Later, at the Bar: A Novel in Stories (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: wildlife center, Fat Betty, Linda Hartley, Hank Stevens (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The 10 linked stories of Barry's first-rate debut capture the idiosyncrasies of an upstate New York backwater where social life revolves around Lucy's Tavern, founded by the late Lucy Beech, who "loved live music and dancing and understood people who liked longing more than they did love." There, a limited pool of regulars drinks nightly, has the kind of revolving recreational sex that creates complications for decades, and ruins its children: "You watch a kid like Ruby Plumadore, whose clothes never fit and who smells like cigarettes... get off the bus and... subtly gird herself to walk into her front door." There's Harlin Wilder and his twin brother, Cyrus, who are in and out of work, hung up on ex-wives and waiting for the next woman to roll into their lives when they're not drinking or getting into fights. Linda Hartley, an advice columnist for adolescent mag Sugar and Spice and for Woman Today, battles her own demons; while Harlin's ex-, Grace Meyers, still has good things to say about him. The situations are familiar, but Barry gets down to the grit of her characters and captures the plangency of a local bar that serves as de facto communal household. (May)
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From Booklist

Barry's debut is a Rust Belt Cheers. Set primarily in Lucy's Tavern in rural New York State (think Richard Russo country), it features a cast of nearly incestuous regulars, and Barry's linked short stories are funny. But her comedy isn't broad, loud, or pushy. No, Barry's wit is cunning and covert, sneaking up on the reader through the thicket of sorrow her characters create as they botch one marriage after another, have damaged children, go broke, drink much too much, get in fights and accidents, and land in jail. And yet what romantics they are. Confiding, bantering, and quick-tempered, the denizens of Lucy's are simultaneously in love and brokenhearted, guilty and wronged. The men are by turns brooding and reckless, including the once movie-star-handsome now rough-around-the-edges twin brothers Harlin and Cyrus. The women are valiant, especially Linda, an advice columnist who never ever tells the truth about love. Barry's remarkably natural, charming, and wise novel-in-stories is perfect for fiction lovers whose reading time is tight. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416535241
• ISBN-13: 978-1416535249
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #407,108 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Breakthrough Debut from a Major Talent, May 1, 2007

By	Kyle Minor "reader" (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

I fear robbing you of pleasure by telling you what you will find in this book, so let me tell you what you will not find in this book:

1. You will find not one wasted word. The language is spare and elegant and rendered in scenes that build in intensity from story's beginning to story's end, until, by their concluding lines, the reader feels as though he knows at precisely the same time as the character what it all felt like or meant for the character.

2. You will find not one structural misstep. These stories are arranged perfectly, and although each story shines light aplenty on itself, it's as though some well-placed overhead mirror allows each story to shine precisely the same amount of light upon the other stories as it has shone upon itself. The cumulative effect is an pleasure multiplied in exponents. This is the novel-in-stories, a genre often fairly maligned, at its best.

3. You will find no condescension toward these characters, even though they are almost all of them sad sacks, and even though the locus of their world is a plain old bar, and even though they repeatedly do the very things that will screw up their lives, knowing full well they will do the very things that will screw up their lives. This book is wise enough to allow us to love them as they love each other, and they know it for the beautiful thing it is. In the books' concluding lines, my favorite character, Grace, articulates worldview, theme, and heartsong: "Say what you will about drunks . . . but no one will love you like they can."

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Curl up with it and enjoy thoroughly, May 5, 2007

By	David Beatty (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I judge books by how quickly I get past page 20. With this, I couldnt put it down. Very enjoyable read.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the best book that I have read in years!, April 29, 2007

By	Peter J. Melcher "Peter" (upstate New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is hilarious and fun. I have been in so many bars over the years, all over the world and Rebecca Barry has really captured that world at it's best and worst, without being condescending. It's also perfect beach read and my wife wants me to add that it's great for those book clubs where women get together and mostly drink wine and talk about each other's sex lives.