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THE BROWNSTONE AS METAPHOR
Nero
Wolfe’s brownstone house on West Thirty-fifth Street in New York City, is an
imaginary world on par with Tolkien’s Middle Earth and Howard’s Hyborian
Age. Readers who are not familiar with Rex Stout’s novels must wonder what the
fuss is all about. Why are Nero Wolfe fans so fixated on Wolfe’s house and
office?
When we talk about the meaning of the brownstone, there are really two
questions: What did it mean to Nero Wolfe? And, what does the brownstone mean
for readers?
As for Wolfe, his house was more than simply a sanctuary from the outside
world. It seemed to be a model for what he saw as an ideal way of life. The
steady routine, the comfort, the plentiful food and the beauty of the rooftop
plant rooms—combine to create a Shangri-La that Wolfe believes should be
emulated by others. Very often, Wolfe expresses dismay at the frenzy of modern
life. It is “foolhardy”, he thinks, to dash around the city in cabs. Why not
bring the world to you? This notion was considered outrageously eccentric in the
‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s. In the ‘90s, I’m not so sure. With more people
working from home, the Wolfe lifestyle doesn’t seem so farfetched. Perhaps
Nero Wolfe would feel right at home on the Internet.
The brownstone fulfills another purpose for the readers of Rex Stout’s
novels. The author has described the office and the rest of the house in loving
detail over the course of many novels and the reader reconstructs
the imaginary place in his or her mind. Rex Stout was so successful in
conveying this world, that many readers can conjure up a virtual reality tour of the brownstone. It can be a comforting place
to escape the real world for a little while. And, isn’t that one of the
functions of escapist fiction?
Of course, there is much more to the Nero Wolfe novels—the characters
and the plots. The plots were good, serviceable, whodunits. Some were better
than others. But, the real reason the novels are constantly being read and
rediscovered by new generations of readers is the relationship between the main
characters, Wolfe and Archie.