or           
     Goodwin have any legal authority         
     behind 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             My impression is that
have their different roles in the operation,       these stories are
and they constantly snipe at each other            more popular with
concerning how well the other is doing --          women than many
anxiety arises when Goodwin finds he can't         detective series.
deliver (for whatever reason: performance        
counts, not excuses), joy occurs when Goodwin           It may be because
comes through, even if it's purely a matter             here, competence is
of luck (which he happily admits to the                 only occasionally
reader, but rarely to Wolfe).                           equated with skill
                                                        at violence-- there
                                                        is actually very
                                                        little on stage
   "You admit you are answerable?"                      violence.
   "No, I was unlucky."                          
   "That doesn't absolve you.  A man is                   Then, there's the
   as responsible for his luck as for                     obsession with food
   his judgement. ... "                                   and flowers...
                                              
     --p. 95 of _Death Times Three_           
       (pbk ed), "Frame-Up For Murder"                    (The non-violent
       Wolfe, talking to Goodwin.                         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.)


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