Rex Stout

Naissance 1886 · Décès 1975

Originaire de Noblesville, Indiana, United States · Nationalité : United States · Écrit de la fiction

Rex Todhunter Stout (1er décembre 1886 – 27 octobre 1975) était un écrivain américain réputé pour ses romans policiers. Ses personnages les plus connus sont le détective Nero Wolfe et son assistant Archie Goodwin, qui ont figuré dans 33 romans et 39 nouvelles ou récits courts publiés entre 1934 et 1975.

Citations

“There are various ways to call a man a liar. One way is just to scream it at him, which doesn't prove anything. Another is to establish facts by long and patient investigation. Still another way is not to call him a liar at all – let him do it himself.”
On his work on Our Secret Weapon, as quoted in "Mystery Story Writer Turns DetecEn anglais
“The incredible thing happens at the beginning of the story always, you notice, not the end. A Sherlock Holmes story is never a trick story.”
Invitation to Learning, p. 246En anglais
“A person who does not read cannot think. He may have good mental processes, but he has nothing to think about. You can feel for people or natural phenomena and react to them, but they are not ideas. You cannot think about them.”
"Author Rex Stout vs. the F.B.I."En anglais
“You watch a good second baseman digging for a badly thrown ball without letting his foot leave base and it's the same beautiful impossibility as a good pas de deux in Swan Lake.”
"Author Rex Stout vs. the F.B.I."En anglais
“There are two kinds of characters in all fiction, the born and the synthetic. If the writer has to ask himself questions – is he tall, is he short? – he had better quit.”
"Talk with Rex Stout"En anglais