Fri 17 Mar 2017
Stories I’m Reading: ISAAC ASIMOV “The Cross of Lorraine.”
Posted by Steve under Stories I'm Reading[5] Comments
ISAAC ASIMOV “The Cross of Lorraine.” First published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, May 1976. Collected in Casebook of the Black Widowers (Doubleday, hardcover, 1980; Fawcett Crest, paperback, March 1981).
The Black Widowers were a men-only dining club that met once a week in a private room of a Manhattan restaurant. Each evening one of the members brings a guest, who after dinner is questioned as to the reason for his existence. In the conversation that follows, a problem the guest has invariably comes up and is tackled by the members as a group. The solution to the problem, however, also invariably comes from Henry, the waiter.
There were 66 of these stories altogether. Five collections of twelve stories each were published in Asimov’s lifetime. Some of the stories were original to each volume, otherwise all but two appeared first in EQMM. The last six plus eleven reprints were collected in The Return of the Black Widowers (Carroll & Graf, 2003).
“The Cross of Lorraine” is the first story in the third collection, and it follows the pattern of all the others. While the guest, named Larri, is only a so-so magician, his fame comes from exposing phony mystics, and a lot of discussion takes place involving sleight of hand and misdirection, which is where Larri’s problem comes in.
It seems that he lost track of a woman whose company he was enjoying on a bus ride. When he fell asleep, she got off at her stop, and his only clue is a young French lad’s assertion that he saw the double-barred Cross of Lorraine when she did so, but retracking the route, Larri could find no such symbol along the roadway.
The solution is simple but exceedingly clever. You probably can’t read too many of these in a ow, and shouldn’t even try, but at a slow pace of only one at a time, these old-fashioned and clearly told puzzle stories, for that is what they are, are a lot of fun. They were among Asimov’s own favorite stories to tell as well.
March 17th, 2017 at 4:29 pm
The Black Widowers stories are huge favorites of mine. I’ve read all six collections. But then, I’ve been reading Asimov for over fifty years, ever since first grade. He’s just a gifted writer.
This good review conveys much of the charm of the tales.
March 17th, 2017 at 5:04 pm
I’ve been reading Asimov for over fifty years myself, although I started in middle school. I think the first of his novels I read was THE NAKED SUN, which is actually a detective story solved by Elijah Baley and his humanoid robot partner R. Daneel Olivaw. It was a step up from the set of Winston SF books I’d been reading, that’s for sure.
March 18th, 2017 at 2:13 am
I reread the collections regularly, but as you say slowly and never too many at a time.
March 18th, 2017 at 2:41 am
Slight emendation:
When Isaac Asimov was writing the Black Widowers stories, Fred Dannay at EQMM was his first and best customer.
However, Dr. A would purposely hold back a few stories each year, for 1st appearance in the book collections.
The Good Doctor explained this strategy in each new collection, story by story; smart marketing move.
March 18th, 2017 at 11:09 am
Something I hadn’t realized before. I’ve made the correction. Thanks, Mike!