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Conference thebay::joyoflex

Title:The Joy of Lex
Notice:A Notes File even your grammar could love
Moderator:THEBAY::SYSTEM
Created:Fri Feb 28 1986
Last Modified:Mon Jun 02 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1192
Total number of notes:42769

361.0. "my kingdom for a . . ." by CREDIT::RANDALL (Bonnie Randall Schutzman) Fri May 22 1987 13:45

    I need a literary reference, or more than one. 
    
    Where, in fiction or poetry, can you recall the author using the
    image of black orchids? 
    
    I've been racking my brains for months trying to remember this.
    (I know, I know, that isn't very much territory to cover, but it's
    all I've got.)
    
    Thanks,
    
    --bonnie
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
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361.1comics connectionLYMPH::LAMBERTInnocuous little personal nameFri May 22 1987 14:498
   In the old comic strip _Brenda Starr_, the man of her affections  
   ("Basil"? - it's something 'continental') had some rare disease which
   required a "Black Orchid Syrum", and he maintained a lab in which he bred
   them. 
   
   Not really a literary masterpiece, but it's a start...
   
   -- Sam
361.2From memory -- reinforced by _Books_in_Print_SUPER::KENAHand shun the Furious Ballerinas.Fri May 22 1987 15:209
		   _Black_Orchids_
                
    		         By
    
    		      Rex Stout
                      
    1986, Bantam Books.  An interesting story, as I recall.
    
    					andrew
361.3BAEDEV::RECKARDFri May 22 1987 15:447
    Wasn't there an Agatha Christie short by that name?


    Also, re: "I've been racking my brains for months trying to remember this."


    Rack balls, not brains.
361.4Is there a concordance of Cliff Notes?PSTJTT::TABERApril showers bring May black fliesFri May 22 1987 16:156
I think Chas. Dickens or Nat. Hawthorne  used the Black Orchid analogy 
to describe women in some gathering (a church?) once.  It's at the very 
edge of my memory, I can see the scene as I envisioned it at the time, 
but I can't remember what I was reading...

					>>>==>PStJTT
361.5what? Only 4 responses? I expected better.WEBSTR::RANDALLBonnie Randall SchutzmanWed May 27 1987 15:225
    The Dickens/Hawthorne source sounds most likely, since I never read
    Brenda Starr and the Rex Stout reference is far too new.  Agatha
    Christie is a possibility.  I will continue to investigate . . .
    
    --bonnie
361.6INK::KALLISHallowe'en should be legal holidayWed May 27 1987 16:185
    Re .5:
    
    Nontheless, _Black Orchids_, a Nero Wolfe mystery, is a good read.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
361.7It's older than it looks...SUPER::KENAHand shun the Furious Ballerinas.Thu May 28 1987 11:537
    re .4 & .5:  
    
    The date mentioned in the Nero Wolfe citation is simply the date of the
    release of the Bantam edition, not the original publication date. At a
    guess, the book is at least 20 years old. 
                               
    					andrew
361.8that's probably it!CREDIT::RANDALLBonnie Randall SchutzmanThu May 28 1987 14:1311
    re .7 and Mr. Wolfe -- 
    
    Ahah!  That makes it VERY likely to be the book I'm looking for!
    I will check it out soon.
        
    I had seen a review of Black Orchids that called it a new book, too.
    (Not that book reviewers necessarily know what they're talking about.)
    I wonder if it was published in England but not in the United States,
    or something? 

    --bonnie, curious now
361.9It's older than you thinkIRT::BOWERSCount Zero InterruptThu Jun 04 1987 00:082
    "Black Orchids" is set in pre-WWII N.Y. City and was written well
    before 1950, making more like 40 years old.
361.10Just being cautious...HARDY::KENAHand shun the Furious Ballerinas.Fri Jun 05 1987 18:488
    >"Black Orchids" is set in pre-WWII N.Y. City and was written well
    >before 1950, making more like 40 years old.
    
    Just hedging my bets --  my copy is about ten years old, and I
    remembered that it was older than that, but how much older --
    well, I drew a blank, so I gave a minimum value.
    
    					andrew
361.11AKOV76::BOYAJIANI want a hat with cherriesFri Jul 17 1987 06:053
    BLACK ORCHIDS was first published in 1942.
    
    --- jerry
361.12Bibliography is *still* his business...SUPER::KENAHBuy Another Pagan Baby!Fri Jul 17 1987 16:365
    Once again, our resident bibliographer provides the definitive answer-
    
    Thanks, jerry.
             
    					andrew