67:. Each one takes a turn to act as host for the evening and brings along a guest for the occasion. The guest may be a friend, relative or colleague from work (women are not allowed). The meal is served by the incomparable waiter Henry Jackson — almost invariably referred to as simply Henry — whom the regulars look upon with high regard and even consider an actual member. The room includes sketches of the guests drawn by Black Widower Mario Gonzalo and a bookcase with an encyclopaedia that is often consulted.
75:
problem, varying from personal issues to problems at work to actual crimes. The club members try to solve the problem, raising various related aspects in the course of the conversation, but are unable to come to a conclusion or resolution. In the end, it is Henry who provides the correct, and usually very simple, answer, obtained from details mentioned in the conversation. Asimov intended them to
74:
is served and the host rattles his spoon on his water glass for silence. One of the other
Widowers is appointed as "griller" and begins the questioning, most often by asking the guest to "justify his existence". In the course of the subsequent conversation, it always comes out that the guest has a
195:
The first five books each contained twelve stories; in each case, nine stories were first published in various magazines while three were first published in the book. As was usual with Asimov's collections, many stories had chatty forewords or afterwords. The sixth book, published posthumously,
916:
63:
Most of the stories follow the same basic convention: the six club members meet once a month at a private room at the Milano restaurant at Fifth and
Eighteenth in
176:
The deceased founder of the club, Ralph Ottur, on whom the plot of the story "To the Barest" turned, was based on the real-life founder of the Trap Door
Spiders,
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Club waiter Henry
Jackson was not based on a real person, but Asimov explained that he might have been inspired in large part by Wodehouse's immortal character
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Seiler&Jenkins 2009, "Isaac Asimov FAQ", section 2.10. "Did Asimov do anything other than write all day and all night?"
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87:
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Some guests were also based on real people. The stage magician The
Amazing Larri ("The Cross of Lorraine") was based on
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Asimov uses the stories in order to delve into aspects of science, history, culture and other interests: for example,
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contained six previously uncollected stories, eleven reprinted from previous collections, and additional material by
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114:. Members of the Widowers were based on real-life Spiders, some of them famous writers in their own right:
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tales have been written by other authors as tributes to Asimov. One is "The
Overheard Conversation" by
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Asimov wrote "there are few stories I write that I enjoy as much as I enjoy my Black
Widowers."
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Roger
Halsted, a high school mathematics teacher, fond of jokes and limericks (based on
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Mario
Gonzalo, an artist, who usually draws a portrait of the evening's guest (based on
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Emmanuel Rubin, a mystery novelist and acquaintance of Isaac Asimov (based on
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that he started writing in 1971. Most of the stories were first published in
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Seiler, Edward (compiler); Jenkins, John H. (compiler) (2009-09-20).
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were based on a literary dining club Asimov belonged to known as the
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229:(1989); another is "The Last Story", by Charles Ardai, in
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in "The Year of the Action"; and the origins of the name "
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571:"Sixty Million Trillion Combinations" (reprinted from
236:The books and the stories collected in them are:
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23:is a fictional men-only dining club created by
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118:Geoffrey Avalon, a patent attorney (based on
711:Asimov Online.com for Alt.Books.Isaac-Asimov
173:fan and a member of the Wodehouse Society.
143:for the United States government (based on
908:
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529:"The Acquisitive Chuckle" (reprinted from
1005:The Disappearing Man and Other Mysteries
824:, chapter 120, "The Trap Door Spiders".
599:"The Woman in the Bar" (reprinted from
543:"Early Sunday Morning" (reprinted from
49:Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine
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1054:List of short stories by Isaac Asimov
889:
550:"The Obvious Factor" (reprinted from
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404:Sixty Million Trillion Combinations
88:Sixty Million Trillion Combinations
13:
1040:The Best Mysteries of Isaac Asimov
578:"The Wrong House" (reprinted from
536:"Ph As In Phoney" (reprinted from
14:
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804:, chapter "119. Mystery stories".
132:James Drake, a chemist (based on
40:, though a few first appeared in
16:Isaac Asimov mystery story series
997:The Key Word and Other Mysteries
978:The Return of the Black Widowers
946:More Tales of the Black Widowers
752:The Return of the Black Widowers
741:, Grafton Books, 1986, page 250.
