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From: boyajian%akov68.DEC@decwrl.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: re: SF Bar Tales
Message-ID: <3201@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: Fri, 9-Aug-85 08:34:21 EDT
Article-I.D.: topaz.3201
Posted: Fri Aug  9 08:34:21 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 12-Aug-85 04:23:58 EDT
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Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
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From: boyajian%akov68.DEC@decwrl.ARPA  (JERRY BOYAJIAN)


> From: marotta%lezah.DEC@decwrl.ARPA  (MARY MAROTTA)
 
> A few recent messages briefly mentioned the "tall tales in a bar" subgenre.
> I assume this is sub- to SF, but I have trouble characterizing the
> subgenre.  Would anyone care to describe their idea of what a "bar" tale
> is?  Perhaps a few more references to authors would help: Clarke, Cabell,
> and Lord Dunsany have already been mentioned.  Is this strictly a type
> of short story?

Well, we're discussing this in the context of sf, but the roots
of the sub-genre are quite old. The idea of a story in which a
character tells a tale goes back at least as far as AN ARABIAN
NIGHT'S ENTERTAINMENT. There are also numerous stories of people
telling stories around a campfire. The idea of setting this type
of story in a bar or club (a la Dunsany) is not restricted, I'm
sure, to sf, but I don't know any mainstream examples off-hand.

In discussing such stories that take place in bars (such as
Arthur Clarke's "White Hart", Spider Robinson's "Callahan's
Place", deCamp & Pratt's "Gavagan's Bar", etc., I tend to
also include those that take place in clubs, such as my earlier
posting about Dunsany's "Billiard Club".

As for other examples, there's Niven's "Draco Tavern" series,
in CONVERGENT SERIES and LIMITS, plus an individual story in
A HOLE IN SPACE ("The Fourth Profession") taking place in "the
Long Spoon". There's also Stephen King's "The Breathing Method"
(in DIFFERENT SEASONS). Even Peter Straub's GHOST STORY features
a small club called, if I can remember correctly, the Chowder
Society, the four members of which told ghost stories to each
other.

--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Acton-Nagog, MA)

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