Problem Solved - Fernando Sorrentino’s ten-page tale of suspense, a tale ending with a resolution, the solving of a problem, a solution to the narrator's conundrum, but on another intriguing level, the reader’s imagination is left to ponder the mysterious contents of a forgotten cardboard box. Spoiler alert: I touch on many of the highlights of the story.

It all began when the unnamed narrator working for a large financial company in downtown Buenos Aires became acquainted with a most unusual gent, one of the traveling vendors by the name of Boitus peddling his wares office to office, someone who was “as thin as a wire and balding, wore antique-style glasses, and always dressed in the same grimy, threadbare gray suit, all of which gave him the air of a man who had escaped from a silent film era movie. He had a speech defect, causing his "r" to sound like "d".”

Boitus sold encyclopedias and dictionaries and other varieties of books. The narrator, let’s call him Juan José, became a prime client of the vendor and for good reason – he would ask for a particular title and a few days later Boitus would reappear at his office, book in hand.

This peddler was not only odd in appearance but also odd in the way he moved and talked. As Juan José relates: “The vocabulary he used was both peculiar and exclusive: when speaking of Juan Pérez, our nation's president, he referred to Chief What's-His-Name. He didn't use the sidewalk, but rather the public walkway. He didn't ride on the underground rail, microbuses or trains; instead he traveled on the public passenger transportation system. He never said, "I don't know"; it was always, I'm unaware.”

And the oddities continue: for example, the business papers he carried were his judgement tools; an older woman in the office asked if Boitus ever considered marriage, to which he answered there are three reasons why not: he is not in an economic position to do so; he lacks the funds; he’s broke.

Alas, there came a time when things at the office changed. Mr. Linares, the new manager takes over, a stickler for the rules. And the rules say no vendors allowed. Thus, Juan José is forced to devise an alternate plan – ah, yes, Boitus could visit his apartment to sell his books. Actually, at no time did Boitus refer to himself as a bookseller, rather, he called himself a cultural disseminator.

The idiosyncratic vendor pays a few visits, loaded down with his usual old, battered briefcase, assorted packages and cardboard boxes. But then it happens – on one occasion Boitus forgets one of his cardboard boxes. Juan José calls the disseminator of culture's telephone number, receives no answer, and leaves an urgent message. He calls again. This time he’s notified there is no such number.

Back at the office, Juan José asks Rossi, one of his co-workers, to come over to his apartment and help. When Rossi shows up and looks in the cardboard box he draws back with a distasteful look and says the situation is complicated.

The next morning Juan José is called into Mr. Linares’s office. A visit is arranged for Saturday morning whereupon not only does Mr. Linares arrive at the apartment but he brings an attorney and also another assistant from the financial company. After peering into the box, Mr. Linares takes out a stack of legal papers that must be signed by everyone present.

The reality of the cardboard box becomes public knowledge and from this point forward, Juan José’s life changes drastically – he’s interviewed on television, he receives a promotion to another office across town, he leaves his girlfriend and thereafter meets another attractive young lady, a teacher, that he eventually marries. The cardboard box remains an issue. Juan José takes the needed action and the problem is solved. But the cardboard box remains exactly where he found it.

Coda: During an interview, when my Goodreads friend Arthur Graham asked Fernando Sorrrentino about what was in the cardboard box, the author replied: “I'd love to know what the hell was kept in the box in question, but the truth is that I have no idea about its contents myself.”

Link to Fernando Sorrentino's Problem Solved: http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/ProbSolv.shtml

Link to Arthur Graham's interview with Fernando Sorrentino: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/13497509-a-conversation-with-fernando-sorrentino