El archivo de los Viudos Negros

The Black Widowers #3

by Isaac Asimov, Jorge Antonio Sánchez Rottner (Translator)

Dotado de una imaginación extraordinaria, Isaac Asimov ha alcanzado una inmensa popularidad basada principalmente en su innegable talento para la divulgación científica y en una extensa producción de narraciones de ciencia ficción cuya audacia y originalidad ha dado lugar a una renovación decisiva del género. Menos conocida quizá su faceta de escritor de relatos de misterio, a la que responde esta selección publicada bajo el título "El archivo de los Viudos Negros", tercera de la serie iniciada por "Cuentos de los Viudos Negros" y continuada en "Más cuentos de los Viudos Negros". Un grupo de amigos dedicados a distintas profesiones, pero unidos por una común curiosidad, se reúnen a cenar en un elegante restaurante una vez al mes acompañados de un invitado, quien, acabada la cena, es sometido a un minucioso interrogatorio a lo largo del cual se propone y se resuelve un enigma. Será el más callado y humilde de los asistentes, Henry, el camarero, quien invariablemente proporcione la única solución posible del misterio. El ingenio y la erudición, la capacidad de deducción y un fino humor se combinan en estos once cuentos de inexcusable lectura para los admiradores del "Estoy en Puertomarte sin Hilda", así como para todos los aficionados al relato detectivesco.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Anthologies, Collections, Novels

277 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third of six volumes of mystery short stories that Asimov wrote featuring a group of men who call themselves the Black Widowers who meet for lunch monthly and discuss a mysterious occurrence presented by a guest-of-the-month that they end up solving, usually due to the input of their waiter, Henry. They're fun puzzle stories in the tradition of Agatha Christie; most were originally published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine from 1976 through 1979, though two are from Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (wonder how many IA stories they rejected?) and three are original to the collection. The stories are quite obviously formulaic, and the solutions sometimes rely on some obscure bit of arcane trivia, and Asimov was notoriously egocentric and a proud and devout womanizer and some of his attitudes aren't condonable in current social attitudes... but they're fun, occasionally quite funny, and still fine mental exercise.

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

ENGLISH: I read this book 40 years ago, and I have now re-read it. In the meantime I have read all the other books in the series, some in English, others in Spanish.

The story I remembered best was "The next day," which hangs on a small ambiguity.

ESPAÑOL: Leí este libro hace 40 años y ahora lo he releído. Entretanto he leído todos los demás libros de la serie, algunos en inglés y otros en español.

El cuento que recordaba mejor es "Al día siguiente", cuya trama depende de una pequeña ambigüedad.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's difficult to categorize these stories. I had thought I was going to be reading a series of crime and murder mystery stories, but only three (I think) of the stories actually deal with such. Even then, they aren't whodunnits, as the perpetrator is not necessarily disclosed.

What they are is a collection of witty and cleverly concocted conundrums about diverse topics and with enough information given for the dedicated reader to work out the answer before Henry the waiter does so. Personally, I'm too lazy to make the mental effort, so just enjoyed getting to the revelation. The puzzle itself and the logical process of solving it is really the point; the answer itself is almost irrelevant.

As with many of Asimov's short story collections, there's a little afterword to each tale, giving a bit of background to either the writing of the story or the genesis of the plot. It's like Asimov is chatting to you and almost made me feel like a guest at the monthly banquet of the Black Widowers, if only somebody had brought me a brandy as I finished each story.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Casebook of the Black Widowers is the 3rd collection of short story 'mysteries' by Isaac Asimov. I have enjoyed 3 of the collections, although not in published order. The stories are such that they don't particularly have to be read in any specific order.

Basically this is the premise. Once a month (not specifically designated, it might be another time period) a group of middle - aged men meet for dinner at the same restaurant. The group is based on a group that Asimov, himself, actually met with, called the Trap Door Spiders. The group in the series consists of six diverse characters -
a. Geoffrey Avalon a patent lawyer
b. Geoffrey Rubin, a mystery writer
c. James Drake, a chemist
d. Thomas Trumbull, a cryptographer
e. Mario Gonzalo, an artist (Mario usually draws a caricature of the invited dinner guest)
f. Roger Halstead, a high school math teacher.

The group is served dinner by ever-present waiter Henry.

Each meeting a guest is invited by one of the members, that night's host. After dinner, the guest must answer questions from the others. Generally, one is designated as the initial questioner. During the questions a 'mystery' usually comes out, or, at the least, a question, that the Widowers try to figure out to help the guest. In every case, after discussion, they turn to Henry, who having listened to the conversation, comes up with the salient points to help the guest with his problem.

The stories are always interesting. In this collection, we have a spy story, a murder mystery, discussion about sexism, a Sci-Fi'ish story and even, in the final story, the ghost of a previous founding member, presents a riddle.

