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Curtains For Three
''Curtains for Three'' is a collection of Nero Wolfe mystery novellas by Rex Stout, published by the Viking Press in 1951 and itself collected in the omnibus volume ''Full House'' (Viking 1955). The book comprises three stories that first appeared in ''The American Magazine'': * " The Gun with Wings" (December 1949) * " Bullet for One" (July 1948) * "Disguise for Murder" (September 1950, as "The Twisted Scarf") Publication history *1951, New York: The Viking Press, February 23, 1951, hardcover :In his limited-edition pamphlet, ''Collecting Mystery Fiction #9, Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Part I'', Otto Penzler describes the first edition of ''Curtains for Three'': "Gray cloth, front cover printed with red lettering (and decoration on front cover only) and black rules; rear cover blank. Issued in a black, orange and white dust wrapper." :In April 2006, ''Firsts: The Book Collector's Magazine'' estimated that the first edition of ''Curtains for Three'' had a value of between $300 and $500. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 between 1934 and 1975. In 1959, Stout received the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. The Nero Wolfe corpus was nominated Best Mystery Series of the Century at Bouchercon XXXI, the world's largest mystery convention, and Rex Stout was nominated Best Mystery Writer of the Century. In addition to writing fiction, Stout was a prominent public intellectual for decades. Stout was active in the early years of the American Civil Liberties Union and a founder of the Vanguard Press. He served as head of the Writers' War Board during World War II, became a radio celebrity through his numerous broadcasts, and was later active in promoting world federalism. He was the long-time president of the Authors Guild, during which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Disguise For Murder
"Disguise for Murder" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by American writer Rex Stout, first published as "The Twisted Scarf" in the September 1950 issue of ''The American Magazine''. It first appeared in book form in the short-story collection ''Curtains for Three'', published by the Viking Press in 1951. Plot Wolfe and Archie are hosting a gathering of the Manhattan Flower Club in the orchid rooms, with Fritz Brenner and Saul Panzer checking guests in/out and handling their hats and coats. Archie slips downstairs to the office for a break, only to be interrupted when a young woman enters after him. She identifies herself as Cynthia Brown, but admits that this is one of several aliases that she uses as a confidence artist. She tells Archie about Doris Hatten, a friend of hers who was strangled to death five months earlier, and a man she had seen entering Doris' apartment that day. She did not tell the police about him at the time, but she has seen the man among the guests and is asking ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1951 Short Story Collections
Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United Kingdom announces abandonment of the Tanganyika groundnut scheme for the cultivation of peanuts in the Tanganyika Territory, with the writing off of £36.5M debt. * January 15 – In a court in West Germany, Ilse Koch, The "Witch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment. * January 20 – Winter of Terror: Avalanches in the Alps kill 240 and bury 45,000 for a time, in Switzerland, Austria and Italy. * January 21 – Mount Lamington in Papua New Guinea erupts catastrophically, killing nearly 3,000 people and causing great devastation in Oro Province. * January 25 – Dutch author Anne de Vries releases the first volume of his children's novel ''Journey Through the Night'' ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
E-book
An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Although sometimes defined as "an electronic version of a printed book", some e-books exist without a printed equivalent. E-books can be read on dedicated e-reader devices, but also on any computer device that features a controllable viewing screen, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones. In the 2000s, there was a trend of print and e-book sales moving to the Internet, where readers buy traditional paper books and e-books on websites using e-commerce systems. With print books, readers are increasingly browsing through images of the covers of books on publisher or bookstore websites and selecting and ordering titles online; the paper books are then delivered to the reader by mail or another delivery service. With e-b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine, with funding from Grosset & Dunlap and Curtis Publishing Company. It has since been purchased several times by companies including National General, Carl Lindner's American Financial and, most recently, Bertelsmann; it became part of Random House in 1998, when Bertelsmann purchased it to form Bantam Doubleday Dell. It began as a mass market publisher, mostly of reprints of hardcover books, with some original paperbacks as well. It expanded into both trade paperback and hardcover books, including original works, often reprinted in house as mass-market editions. History The company was failing when Oscar Dystel, who had previously worked at Esquire and as editor on Coronet magazine was hired in 1954 t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
And Be A Villain
''And Be a Villain'' (British title ''More Deaths Than One'') is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by the Viking Press in 1948. The story was collected in the omnibus volumes ''Full House'' (Viking 1961) and ''Triple Zeck'' (Viking 1974). Plot introduction A radio show guest is poisoned on the air during a plug for the show's sponsor, a soft-drink manufacturer. The negative publicity, and the low bank balance at tax time, brings Nero Wolfe into the case — and into his first recorded encounter with a shadowy master criminal. ''And Be a Villain'' is the first of three Nero Wolfe books that involve crime syndicate leader Arnold Zeck and his widespread operations. The others in the Zeck Trilogy are '' The Second Confession'' and ''In the Best Families''. In each book, Zeck — Wolfe's Moriarty — telephones Wolfe to warn him off an investigation that Zeck believes will interfere with his crime syndicate. Each time, Wolfe refuses to cooperate, and anticipa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The League Of Frightened Men
