Callahan's Crosstime Saloon

Bloody fantastic! I received this as a gift a few years ago and just now got around to reading it as I have too many damn books in my to-read pile. Now I've found my new favorite sci-fi author, and absolutely plan to get more of the books from this series!

There's plenty in here to provoke thoughts about religion, morality, psychology, sexuality, etc, and plenty of awesome puns. It's a fantastic mixture of light and seriousness which had me riveted from the first chapter.

This slim book is a little burst of joy. Somewhat deceptively sold as sci-fi, this is a collection of short stories that all take place at Callahan's, a Long Island bar where people come to talk about their problems, and people listen. That's really it; it just so happens that a some (but not all) of the people who walk in have some weird problems. There's aliens who have been sent to destroy Earth but don't really want to, but also a Vietnam vet who found he liked killing a little too much. These stories are all about empathy, putting you in somebody else's shoes. They're simple and effective. And despite some of the things that occasionally come up in these stories, they're really comforting. A warm hug from a good friend.

Beware the puns.

I remember this this book back when I was introduced to Spider Robinson back in college. At that time Callahan's Cross-Time Saloon, Shogun and Asimov's Foundation trilogy were my favorites.

Well, Spider's tales are not up there with those great writers. In fact the stories are pretty strange, enlightening and give a lesson at the end. Even now in my reread, the lessons seem a bit trite. But I am getting ahead of myself.

First published as a collection in the 70s, Robinson's bar joint with its misfit clients came to life between the covers of Analog Magazine. And though more fantasy than science fiction, makes for some interesting reading.

These nine stories always start with some pretty crazy characters. The narrator is Jake; the barkeep show more is Callahan and whoever walks into that bar usually has a story to tell as we say a toast and crash our glassware into the fireplace!

Callahan is a tough Irish barman, but he meets his match when he hears the story of a man who lost his wife and was locked away, forgotten, in a South American prison cell for over ten years. Or an alien who has been assigned to recommend annihilation of the human race! Or another, who was once Adolph Hitler (could Callahan forgive that?!). And a woman who has lived over 200 years and has a death wish; interesting solution to that problem. Or a time traveler who wants to stop a certain tragedy and would the boys in the bar help him out?

And the puns in this book are just horrible! And a few philosophical lines like "joy always equals pain in the long-run" are a bit beyond my understanding but what the heck - it's a Spider story!

Because the stories were written in the 70s, references to Vietnam and Nixon are evident. Despite these dated situations, you should have a great time visiting Callahan's Cross-Time Saloon, meet a few wild and crazy people and throw your glass half-full of Bushmill's Brew as you tell a tall tale.

Recommended.

Other Spider Books:

The Free Lunch
Very Hard Choices
The Callahan Chronicals show less

I've read this collection several times, but not for a number of years. I still appreciate the overall premise and positivity of the stories, but they are dated now. Not surprising, since I think most of these stories were written in the 1970s. There is one female character in one of the stories, otherwise everyone else is male. I think there might be one POC, but only a very minor character who is barely mentioned. Everyone else is white. And Spider was pretty progressive for his time.

Anyway, I think I'm more in love with the place (Callahan's bar) and the puns than the actual stories themselves.

Abandoned after listening to the first 3 or 4 stories.
The prose and storytelling are good. It's pleasant to listen to it - just like you might listen to a good storyteller in a bar. There is not much more beyond it.
If you want to spend time reading something light that doesn't leave much behind(good or bad), this is a good recommendation.
It's a strange feeling I have about it. It felt like time travel: at the end of the story, you just notice that time has passed. But you can't say much about what happened during that time. Your mood is the same, your memories are the same. All's fine.
It's a pity though - Robinson sure has a knack for writing.

I really loved the narrator voice and writing style of this. Probably more so than the actual story. I was expecting a cohesive overarching story. What it is though, is a motley crew of bar patrons and their fantastic adventures inside Callahan's Saloon. Still, definitely a place I would like to visit and the writing definitely draws you in and makes you feel part of it all. Like Cheers, but written years before and better than that Boston Pub.

Enjoyable short stories, but not quite riveting or deeply involving. Robinson originally wrote these stories as a sort of serial for Analog magazine, and as a group, they show that heritage. Part of what works for them is the mood, a positive, friendly, "we welcome all" vibe with a little bit of accommodating wierdness. However, story to story becomes repetitive if attempted in one sitting.

Where Callahan's stands apart is it's focus on struggling with the problems of existence and meaning, and humanity, and the great focus the bar clientele have on empathizing with each other. This is Cheers with puns instead of sarcastic put-downs. Be warned, Callahan's clientele truly love puns, and they will edge into the most serious of stories. show more Xanth ain't got nothing on Callahan's.

Mostly stories aren't explicitly sci-fi, being set in an modern anytime New York bar but instead play with sci-fi concepts like time travel, lurking aliens, and humans with extra abilities. Never fear, all problems can be solved with some creativity and thought. And most likely, bad puns. show less