564:"To the Barest" (reprinted from
559:More Tales of the Black Widowers
498:"Northwestward" (reprinted from
492:The Return of the Black Widowers
300:More Tales of the Black Widowers
231:The Return of the Black Widowers
788:Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
770:Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
592:"Triple Devil" (reprinted from
557:"The Iron Gem" (reprinted from
37:Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
962:Banquets of the Black Widowers
954:Casebook of the Black Widowers
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847:Casebook of the Black Widowers
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739:Banquets of the Black Widowers
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627:Casebook of the Black Widowers
601:Banquets of the Black Widowers
587:Banquets of the Black Widowers
585:"The Redhead" (reprinted from
580:Banquets of the Black Widowers
573:Banquets of the Black Widowers
566:Casebook of the Black Widowers
396:Banquets of the Black Widowers
350:Casebook of the Black Widowers
139:Thomas Trumbull, an expert in
1:
970:Puzzles of the Black Widowers
849:, "To the Barest - Afterword"
609:
594:Puzzles of the Black Widowers
455:"Unique Is Where You Find It"
446:Puzzles of the Black Widowers
43:Fantasy & Science Fiction
287:"Yankee Doodle Went to Town"
7:
938:Tales of the Black Widowers
552:Tales of the Black Widowers
545:Tales of the Black Widowers
538:Tales of the Black Widowers
531:Tales of the Black Widowers
330:"Earthset and Evening Star"
242:Tales of the Black Widowers
70:After the main course, the
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10:
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27:for a series of sixty-six
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862:, chapter 41, section 19.
430:"Neither Brute Nor Human"
284:"The Lullaby of Broadway"
1032:The Union Club Mysteries
418:"The Year of the Action"
424:"The Phoenician Bauble"
356:"The Cross of Lorraine"
333:"Friday the Thirteenth"
327:"The One and Only East"
250:The Acquisitive Chuckle
219:, which appears in the
876:List and index of the
783:The Year of the Action
510:"Lost In a Space Warp"
476:"The Four-Leaf Clover"
409:"The Woman in the Bar"
309:"Quicker Than the Eye"
306:"When No Man Pursueth"
290:"The Curious Omission"
272:"Early Sunday Morning"
98:" in "The Intrusion".
522:"The Last Story" (by
464:"Sunset on the Water"
415:"The Good Samaritan"'
324:"Season's Greetings!"
318:"Nothing Like Murder"
278:"The Pointing Finger"
84:Goldbach's conjecture
79:follow that pattern.
882:at Asimov Online.com
513:"Police at the Door"
452:"The Fourth Homonym"
275:"The Obvious Factor"
226:Foundation's Friends
92:Gilbert and Sullivan
917:Mystery collections
655:I. Asimov: A Memoir
519:"The Guest's Guest"
516:"The Haunted Cabin"
427:"A Monday in April"
421:"Can You Prove It?"
380:"The Backward Look"
315:"The Three Numbers"
1024:Asimov's Mysteries
765:The Good Samaritan
707:"Isaac Asimov FAQ"
383:"What Time Is It?"
368:"The Missing Item"
341:The Ultimate Crime
269:"Go, Little Book!"
120:L. Sprague de Camp
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860:In Joy Still Felt
773:in September 1980
473:"The Quiet Place"
458:"The Lucky Piece"
436:"The Wrong House"
362:"The Sports Page"
191:Books and stories
134:Dr. John D. Clark
112:Trap Door Spiders
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359:"The Family Man"
336:"The Unabridged"
202:William Brittain
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1079:Fictional clubs
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470:"The Old Purse"
439:"The Intrusion"
389:"To the Barest"
377:"None So Blind"
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171:P. G. Wodehouse
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507:"Yes, But Why"
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479:"The Envelope"
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467:"Where Is He?"
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374:"Irrelevance!"
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371:"The Next Day"
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257:Ph as in Phony
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217:Edward D. Hoch
213:Black Widowers
206:Harlan Ellison
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178:Fletcher Pratt
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127:Lester del Rey
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678:Asimov, Isaac
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650:Asimov, Isaac
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714:. Retrieved
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686:. New York:
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485:"The Recipe"
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412:"The Driver"
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321:"No Smoking"
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281:"Miss What?"
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145:Gilbert Cant
141:cryptography
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25:Isaac Asimov
20:
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737:Asimov, I.
482:"The Alibi"
221:festschrift
185:James Randi
1068:Categories
716:2013-01-03
610:References
223:anthology
159:Don Bensen
152:Lin Carter
822:I. Asimov
802:I. Asimov
688:Doubleday
660:Doubleday
632:Doubleday
725:Endnotes
680:(1980).
652:(1994).
624:(1980).
233:(2003).
65:New York
59:Synopsis
880:stories
615:Sources
495:(2003)
449:(1990)
399:(1984)
353:(1980)
303:(1976)
245:(1974)
102:Origins
32:stories
29:mystery
1043:(1986)
1035:(1983)
1027:(1968)
1008:(1985)
1000:(1977)
981:(2003)
973:(1990)
965:(1984)
957:(1980)
949:(1976)
941:(1974)
694:
666:
638:
211:A few
167:Jeeves
77:always
72:brandy
989:Larry
501:Magic
96:Susan
692:ISBN
664:ISBN
636:ISBN
204:and
106:The
86:in "
19:The
919:by
90:";
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809:^
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