# Looking for short stories set in a bar. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 27, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615 "2019-05-27T20:38:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nightfall1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@Nightfall1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightfall1)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/1 "2019-05-27T20:38:02Z")
Hello my Straight Dope friends. I enjoy reading short stories of a group of friends sitting around telling each other stories. I’ve read Asimov’s Azazel fantasy stories The Black Widower Mystery stories The Union Club Mysteries Clarkes Tales from the White Hart Spider Robinson’s Callahan Crosstime Saloon de Camp and Pratt’s Tales from Gavagan’s Bar Does anyone have other suggestions? I like mystery, science fiction, fantasy and anything in between. Thank you all. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/2 "2019-05-27T20:52:07Z")
_[The Draco Tavern](https://www.amazon.com/Draco-Tavern-Larry-Niven/dp/0765308630)_-Larry Niven > [@](#): > > When a tremendous spacecraft took orbit around the Earth’s moon and began sending smaller landers down toward the North Pole, the newly arrived visitors quickly set up a permanent spaceport at Mount Forel in Siberia. Their presence attracted many, and a few people grew conspicuously rich from secrets they learned from talking to the aliens. One of these men, Rick Schumann established a tavern catering to all of various species of visiting aliens, a place he named the Draco Tavern. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/3 "2019-05-27T22:30:49Z")
I seem to recall a series of Star Trek novels under the collective title of “The Captain’s Table.” Each novel (sorry, not short stories) was a story told at a bar by a different starship captain. Ah, yes. Here it is: > **[Star Trek: The Captain's Table](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Captain%27s_Table)** > > Star Trek: The Captain's Table was a series of thematic crossover novels released by Pocket Books. The books spanned all four major Trek television tie-in novel series (at that time), including TOS, TNG, DS9 and Voyager, additional installments... ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/4 "2019-05-27T22:42:49Z")
> [@Nightfall1](#): > > Spider Robinson’s > > Callahan Crosstime Saloon Are you including _Time Travelers Strictly Cash_ and _Callahan’s Secret_ in that? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/5 "2019-05-27T22:51:34Z")
And the stories set at Lady Sally’s bordello - _Lady Slings the Blues_ and _Callahan’s Lady_. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/6 "2019-05-27T23:17:48Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > And the stories set at Lady Sally’s bordello - _Lady Slings the Blues_ and _Callahan’s Lady_. Yes, but aren’t those novels instead of short story collections? I’m going by Wikipedia for the distinction–I’ve read them all, but it has been a long time. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/7 "2019-05-28T00:28:25Z")
Cripes, Stephen King has more than I can list. The Breathing Method The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands One For The Road [Anything from Castle Rock] Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut many more ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/8 "2019-05-28T01:26:44Z")
“Tales From the Spaceport Bar” has some good stories. (The second installment not so much.) > **[Spaceport Bars and the Brawlers Who Love Them](https://interloperminiatures.com/2018/08/spaceport-bars-and-the-brawlers-who-love-them/)** > > This post was inspired by this one over on the amazing Atomic Rockets. I’m going to talk about two of my favourite things, science fiction and drinking establishments. Or as I like to call it Science Drinking. Under the subheading Star-Town I... I particularly recommend “Infinite Resources” by Randall Garret. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/9 "2019-05-28T11:38:02Z")
If you can find a copy, there’ a tribute volume to Arthur C. Clarke and his _Tales From the White_ Hart conceived of shortly after his death, called _Fables From the Fountain._ It’s edited by **Ian Whates** and includes the likes of Charles Stross, Ian Watson & Neil Gaiman. It consists of 18 tall tales, as if told by a group of authors at their regular meet-ups in an old London pub. **Eric Brown** had an episodic alien invasion novel called _Kethani._ The first 9 (of 12) chapters appeared first as short stories; evey chapter is set in a Yorkshire pub as the various customers relate their experiences over the years. But maybe not quite what you’re loking for. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/10 "2019-05-28T12:27:56Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > _[The Draco Tavern](https://www.amazon.com/Draco-Tavern-Larry-Niven/dp/0765308630)_-Larry Niven Niven also has “[The Fourth Profession](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6037544-the-fourth-profession)”, which pretty much starts out as an “An Alien Walks into a bar…” joke, but then goes different places. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/11 "2019-05-28T12:54:16Z")
