Later, at the Bar: A Novel in Stories
by Rebecca Barry
Mom
**A New York Times Notable Book** Lucys Tavern is the best kind of
small-town bar. It has a good jukebox, a bartender with a generous pour,
and its always open, even in terrible weather. In the raw and beautiful
country that makes up Rebecca Barrys fictional landscape, Lucys is where
everyone ends up, whether they mean to or not. Theres the tipsy advice
columnist who has a hard time following her own advice, the ex-con who
falls for the same woman over and over again, and the soup-maker who
tries to drink and cook his way out of romantic despair. Theirs are the kinds
of stories about love and life that unfold late in the evening, when people
finally share their secret hopes and frailties, because they know you will
forgive them, or maybe make out with them for a little while. In this rich and
engaging debut, each central character suffers a sobering moment of
clarity in which the beauty and sadness of life is revealed. But the
character does not cry or mend his ways. Instead he tips back his hat,
lights another unfiltered cigarette, and heads across the floor to ask

someone to dance. A poignant exploration of the sometimes tender,
sometimes deeply funny ways people try to connect, Later, at the Bar is as
warm and inviting as a good shot of whiskey on a cold winter night.
Personal Review: Later, at the Bar: A Novel in Stories by
Rebecca Barry
According to one of its denizens, Lucy's Bar is "like a perfect family, always
there if you need it, but if you need to leave it for a while and get away, you
can." At first glance, the barflies who frequent Lucy's appear to be
nondescript social flotsam, lonely losers who drink to numb or obliterate
their disappointment and pain. However, Rebecca Barry's compassionate
portraits of these alienated, frustrated and bewildered men and women
make their dilemmas real and their anguish universal. "Later, at the Bar,"
her novel-in-stories, rings with truth.
It is a fine line that Barry walks. It would be all to easy for her to make her
characters stock lovable drunks, stumbling over each other in a predictable
and harmlessly affectionate manner. It would be equally easy for Barry to
indict this group of small-town New York citizens for their lack of will and
motivation to escape often self-inflicted difficulties. Instead, the author
ropes us into the world of men like Harlan, who fails at everything he
attempts but somehow gains access to others' hearts. Barry makes us feel
attached to women like Grace, whose virtue has been compromised
beyond count yet still retains a steely integrity. Even syndicated advice
columnist Linda Hartley, whose personal life utterly contradicts the
responsible counsel she dispenses in national magazines, appears not so
much as a rank hypocrite but as a terribly lonely, frightened middle-aged
woman who fears that life has passed her by.
Infidelity, recklessness and utter stupidity vie for attention in the lives of the
patrons of Lucy's Bar. The miracle of Rebecca Barry's creative voice and
detailed descriptions is that against our own will, we come to identify with
the very characters we in no way aspire to become.
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