H. Bustos Domecq
H. Bustos Domecq is a pseudonym used for several collaborative works by the Argentine writers Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares.
Origin
Bustos Domecq made his first appearance as F. Bustos, the pseudonym under which Borges, in 1933, published his first fictional story, now known as "Hombre de la esquina rosada", but originally titled "Hombre de las orillas", Francisco Bustos being the name of "one forefather's forefather".He changed his first initial and acquired a second surname as Borges and Bioy Casares later used the pseudonym "H. Bustos Domecq" for some of their lighter works. According to Borges, Bustos was the name of one of his great-grandfathers, while Domecq was the name of one of Bioy's great-grandfathers.
Works
H. Bustos Domecq was the original credited author of the parodic detective stories in Seis problemas para don Isidro Parodi, 1942 and Dos fantasías memorables, 1946.Bustos was also the alleged author of Crónicas de Bustos Domecq, 1967,, and Nuevos Cuentos de Bustos Domecq, even though the authors' actual names were featured on the covers of both books.
Under another pseudonym, "Benito Suárez Lynch", Borges and Bioy published the parodic mystery Un modelo para la muerte in 1946, featuring the characters of the Isidro Parodi stories.
The pair also did some collaborations without the use of the pseudonym, notably two movie scripts from 1955: Los orilleros and El paraíso de los creyentes. Both dealt with the exacerbated sense of manhood among the compadritos in the slums of Buenos Aires circa 1900.
The Bustos Domecq materials provided comic relief for cultivated Latin Americans, but also, famously, conveyed a subtle yet unambiguous pro-allied message in the 1942 edition of Parodi – which was not a surprise for people who knew the authors but was, nevertheless, a contrarian statement given the state of Argentine politics at the time.
Note: The Isidro Parodi appears as Isidoro in some editions.