| Title | : | Lady Slings the Booze (Lady Sallys, #2; Callahans, #5) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0743435788 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780743435789 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 352 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1992 |
Lady Slings the Booze (Lady Sallys, #2; Callahans, #5) Reviews
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This is a fun and funny Callahan-adjacent novel with a mystery plot taking secondary status to Robinson's jokes, philosophizing, and wish/wist -ful descriptions of the way a brothel should be run. And Heinlein and Tesla, too. And lots of puns, too- just check out the title. Sometimes the depth of the sentiment and emotion gets stepped on by the humor (and vice verse), but it's an altogether pleasurable read.
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A decent continuation to the first Lady Callahan book, but not quite as good, IMHO. Still,at 4 stars, this book is a solid work by Spider Robinson that has plenty enough puns and jokes for fans of this series.
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I have a difficult relationship with Spider Robinson’s writing. Unfortunate for me, since he wrote a number of the volumes on my self-assigned science fiction & fantasy reading list. Robinson is a great admirer of Robert A. Heinlein and it certainly shines through in his Callahan’s stories. Although I admire Heinlein’s achievements & acknowledge that he was a great influence in the science fiction genre, I don’t love all of his work either.
The story itself could have interested me, if Robinson had been willing to stick to the mystery aspect of it and treat it seriously. However, he simply cannot resist long, winding sidetracks, inserted specifically to make ridiculous puns. All of which I consider unfair pun-ishment to my reading sensibilities.
He also refuses to be serious about the mystery aspect of the story, serving up silly non-clues and preposterous reasoning. I could have forgiven a lot if he had given the plot more slightly more serious consideration.
It’s been difficult to find Robinson’s books—my public library weeded them out of their collection a couple of years ago. As a result, I’ve searched for and found several more volumes of the Callahan’s collection as second hand books. I’m debating whether to read them or whether to just take them to my favourite used bookstore for credit. I’ll probably persevere, but I’m certainly questioning my own judgement on that!
Book number 305 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project. -
Let's be honest, I bought this for $2 because there's a sunglasses-wearing dog bartender in the foreground and a lady dancing a sexy tango with a hulking robot in the background. Best cover of all time?
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Far to much of the tale is just a rehash of place, people and philosophy from Callahan's Lady, and the plot is so over the top in comparison to that first volume that it disappoints. Smaller scale and personal - short story - is a better format for these characters.
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What it's about: Once again, readers get to visit Lady Sally's house. This time, protagonist Joe Quigley, P.I., is trying to crack the case of The Man Who Wasn't There. Along the way, he finds a lot more than he bargained for! Even for Lady Sally's, things are getting weird. Eventually, Joe is let in on the real reason Lady Sally opened up her shop in the first place, and the question becomes, can Lady Sally fulfill her mission? The fate of all existence hangs in the balance.
What I thought: As with most of Spider Robinson's work, I've read this book at least half a dozen times. I first came across it as part of the Callahan's series back when I was a teen, probably around the time it was originally published, and have kept a copy on my bookshelf ever since.
Robinson crafts a fun, tight story that's really more of an anthology-in-two-pieces. The first book in this series was actually four short stories/novellas tied together by the narrator. This story borrows in part from that formula, with Joe Quigley getting engaged to look into a mystery at Lady Sally's that then leads him into the second half of the book on an unrelated story into which he is drawn by virtue of having proven himself as a capable character in the first half of the book.
There are some guest appearances by characters who appeared in the previous book, but this one is mostly focused on two new characters, both of whom are odd and interesting. Joe is a bit of a macho jerk at first, but he grows admirably throughout the book. He could almost be a model for quite a few people today, though he does seem to get a little hung up in some of his biases despite his massive character development. But to be fair, this story is definitely a product of the previous generation. Actually, this book was a lot less problematic, to my mind, than the first book in the series, which suggests to me that Robinson himself grew in his outlook and acceptance between writing the first and second books. It seems to me that Robinson is the kind of person who will accept just about anyone who is willing to treat others with the basic respect due to any person (and he seems open to expanding his definition of what constitutes a "person"). Rather than seeing this book as being not quite up to speed with the latest in phrasing when discussing equality, I would argue that Robinson was quite a bit ahead of the general public in his acceptance of those who fall outside traditional norms - and more power to him!
