Murphy's Lore: Tales from Bulfinche's Pub [Paperback]

Patrick Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1997

A leprechaun in NYC runs an Irish bar where magic comes in daily at happy hour to drink its fill.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Padwolf Pub Inc (July 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890096024
• ISBN-13: 978-1890096021
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,526,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

With over a million words in print, PATRICK THOMAS keeps busy writing the popular fantasy humor series Murphy's Lore (which includes 8 books- Tales From Bulfinche's Pub, Fools' Day, Through The Drinking Glass, Shadow Of The Wolf, Redemption Road, Bartender Of The Gods, Nightcaps and Empty Graves) as well as the After Hours spin offs Fairy With A Gun, Dead To Rites and Lore & Dysorder. His Mystic Investigators series has grown to include the books Bullets & Brimstone and From The Shadows both with John L. French and Once More Upon A Time and the upcoming Partners In Crime both with Diane Raetz. He has co-edited two anthologies - Hear Them Roar and the vampire themed New Blood. Patrick's syndicated humorous advice column Dear Cthulhu has been collected in Have A Dark Day and Good Advice For Bad People. A number of his books are part of the set and props department at the CSI television show. He was voted Preditors & Editors favorite author of 2010. Laurence Fishburne's production company Cinema Gypsy Productions has taken a film and television option on Patrick Thomas' urban fantasy Fairy With A Gun. As an artist his work has graced covers for Dark Quest, Padwolf and Marietta, interiors and a cover for Space & Time magazine and comic covers for Ghostman. A mockumentary about him has recently surfaced on Youtube. To learn more, drop by his website at www.patthomas.net.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For Callahan's Fans, May 8, 2000

By 

Elisabeth Riba (Melrose, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murphy's Lore: Tales from Bulfinche's Pub (Paperback)

Did you hear the one about the bar in New York where all kinds of weird non-human characters hang out? You know the one: the patrons tell horrid puns, help others resolve their problems, and secretly saved the Earth from total destruction? One of the regulars, a widower, narrates the stories.

No, this is not Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, though it feels awfully familiar. But where Spider Robinson wrote science fiction, Bulfinche's is pure fantasy -- the bar is owned by a leprechaun and inhabited by various characters from mythology.

The chapters are written like separate short stories, with brief re-introductions of the characters and setting in each. The early Callahan books actually were short story compilations, but I've found no evidence that these were ever published separately, so it may just be for effect.

The book isn't as good or as memorable as Callahan's. It also suffers from a desperate need for editing. Misspellings such as a Passover "Sater" or a fragrance "ode de __" are not typos, and display a sloppiness that detracted from the stories.

Even though the tales don't quite measure up to Spider Robinson's, they are still quite enjoyable. So if you have a hankering to revisit familiar turf, I do recommend it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Series, December 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Murphy's Lore : Tales from Bulfinche's Pub (Paperback)

I had read the paperback of Murphy's Lore a few years ago and loved it. It has a rare blend of humor and pathos and can deal with magic and legends in the "real world" and make them seem real. It does bring to mind Gavagan's Bar and Callahan's but is unique with great characters (I love Paddy the owner of Bulfinche's Pub and the homeless woman Rebbecca) and settings. I recently found that it had been re-released in trade paperback with 4 stories that weren't in the original, which I enjoyed. Some typos in the original have been corrected in this edition. I was also happy to find there are 2 more books in the series, Fools' Day and Through the Drinking Glass, with apparently more to come.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, April 28, 2000

By 

Pete - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murphy's Lore: Tales from Bulfinche's Pub (Paperback)

A great fantasy short story collection set in a magical bar in New York. This one has a lot-drama, humor, magic, gods, angels, demons, vampires, leprechauns, rainbows and a wise cracking bartender/narator. The reader really cares about the characters by the end of the book. The individual stories weave together to form a rich universe. I recommend it.