There is no action, just a good meal and a discussion from this irascible collection of individuals. Sometimes you can figure the 'riddles' out yourself (I think I got the gist of a couple 😁), sometimes they seem a bit nebulous, but in all, the story is an enjoyable, fun, cozy read. So there you go. Check out the series. It's nice to read something besides Sci-Fi from Asimov. (3.5 stars)

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isaac Asimov, prolific science fiction author, also turned his hand to mysteries every now and then. He wrote full-length novels such as The Caves of Steel and The Robots of Dawn as well as short stories, including several collections which feature a fictional all-male club which convenes under the name of "The Black Widowers" for good food, good conversation, and a "grilling" of the latest guest. The members make a pretense of not looking for mysteries to solve, but, of course, they always wind up with a guest with a problem that needs sorted. The several members all make efforts to question the current guest and discover the answer to his mystery, but it is generally Henry, the club's waiter and honorary member, who is able to see the elements that escape the notice of the learned men around the table.

Casebook of the Black Widowers (1980) is the third collection of Asimov's club-based mysteries. Mysteries here is a very elastic term. Few of the stories actually deal with crime though there is a bit of murder and spycraft to be found--most are clever conundrums that range from witty wordplay needed to solve the riddle in a former member's will or puzzles that rely on esoteric knowledge to find solutions. The fun is in the witty repartee between the club members and watching Henry get the best of them every time. Asimov wrote these in a friendly, breezy tone that makes for a comfortable read.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.

[Serena.. Sery-ously? · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Quell'ironia mi ha turbato e allora ho pensato da fare qualcosa. Sembra che Lester Del Rey..."
"Chi?" domandò Rubin.
"Lester DEl Rey. E' uno scrittore di fantascienza".
"Un altro di quelli" brontolò Rubin. "Mai sentito nominare".
"Be', non è proprio Isaac Asimov" ammise Peterborough "però non è affatto male nemmeno lui".

ADORO :D

Avrei voluto essere una persona più colta e informata, mentre leggevo questo libro perché Asimov tira fuori matematica, contabilità, storia, fantascienza, scienza e chi più ne ha più ne metta.. Tante volte ero così in difetto che mi sono fidata ciecamente di Harry per risolvere gli enigmi :D
Geniale!!

[Suyog Garg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, the book's good overall and I particularly find some of the stories like 'The Missing Object' intriguing, but the ratings gotta be only a 3. The reason being that I found this volume of Black Widowers lacking in the riveting mysteries themselves as anticipated after reading the first two. The stories are decked with somewhat reductant and often insignificant prattle. Further, none of the tales take place outside the setting of Milano, which for me has only the virtue of being eponymous with the joint near my college to recommend itself, and nothing of its own. I had liked some stories of the previous collection for their exploration of the lives of the Black Widower outside the monthly meetings themselves, but this one didn't have any of those. 'The Blind Man' was witty and quite original, whereas 'The Middle Name' didn't do much good to satiate the inquisitive mind. Loved the way there is reference to love and feminism in one or two of the stories. Overall a nice read but tends to be sliding on the boring side at a few places.

[Bill Peschel · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this collection of short mysteries, Asimov showed the ability to create clever and complex plots capable of keeping you turning the page if only to find the solution. His characters are thin and forgettable, but the stories will keep you compulsively turning the page, and short enough to encourage just one more read.

[Paul Brandt]

The Black Widowers is a fictional men-only dining club created by Isaac Asimov for a series of sixty-six mystery stories that he started writing in 1971. Most of the stories were first published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, though a few first appeared in Fantasy & Science Fiction, Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, and the various book collections into which the stories were eventually gathered.

Asimov wrote "there are few stories I write that I enjoy as much as I enjoy my Black Widowers."

In this book:

"The Cross of Lorraine" "The Family Man" "The Sports Page" "Second Best" "The Missing Item" "The Next Day" "Irrelevance!" "None So Blind" "The Backward Look" "What Time Is It?" "Middle Name" "To the Barest"

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

These 12 stories consist of a “club” of men, called the Black Widowers, who meet once/month for conversation and solving problems. Male black widow spiders eat their spouses, so needless to say, the men don’t invite their wives! Each month, one man is the host, who may invite a guest of his choice. In each story, the guest is asked to justify his existence.

Inevitably, one of the men, or the guest, comes up with a problem, which the men, the guest, and the waiter, Henry, who has also become a member of the club, must solve. It is often Henry who solves the problem, after listening to the other men discuss the case.

The stories are easy to read, make one think a bit, and are moderately interesting. I, personally, didn’t really enjoy the stories. I felt the “solutions” to the problems were far-fetched or didn’t make a lot of sense. The stories did make me think a bit, so for that they weren’t so bad.

[Socraticgadfly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Worse than "Tales of" and "More Tales of." This is 2.25-2.5 stars, rounded downward.

The only redeeming point is that it addressed a sociological deficit of the first two books and an African-American was guest in one of the 12 pieces.

That said, solutions for the mysteries in a full one-third of the 12 pieces were HUGE stretches. And even that may be charitable.

