Callahan's Crosstime Saloon

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In the fictional universe of Spider Robinson, Callahan's Place is a bar with strongly community-minded and empathic clientele. It appears in the Callahan's Crosstime Saloon stories (compiled in the first novel of the same name, along with its sequels Time Travellers Strictly Cash and Callahan's Secret; most of the beloved barflies appear in the further sequels The Callahan Touch; Callahan's Legacy; Callahan's Key; and Callahan's Con) and the computer game.

The bar is run by Mike Callahan. The regulars are welcoming and willing to listen to any visitor's problems, no matter how strange, but do not snoop if a visitor is unwilling to share. Strange and unusual events and visitors turn up with frequency in the stories. Regulars at Callahan's include a talking dog, several extraterrestrials and time-travelers, an ethical vampire, a couple of Irish mythological beings, and an obscenity-spewing parrot. The stories make heavy use of puns.

Lady Sally McGee, the madam of a house of excellent repute (and Mike Callahan's wife), stars in Robinson's Callahan's Lady and Lady Slings The Booze. The regulars at Lady Sally's brothel (where the employees are "artists" and the patrons are "clients") insist on the same empathy and humor as those at Callahan's, and they are just as likely to have fantastic backgrounds.

(Lady Sally's last name is almost certainly a tribute to the fictional character Travis McGee who appeared in a number of novels by John D. MacDonald, whose works are referenced throughout the Callahan novels.)

This is the source of Callahan's Law (also known as the Law of Conservation of Pain and Joy): "Shared pain is lessened; shared joy, increased — thus do we refute entropy." Stated another way: "Just as there are Laws of Conservation of Matter and Energy, so there are in fact Laws of Conservation of Pain and Joy. Neither can ever be created or destroyed. But one can be converted into the other."

The series has a related Usenet newsgroup, alt.callahans, and two IRC channels, #callahans on Undernet and #callahans on freenode for fans.

In 1997 Legend Entertainment released a graphic adventure game for the PC, designed by Josh Mandel (of Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist fame), based on the series. The player controls Jake Stonebender (narrator of the books) through a series of bizarre adventures. Included in the game are several songs performed by Spider Robinson himself, which can be heard by talking to the pianist in the bar and asking for "one of your specialties."

[edit] Characters

Jake (narrator)- tried to commit suicide (after blaming himself for the deaths of his wife and daughter in a car accident) but Doc Webster saved him and ordered him to Callahan’s.
Mike Callahan- Owner of the bar, the proverbial Mick of Time
Doc Webster - M.D.; one of the oldest regulars
Fast Eddie- The bar's piano player (sterile)
Long Drink McGonnigle-one of the oldest regulars; night watchman
Tom Hauptman- was a minister and was then locked away for ten years with his wife (his wife died). Callahan offers him a job at the bar.
Tom Flannery- 8 months to live
"Slippery" Joe Maser- has 2 wives
Marty Matthias- doesn’t gamble anymore (had a gambling issue).
Noah Gonzalez- works on the bomb squad
Michael Finn- sent to destroy the world. When he finds “love” at Callahan’s he wants them to kill him but they will not.
Spud Flynn
Rachel-extremely long-lived woman
Tommy Janssen- former heroin addict
Big Beef McCaffrey- was kicked out of the bar in 1947 by Mike Callahan. In the process, the solid oak front door is split on his head. It is mended, but poorly.
Chuck Sams- was dead for a while before Doc Webster saved him.
Shorty Steinetz- had his appendix removed by Doc Webster on Callahan’s bar; world's worst driver; makes a living restoring antique vehicles