شش مشکل برای ایسی‌درو پارودی (کتابخانهٔ نویسنده)

Amantes del genero policial, Jorge Luis Borges y Adolfo Bioy Casares dieron cauce de expresion a las inquietudes y solaces fruto de su comun aficion en los singulares relatos que toman como eje a un detective o investigador no menos singular: Isidro Parodi, el penado de la celda 273 de la Penitenciaria Nacional, que resuelve los casos que le plantean sin moverse de ella. Publicado en 1942 bajo el pseudonimo comun de H. Bustos Domecq, SEIS PROBLEMAS para DON ISIDRO PARODI esta integrado por seis piezas que, pese a ser completamente independientes, van desplegando en un segundo plano ante el lector todo un elenco de personajes que, sometidos a un bano de humor corrosivo que les imprime rasgos y aires propios de grand guignol, sirven de articuladores de unas tramas que hunden su raiz en la mejor tradicion del cuento de misterio. In an unusual twist on the traditional armchair detective, Don Isidoro Parodi, jailbird and former barbershop owner, unravels each mystery brought to his cell by a host of flamboyant characters, parodies of different elements of Argentinean society. Among these, an easily duped journalist, an actor who gives a new meaning to egotism, and members of a Buenos Aires literary circle, each more absurd than the next, are some of the clientele who stop by the prison to see if don Ididoro is "in" for a consult. As with most of Borges' fiction, there are ample literary references; these add to the unrelenting and cutting humor wielded against Argentinean intellectuals, but the characters speak for themselves. Some of the plots are as farfetched as the characters, including a diamond stolen from Russian royalty and a precious stone lifted from a Chinese temple; others, such as "Free Will and the Commendatore," underscore philosophical problems. The stories are playful even when they are serious; H. Bustos Domecq does not miss an opportunity to poke fun at the characters, and the authors, Borges and Casares, take every chance to make much of Bustos Domecq, their illustrious pseudonym Las doce figuras del mundo Las noches de Goliadkin El dios de los toros Las previsiones de Saniácomo La víctima de Tadeo Limardo La prolongada busca de Tai An.