The way the last piece was structured, I thought it might be a sign Asimov was writing off the series with the last piece. However, his appendix note indicates otherwise, which means fourth, fifth and gads, volumes beyond that probably get even worse. (He wrote six, it seems; actually, no, he wrote five, and volume six was a posthumous collection of 10 of his "best" from the previous five volumes, mixed with a few pieces not previously published elsewhere, including one not even about the Black Widowers, per this review.)

[Mark Oppenlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

The series continues . . .

If you liked the previous volumes of the Black Widowers mystery short stories, well, this one is more of the same. Each month, a guest comes to the Black Widowers' dinner club with a problem. Each month the members try to solve the problem, often with limited success. Eventually, Henry, the preternaturally insightful waiter comes up with an ingenious solution.

Once again, a lot of the mysteries revolve around word-play, foreign languages and ideas or symbols that can have more than one meaning. I was proud of myself for figuring out at least one of the mysteries well ahead of the big reveal.

Solid but slight, these short stories offer low-key entertainment of an intellectual, but non-taxing variety. For anyone who is keeping score, I think this volume is slightly better than the previous one.

[Josh Hitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twelve more tales of a group of gentlemen and their monthly dinners. They always have a guest who seems to have a problem of some sort and they try to solve it by talking it out. However their waiter Henry is always the one that sees the usually simple solution. Always love these tales, though there are a couple in this collection that I thought were lesser. However any time with the Black Widowers is a good time so that doesn't take much away from my enjoyment of the collection.

Highly recommended along with the first two collections as well. Asimov has short afterwards after each story, telling small details about the writing of the story like how he got the ideal or where he was at while writing it. These little asides are interesting and makes me believe Asimov would have been hell of a guy to have a beer with.

[Francesco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non tutti i racconti sono stati interessanti, in particolare ho trovato poco avvincenti quelli troppo incentrati su dettagli specifici della politica americana.
Ma nel complesso mi è piaciuto molto il variare delle tematiche, con più "casi" di interesse generale e filosofico.
Come sempre, la ciliegina sulla torta la fanno i commenti di Asimov dopo i racconti. A volte sono quasi più avvincenti del racconto stesso.

[ADay001 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read similarly to how I remember reading the juvenile short-story anthologies of mysteries, except Asimov doesn't always play fair; some of the solutions relied upon only the most tenuous of logic or the most esoteric of trivial knowledge. Others (probably in part because they've been ripped off and repurposed by other authors since) were too obvious. But some were perfect. Happy to have read it.

(This is my standard review for Isaac Asimov short-stories outside the sci-fi genre.)

[Amy C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the 12 books recommended by a friend this year. It was an intriguing book of short stories filled with punny puzzles, conundrums and oddities. While I found the characters interactions with one another to be slightly off putting at times, I did enjoy the puzzles, even when they weren’t obvious to me. And I felt the “answer” to “the sports page” made more sense when given by a reader than the one presented in the story. But all in all, an enjoyable book of mini puzzles.

[Francesco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non tutti i racconti sono stati interessanti, in particolare ho trovato poco avvincenti quelli troppo incentrati su dettagli specifici della politica americana.
Ma nel complesso mi è piaciuto molto il variare delle tematiche, con più "casi" di interesse generale e filosofico.
Come sempre, la ciliegina sulla torta la fanno i commenti di Asimov dopo i racconti. A volte sono quasi più avvincenti del racconto stesso.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read three of these things now. They're fine. The determined lack of female characters is annoying. the characters are basically indistinguishable. except in this volume the characters kinda differentiate themselves in one story by having a range of opinions on feminism. not a huge range. really annoying story frankly. anyway, they're diverting, which is kinda the point right now, so i'll keep reading them.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's okay, not great, not bad. The stories are short and well-written and the solution offered by the waiter is often ingenious. At the same time, the stories are all - without an expection across 60 of them - modeled across the same template. That gets boring really quick.

Reading more than two stories in a row is not recommended.

[Deepti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very very very cute collection of mystery short stories! A bunch of 60+ year old men solving cases basis a guest who comes in.

Pretty interesting solves ranging from murders, to rescues to sci mysteries.. Only crib - slightly pedantic writing.

[Anthony Faber · Rating 2 out of 5]

His third collection of Black Widowers mysteries. Too facile for my taste.

[Thom Coté · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of Asimov's mini-mysteries are amusing, but as always he struggles with character and dialogue, and the stories are very formulaic.

[Tabitha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed that more than I thought I would.

[Bettye McKee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume contains my favorite Black Widowers story, The Cross of Lorraine.

[Priya Agarwal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Haven't finished it yet. Not very fun so far.

[Judy Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, this is a delightful blend of puzzles.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series of books are good nostalgic re-reads from long ago. Some of the more science fiction-y stories I'm not as wild about, but I do love them overall.

[Manuel Moro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Otras once historias de los Viudos Negros. Siguen el mismo patrón de las anteriores. Si te gustaron las otras, éstas también lo harán.

[VincenzoM]

Monotono e ripetitivo nello schema. Le soluzioni spesso forzate e con temi di fantascienza eccessivi.

[Agnes DiPietrantonio · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't think this was his best writing. Just ok