Thursday, April 05, 2018

Easter Parade


Easter Parade is a 1957 novella by Rex Stout, one of his Nero Wolfe mysteries. It was first published in Look magazine. It involves the planned theft of a hybridized orchid worn in a corsage to an Easter Sunday church service. It's nice to find stories that are seasonal, especially ones centering around holidays other than Christmas.

The photo at the top of the page is one of the original illustrations intended to provide clues. The story is currently available in the collection And Four to Go but without the color illustrations.

8 comments:

  1. Oh I remember Rex Stout and his Nero Wolfe crime novels from my training in bookselling that I had in one of the outskirts of Vienna where many simple workes were our customers. Later as I was bookseller downtown Vienna nobody bought this kind of novels there... just high-quality literature- lol!
    Happy Evening!
    oxo Susi

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    1. A good literary novel is fine, don't get me wrong ;) but genre books from the mystery and science fiction shelves are not to be ignored. Variety! That's the thing :)

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  2. I love how you find stories relevant to the time of year - amazing! Sounds great 😁. Have a great day! J 😊 x

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    1. I have started paying more attention to the time of year in stories. I'm surprised at how many books don't even hint at a time of year.

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  3. I've heard of the old movie Easter Parade but not this story. Stealing and orchid doesn't seem like a big deal so it makes me really curious about the story. Hope you have a great Friday. Hugs-Erika

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    1. Those rare orchid hybrids are apparently valuable. What these people wouldn't do to get their hands on one!

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  4. I actually remember reading this in a lit class I took as an undergrad. It was a great short story.

    I thought about you yesterday as all eyes were on Memphis. I wondered if you attended the services/memorial at the Lorraine Motel.

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    1. I didn't go to any of the observances, but I watched the live-streams. There were some powerful speeches!

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