Why I rated it like I did: This book still manages to make me cry when I hit the last few pages, despite having read it at least half a dozen times. Robinson has created characters that, while far from perfect, are relatable. -
The rating might change as I keep thinking about this book. I preferred the short story format of the previous books. I also found a lot of Spider's musings on rape and how it should be punished to be . . . distasteful at best, and downright awful at worst. I need to think further before I can articulate it better than that.
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1.5*
I haven't read one of Robinson's Callahan books since the mid-'90s. I've been looking for some light reading (as a break from all the histories of human diseases I've been consuming) and remember these books fitting the bill. Not this one, though.
In addition to the banter and excessive puns (as always, repeatedly called out by Robinson as being excessive and appalling), Robinson's frequent references to other works of science fiction and characters who can reason their way to an outlandish but somehow correct conclusion are out in full force. Nikola Tesla is a character in this book (his resurrection remains unexplained) and for reasons completely beyond me, Robinson found it necessary to give Jeeves and bloody Wooster a cameo. (Perhaps one or both of them turned up in the previous Sally book, I don't remember.)
The narrator is not sympathetic... or believable, for that matter, improbably becoming increasingly competent (and increasingly Robinson's avatar) over a period of a couple of days. He (and to a lesser extent the other characters) talks a lot about wanting to murder certain people.
This book featured some of (one presumes) Robinson's disturbing opinions on the subject of rape, mostly expressed through dialogue/inner monologue of male characters. I slogged through this material grimly. At least he didn't presume to make the female characters express this appalling point of view.
And the second half of the book is... re-engineered from history in a sort of clumsy way. Descriptions of technology are sadly out of date, and even sadder because there are looong passages describing things like an elaborate magnetic recording setup that may have been state of the art for the 1980s (when the book is set) but already out of date--or very nearly so--by the early 1990s (when the book was written) and laughably antiquated from the point of view of time travelers from the distant future who could have at least installed digital technology from the very near future and saved a lot of space. And the second half also contains morally convoluted material.
This is the second author in a row I have returned to after a long hiatus only to be smacked upside the head with gross conservative talking points.
Welp, I'm off to read about the bubonic plague. Should be better than this hot mess. -
⚠️Trigger warning: this book discusses r*pe, which may be very triggering for some people⚠️
It's not often I find a book I don't finish, and it's even less often I find a book I hate so much. This book was just the WORST. I got 115 pages in and I just couldn't go any further.
Where to begin. The plot was absolutely atrocious (a PI working undercover as a sex worker), the characters were abysmal and unlikable (98% of the women were there to be attractive and fawn over the male protagonist), and the jokes were just completely unfunny. I originally bought this book at bookfest in the hopes for some light-hearted trashy erotica (don't judge, we all partake), but not even the romance was at all good. I not once felt engaged or interested in this book.
Frequently throughout this book, the author makes light of r*pe and uses the sexual assault of many female characters as nothing but a plot point. It was vile in every way. The point where I just couldn't go on any further occured on page 113, where the author has a character almost defending the moral character of the rapist, saying he's 'surprised rape doesn't happen more often' because women 'have something more precious than heroin' but they rate it importance 'lower than food, shopping, and talking about feelings'. He then goes on to say r*pe is normal for humans, and it's been happening for 2 million years and that men must 'really love women' because they don't r*pe them all the time.
Honestly, this book is foul, and I'm not even donating it back to LifeLine. I'm going to be using it to clean up my dog's shit, because that's all it's good for. -
Coincidental find during "Pride Month" A set of stories parallel to the Callahan series. I just found them, but found them best read after the Callahan series. Whether you are a big supporter of “Pride Month” or not, maybe this is the best time to post this review. This novel may not sit too well with some folks, but it really is about the best utopian realization of harmonious interactions with the ultimate amount of diversity!
