Spider Robinson is a science fiction author best known for his stories of Callahan's saloon, its regular patrons, and the two bars that succeeded it. He also is known for the Stardance trilogy, novels of zero-gravity dance and alien contact, written with his wife Jeanne. He was chosen by Robert A. Heinlein's estate to write Variable Star based on Heinlein's outline from 1955. The novel was published in September 2006. He was born in the Bronx, New York City, in 1948. He earned a BA in English from the State University of New York. His first sale in 1972 to Ben Bova at Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact was "The Guy with the Eyes," which began his Callahan's Saloon series. Shortly after that, he moved to Nova Scotia, where he met and married his wife Jeanne, a dancer who later founded the Nova Dance Company in Halifax. In the late 1980s they moved to Vancouver, British Columbia and now live on an island north of the city. They have a daughter, Terri. | |
What's Callahan's?Callahan's has become known as one of the greatest bars and pubs in science fiction. Callahan's Place is a little out-of-the-way bar somewhere off Route 25A in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. It's run by Mike Callahan, a big Irishman (think Brian Dennehy) with help from Fast Eddie Costigan, the piano player.The Callahan's stories are told from the point of view of regular patron Jake Stonebender, who later opens Mary's Place and then The Place. Jake came to Callahan's on the recommendation of Doc Webster, surgeon and master punster. Callahan's is the kind of place you find if you need to, and Jake - who had just lost his wife and daughter in a car accident he blamed on a botched do-it-yourself brake job which saved him thirty dollars easy - needed to. Mike Callahan believes in good fellowship and merriment. The place is about as bright as the average living room, with chairs instead of stools at the bar. Mike believes, as do his regulars, that shared pain is lessened, shared joy is increased. People who have something to share, good or bad, are invited to step up to a chalk line in front of the big fireplace, make a toast, and hurl their glass into the fire. Others who agree with the toast follow with their glasses. Mike buys glasses in bulk. Drinks are half a buck (this series started back in 1973), but a patron starts out by putting a dollar bill on the bar. The patron may then make a toast and throw the glass. If no toast is made, the patron may, upon exiting, take a couple of quarters from the cigar box at the end of the bar. A lot of problems get solved this way as people, having made their toast, share the story behind it, but only if they're willing. Caring and empathy run high in the place. Nosiness is not tolerated at Callahan's, and a prying question could end up with someone getting a crack on the back of the head from Fast Eddie's blackjack (seldom used, fortunately). This being science fiction, it's no surprise that Callahan's manages to attract its share of unusual customers, like the one in the first story, "The Guy with the Eyes." A very tall humanoid alien is sent by his masters to scout out and destroy Earth, but he discovers he really doesn't want to destroy it in spite of his very rigid programming. The crew at Callahan's manage to find a way to keep him from carrying out his mission. Doc Webster, by the way, isn't the only patron who likes puns. One of the traditions of Callahan's is Punday Night, in which patrons engage in round-robin punning. Doc is usually the winner, although Jake gives him a good run for his money and sometimes wins. | |
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Callahan's Crosstime Saloon This is the first collection of Spider Robinson's stories about Callahan's Saloon, his most popular creation. "The Guy with the Eyes" started it all with it's appearance inAnalog magazine in February 1973. Other stories include "The Time Traveler," "Just Dessert," "Unnatural Causes"' and "The Wonderful Conspiracy." "Shared pain is diminished; shared joy is increased" is the motto of Callahan's. |
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Time Travelers Strictly Cash Spider Robinson's second collection of stories, with half from Callahan's Saloon. Stories related to Callahan's are "Fivesight," "Dog Day Evening," "Have You Heard the One...?"' and "Mirror/rorriM, off the Wall." Other stories include "God Is an Iron"' which became part of Spider's novel Mindkiller. |
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Callahan's Secret This is Spider Robinson's third collection of stories about Callahan's Saloon. Stories include "The Blacksmith's Tale," "Pyotr's Story," "Involuntary Man's Laughter," and "The Mick of Time." It's the last book about Callahan's Saloon itself, but the series continued as Jake Stonebender, the narrator, opened Mary's Place (see "The Blacksmith's Tale" to learn why it's called that) and later the gang relocated to Key West. |
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Callahan and Company: The Compleat Chronicles of the Crosstime Saloon This hardcover collects all the Callahan's short stories from Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, Time Travelers Strictly Cash, and Callahan's Secret. You'll want this if you're a collector. If you present it to Spider for an autograph at a reading, he'll be very pleased. |
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The Callahan Chronicals Callahan's Saloon is the kind of place you find if you need to. The regulars, while enjoying the bending of the elbow, are a rather empathetic bunch, willing to listen and help - "Shared pain is lessened; shared joy is increased." They also like puns, so be warned. If you've heard a lot about Callahan's and want to get into reading about it, this collection, with the same stories as Callahan and Company, is a good place to start. Collectors will want this even if they have the individual books. Spider, a master punster, admits that the spelling of "Chronicals" is a weak pun. |
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Callahan's Lady Spider detoured a bit from stories of Callahan's with a couple of novels about Mike's wife, Lady Sally McGee, who runs a "house of good repute." This one is told from the point of view of Maureen, rescued from the streets and not allowed to practice as an "artist" until she's of age, and then only with her fully informed consent. As for Lady Sally, as long as a customer has good manners, she doesn't care if he or she isn't human. |
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Lady Slings the Booze This is the second novel about Lady Sally McGee. Private eye Joe Quigley joins the crew of Lady Sally's, and along with the usual assortment of Spider's unusual characters, helps save the city from destruction. Of all the books that are all about Callahan's and Lady Sally's, this is the only title without the name "Callahan" in it, as well as the only one that's an easily recognizable pun. |
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Kill the Editor This special edition from Pulphouse Publishing, limited to 900 copies, is the first part of Lady Slings the Booze. This is definitely for collectors. It may not always be available at Powell's Books or Amazon, and can be rather pricey when it is. |
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The Callahan Touch Callahan's Place is no more, but Jake, narrator of the stories, has opened his own bar and named it Mary's Place in honor of Mike Callahan's daughter, even if she did fall for Mickey Finn right after Jake fell for her. The old gang is back, along with some new faces, and they all set about creating a merry atmosphere. |
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Callahan's Legacy The merriment and weirdness continue at Mary's Place, with time out to save the world...again. Then bureaucracy rears its very ugly head. Spider made all the chapter headings palindromes. |
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Callahan's Key Winters on Long Island can be harsh. With Mary's Place shuttered by cold-hearted bureaucracy, Jake rallies the gang for a move via a caravan of refitted school buses, destination Key West. Along the way they're joined by a cop who just decides to take a chance and go for a big change, then Robert A. Heinlein's Pixel, the cat who walks through windshields. They stop at the marina once reputed to be the mooring place of Travis McGee's "Busted Flush," and they get to witness a launch of the Space Shuttle. Key West is one of the few places the Callahan's alumni and new friends can fit in without attracting a lot of attention, and they set up shop at The Place with far less paperwork than it would have required to make Mary's Place legal. Once they save not just the world, but the entire universe, it'll be time for some serious fun. |
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Callahan's Con Ten years of serious, well-deserved fun have gone by since Jake and the gang relocated to Key West. Then Mafioso Tony Donuts, Jr. decides to shake down The Place, a bureaucrat questions the education of Erin, Jake and Zoey's super-genius daughter, and Zoey, having chosen to wear the wrong belt, needs rescuing from total nothingness. |
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Off the Wall at Callahan's This is a collection of quotes and puns from the Callahan' series up through The Callahan Touch. Also included are lyrics of some of Spider's songs, and brief bios of characters in the series. |
