David Megginson on Nostr: npub1gghgc…tykhp I agree, but I find Philo Vance himself to be an insufferably ...
npub1gghgc8ghu83gf07m5ymshn2tz3luz6cx6w4ezsn4la5p20tfnflsjtykhp (npub1ggh…ykhp) I agree, but I find Philo Vance himself to be an insufferably pompous ass.
Like Vance, Agatha Christie's Poirot always has to be the smartest person in the room, but she made Poirot more likeable by not also requiring him to be the strongest, fastest, richest, most-sophisticated, best-looking, most-talented, etc.
I think Van Dine eventually realised the problem when he had Ogden Nash write a couplet in their fictional NYC world of the 1920s:
Philo Vance
needs a kick in the pance
Like Vance, Agatha Christie's Poirot always has to be the smartest person in the room, but she made Poirot more likeable by not also requiring him to be the strongest, fastest, richest, most-sophisticated, best-looking, most-talented, etc.
I think Van Dine eventually realised the problem when he had Ogden Nash write a couplet in their fictional NYC world of the 1920s:
Philo Vance
needs a kick in the pance