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

by Patrick Thomas (Author)

Editorial Reviews

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

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Padwolf Publishing, (February 28, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890096075
• ISBN-13: 978-1890096076
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,089,003 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 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.

2.0 out of 5 stars spider robinson did it better, August 5, 2006

By	sfc567 (alabama United States) - See all my reviews

the author obviously liked robinson's callahan stories unfortunately he's not robinson. for that matter for bar stories I like arthur clarke's tales of the white hart more.

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

By A Customer

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.