There’s a portion of Gaimans SANDMAN comics that do that. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/12 "2019-05-28T13:01:01Z")
Hemingway’s _A Clean, Well Lighted Place_ is set in a café where two waiters speculate about the only patron in the place, a lonely old man. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/13 "2019-05-28T13:10:22Z")
I’ve read most of the ones in the OP, and Niven’s _Draco Tavern_ stories. I haven’t read _Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina_, but they definitely fit the pattern: > **[Amazon.com: Tales from The Mos Eisley Cantina (Star Wars): 9780553564686: Kevin...](https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Eisley-Cantina-Star-Wars/dp/0553564684)** > > Amazon.com: Tales from The Mos Eisley Cantina (Star Wars): 9780553564686: Kevin J. Anderson: Books > **[Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_the_Mos_Eisley_Cantina)** > > Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina (1995) is an anthology of short stories set in the fictional Star Wars universe. The book is edited by Kevin J. Anderson. It is based on characters seen in the Mos Eisley cantina, a shady bar filled with aliens that was first shown in the 1977 film Star Wars. > In 1996, Dark Horse Comics released a similarly titled, but not directly related, one-shot comic titled Tales from Mos Eisley. > Scott at TheForce.Net gave the book 3.5 out of 4. He praised the variety of ... I wrote a non-bar bar story\* that was published in _Analog_ (October 2013) – “Putting Down Roots” \*It’s set in the back yard of a home brewer, who gets his friends together for a tasting. But it’s definitely in the class of “bar stories” ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/14 "2019-05-28T14:16:41Z")
Robert Heinlein’s ‘All You Zombies…’ (the definitive time travel story, IMO) is set in a bar as the protagonist tells his story. ---
**Author:** ![Nightfall1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@Nightfall1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightfall1)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/15 "2019-05-28T14:46:27Z")
Thanks everyone for answering my question. Keep the suggestions coming. I’ll check into the books I haven’t read. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/16 "2019-05-28T17:50:16Z")
The first I remember was _Tales of a Wayside Inn,_ a collection of short stories/poems by Longfellow. It seemed ancient to me as a kid (looked it up, published in 1863). My dad, on a rainy night during a car trip through Vermont, found an old copy in The Eagle Tavern, and read much of it to us. We found him his own copy, and he kept it by his bed. Come to think of it, speaking of old books… > [@](#): > > _The Canterbury Tales_ begin in a tavern just outside London. A tavern was one of the few places where a group of people from such varied social classes and occupations might cross paths, allowing the chance meeting of them all that leads to the creation of these pilgrims’ fellowship. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/17 "2019-05-28T18:38:08Z")
Star Trek did a limited series called The Captain’s Table where there was a Bar inspired by Callahan’s where Captains across Time and Space could go and and drink and swap stories. Each Novel was a story a Trek Captain told at the Bar and was written in the first person from their perspective. I think there may have been framing story across all the novels but might be misremembering. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/18 "2019-05-29T01:23:37Z")
If you like vintage mysteries of the Golden Age (1930s), look at Dorothy L Sayers for several short stories set in bars: [https://www.fadedpage.com/books/20190252/html.php](https://www.fadedpage.com/books/20190252/html.php) “A Shot at Goal” and “False Weight” in this collection [https://www.fadedpage.com/books/20111202/html.php#Page\_77](https://www.fadedpage.com/books/20111202/html.php#Page_77) “Sleuths on the Scent” in this one ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/19 "2019-05-29T09:54:16Z")
You have your _Decameron_; there’s no _bar_ but they are all drinking, partying, and telling each other stories. ---
**Author:** ![Nightfall1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@Nightfall1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightfall1)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2019, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615/20 "2019-06-06T02:02:55Z")
I forgot the short story collection by Janet Asimov, Pshrinks Anonymous. Not bad. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-short-stories-set-in-a-bar/834615.md?page=2)