Puzzles of the Black Widowers by Isaac Asimov (EPUB)

Description

The Black Widowers Club, including Henry the waiter, gathers again to solve witty and unique conundrums, in a fifth collection of the Black Widowers series, which includes two never-before-published puzzles

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: From Publishers Weekly The fifth Black Widowers collection has stories from 1984 to 1989, 11 appearing originally in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine . Asimov again uses a real-life New York dining club as model for the Widowers. In every story a dinner guest is asked, “How do you justify your existence?” The guests–graduate student, government spook, bookseller, plumber et al.–dispose of the question, and then pose a puzzle for the Widowers to chew over–over and over. Invariably, after the chewing, the deferential, cerebral waiter Henry, also a Widower, comes up with the solution. Said solution turns on some piece of arcana–Bermuda traffic rules, the element with the most syllables–that most readers won’t know or care about. Each story is less than two dozen pages, a relief because the writing is like unbuttered, unsalted popcorn: harmless but not satisfying unless you’re already addicted. Asimov assures us the Black Widowers “will continue as long as I do.” Long life anyway, Dr. A. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐These stories by Issac Asimov are fun and a great way to relax at the end of the day

⭐I only wish there were more of the “Black Widowers” books, but I’m so glad Asimov wrote in the “mystery” genre at all!

⭐It’s Asimov whats not to love. His writing is exceptional as always and the Black Widowers are really fun to read about.

⭐Loves Asimov’s Black Widowers books. If you haven’t read them, you need to!!

⭐Asimov is ALWAYS good

⭐In the fifth and final Black Widowers anthology, Asimov slides into his stories with the ease and comfort of an old hand sliding into his favourite armchair. Much of the content of the Black Widowers stories were based on real-life friends of his, and a real-life club of his, and coupled with his decades of writing experience, it’s no wonder he enjoyed the ease with which he could churn these out.Indeed, outside of the plot twists, almost everything else about this set of stories seems taken directly from Asimov’s life, many of which are verbatim retellings of events which happened to him. In his foreword, he also waxes nostalgically that he will continue to write the characters based on those friends of his who have passed away, even though they are gone.Given all this, the actual mysteries take a back seat to the friendly nostalgia. One wouldn’t read these for the drama or suspense, but to meet Asimov once again, in his final decade, to revisit the warmth of his writing, to divine one or two more tidbits of autobiographical material, and to accompany once again those of the Trap Door Spiders (the club whom the Black Widowers was based upon) who have passed away (I would imagine nearly all of them by now). The often educational and always witty set-up of the actual mystery in each story, is just the vehicle that keeps the mind engaged while the reader journeys down memory lane.Definitely a bit of Asimoviana for the devotee, but little to offer the mystery consumer.

⭐Every once in awhile I dig out an old friend to re read, and I chose PUZZLES OF THE BLACK WIDOWERS by ISAAC ASIMOV. Asimov was a legend in the genre of Sci Fi, but he also wrote a handful of mysteries. One set was the Black Widowers . A group of professional men who got together for drinks,a meal and a mystery. Each member invited a guest and the guest,at the end of the meal was asked “How do you justify your existence.” Then,the person would tell a story that the Widowers would try to puzzle out. I fell in love with Asimov’s mysteries and consider them some of the best short stories out there.

⭐A great read. One of my favorite authors of all time. Sadly missed by fans.

⭐The black widowers are a group of men who meet on a regular basis, each meeting is on the subject of a specific mystery one of them raises. Sometimes they bring in another person with the problem.The rules are that the person raising the mystery is supposed to know the answer, but that is not always the case.The mysteries all have surprising endings, these are up there with the “tales of the unexpected”. They are always solved by the waiter after everyone else has got it wrong, and it is a very enjoyable read.I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries, loves Asimov, or just wants a book of short stories.

⭐More thought provoking little mysteries for the reader to solve before the author does.

⭐I love Asimov, however these stories were….lame. The resolutions were tenuous to say the least.

⭐If you like crosswords or mystery stories this one’s for you!

⭐Present

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