''The League of Frightened Men'' is the second Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout. The story was serialized in six issues of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' (June 15–July 20, 1935) under the title ''The Frightened Men''. The novel was published in 1935 by Farrar & Rinehart, Inc. ''The League of Frightened Men'' is a Haycraft Queen Cornerstone, one of the most influential works of mystery fiction listed by crime fiction historian Howard Haycraft and Ellery Queen. Plot introduction 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. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Collins Crime Club
Collins Crime Club was an imprint of British book publishers William Collins, Sons and ran from 6 May 1930 to April 1994. Throughout its 64 years the club issued a total of 2,012in "The Hooded Gunman -- An Illustrated History of Collins Crime Club", by John Curran, both in the dust jacket, and in page 388 first editions of crime novels and reached a high standard of quality throughout. In the field of crime book collecting, Collins Crime Club is eagerly sought, particularly pre-war first editions in dustwrappers with their vivid and imaginative images. History Customers registered their name and address with the club and were sent a newsletter every three months which advised them of the latest books which had been or were to be issued. Collins' intention was to publish three new crime books on the first Monday of every month. All three books were supposedly picked by a panel of experts (only one of whom seems to have been named — Cyril Alington) and they chose for each mon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Book Of The Month Club
Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members choose which book they would like to receive, similar to how the club originally operated when it began in 1926. Members can also discuss the books with fellow members in an online forum. In late 2015, in concert with the club's 90th year, the club announced a relaunch into its current iteration. Within two years, the club had grown its membership to more than 100,000 members, primarily millennial women, and the club's presence on social media grew to over 1.2 million instagram followers. Approximately 75% of the club's titles are by up-and-coming authors, and 80% of titles are fiction. The club has also worked with a series of celebrity guest judges who bring broader awareness to new titles, and continues producing its own versions of book ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edition (book)
The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a book printed today, by the same publisher, and from the same type as when it was first published, is still the ''first edition'' of that book to a bibliographer. However, book collectors generally use the term ''first edition'' to mean specifically the first print run of the first edition (aka "first edition, first impression"). Since World War II, books often include a number line (printer's key) that indicates the print run. A "first edition" per se is not a valuable collectible book. A popular work may be published and reprinted over time by many publishers, and in a variety of formats. There will be a first edition of each, which the publisher may cite on the copyright page, such as: "First mass market paperback edition". The first edit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otto Penzler
Otto Penzler (born July 8, 1942) is a German-born American editor of mystery fiction, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City. Biography Born in Germany to a German-American mother and a German father, Penzler moved to The Bronx at age five after the death of his father. Penzler graduated from the University of Michigan, having studied English literature. He is the co-author the "Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection" for which he won an Edgar Award in 1977. He also wrote ''101 Greatest Movies of Mystery and Suspense'' (2000). For ''The New York Sun'', he wrote ''The Crime Scene'', a popular weekly mystery fiction column that ran for five years. He has worked with authors including Elmore Leonard, Nelson DeMille, Joyce Carol Oates, Sue Grafton, Mary Higgins Clark, Stanley Ellin, Robert Crais, Michael Connelly, James Lee Burke and Thomas H. Cook. He founded The Mysterious Press, a publishing house devoted entirely to mystery and crime fiction, in 1975. Amo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bullet For One
"Bullet for One" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first published in the July 1948 issue of ''The American Magazine''. It first appeared in book form in the short-story collection ''Curtains for Three'', published by the Viking Press in 1951. Plot summary Wolfe and Archie investigate the week-old murder of industrial designer Sigmund Keyes at the request of five people who worked closely with him: Ferdinand Pohl, Frank Broadyke, Wayne Safford, Audrey Rooney, and Keyes' daughter Dorothy. They believe that Victor Talbott, his sales agent, committed the murder, and want the truth to come out so that the police will stop harassing them. Keyes had frequently gone horseback riding in a local park during the early morning, and Talbott sometimes accompanied him. On the day of Keyes' death, a mounted policeman had seen him on his usual path; not long afterward, the horse emerged from the park with no rider. Keyes' body had been found in a thicket near the path, shot in the che ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