As all Utopias suffer from contact with reality, it remains one author’s description of a possible ideal state of affairs. All of that is just the setting and back-stories for Mr. Robinson’s usual exciting adventure tales of strange things, mysteries, moral choices and how to get along in life. One thing leads to another in this extended weaving of what could have been a long series of short stories. They work quite well as chapters in a whole novel. -
While it doesn't have the same appeal as Callahan's saloon, I do like the characters in Lady's House. This book is basically two stories and I much preferred the story in the first half. The one in the second half was a bit too suspenseful for me. It wasn't a bad story, I just don't do well with suspense. I hang on the edge of my seat (this isn't good bedtime reading), skimming rapid-fire over whole paragraphs that don't seem to lead to the point, and when I finally get to the conclusion I realize I've been holding my breath for quite some time and I feel a little dizzy. Your mileage may vary.
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Zany and fun, a bit dated, but I read it for the puns.
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More Callahan's bar stories, with new added twists as always. And a brothel. Great stuff.
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As good, and as dated, and as messed up, and as enjoyable as always.
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Lady Slings the Booze is the first actual novel in the Callahan's series, and it still has quite a few of the hallmarks of a set of short stories stitched together. It's nominally a detective novel, with the gumshoe as our wide-eyed novice to the world of Lady Sally's, and the initial story works well enough. Joe spends some time getting acquainted with the place, which is charming as always, and then solves the mystery of the invisible rapist, which is not charming at all but works more or less fine. Then things take a very odd left turn into the larger Callahan's cosmology, and we get a find-the-bomb scenario for the last third, that didn't really work all that well for me.
It's not a bad book, and it does pick up some steam in the second half, but it doesn't end up being all that satisfying. (And no amount of punning will make me care about puns.) It's got some very offputting bits about rape (especially the inherent justice of prison rape) and male homosexuality that don't mesh well with the intended inclusiveness of the setting. And the split focus between the two mysteries makes neither one of them feel all that important. I don't mind it, but I don't love it, either. I think I'd really rather stick to funny, lighthearted short stories in this setting. -
Another wonderful story brought to me by the writings of Spider Robinson. This story is told from the perspective of Joe, a P.I. who has never been to Lady Sally's but is hired to investigate some strange going-ons. Stranger than usual at least. And he does, solves the case, has mishaps, but ultimately saves the day, meets the love of his life, deduces and therefore is pulled in a grader scheme to save the world as we know it. More than the story I love the characters. I love the way they see the world and each other. The sense of peace they give to me. That no one is less than any other. That as long as desires and actions harm no one (unless they consent to it) then nothing is taboo. I long for a world like this, for Lady Sally and Callahan and Phillip and Sherry and all the other to be real. The books inspire me to be a better person to everyone around me and to have fun along the way.
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If you love puns, Spoonerisms,jokey noir, and meticulous descriptions of whorehouses that don't exist, this is your book. Otherwise it comes off too clever to actually be a narrative. It starts with a lengthy encounter between a clever dick and his newest client (which fails to impress me), and then we reach Lady Sally's House in which the plot falls by the wayside entirely to describe the workings of the whorehouse which is useless because it never factors into the story, points out that whores are being raped but they don't appear to be too upset or traumatized by this, the plot falls off the road again for a love story between clever dick and psychic twins, introduces the element of time travel only to run with it past the point of interest into a doomsday let's save the world from nukes plot in which people die (seriously) and more puns are made.
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One odd thing about this book which was published in Ace Hardback in 1992 and Ace Paperback December 1992 was half of it was about homemade nuclear bombs being planted around the world. The specific place they were dealing with the first bomb was New York and the discussion of how and where passed over consideration of bombing the World Trade Center and why it would not make a big enough impact. On February 26, 1993 a 1200 pound truck bomb went off beneath the World Trade Center. Precient writer or some Arabs read hard cover science fiction novels.
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These short stories, all tied together with a common place/cast, make you feel like maybe human beings aren't such cruel animals after all. Opening the first several Callahan books feels like a refreshing visit with old friends. You know them, and their quirks, and that if they're involved with a situation they will do whatever they can to make it better. These are good people. The in last couple of books the formula gets a little bit stale, but they are still enjoyable.
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I think this was my first introduction into a really "hip" (for lack of a better word) writing style. Numuerous references were made to pop-culture, classic literature, and it felt like every sentence implied a nudge and a wink. I don't think I could affect a style like this myself for a whole book but it may be interesting to try out for a character or two.
