later, at the bar : Rebecca Barry

...Lucy's Tavern is the best kind of small-town bar. It has a good jukebox, a bartender with a generous pour, and it's always open, even in terrible weather. In the raw and beautiful country that makes up Rebecca Barry's fictional landscape, Lucy's is where everyone ends up, whether they mean to or not...

later, at the bar took some time to warm up to. The author wrote her novel in a series of short stories that flow together to make up the full novel. Little peeks into the lives of the characters of the novel, showcasing their lives in a small town, good and bad (mostly bad), come together to form the foundation of the center stage, Lucy's Tavern.

All in all, I liked the book. There was very little to redeem what seemed to be the never-ending despair and crumbling of the lives of the characters. In spite of this, there are a small number of shining gems in the group who stand out and give us hope that not all is lost. The final scene is the final redemption and I read it with relief and a little surprise.

I'm not sure this book could be replicated in any way successfully. However, for a debut, the book has its positive points and readers with any experience with the Cheers-esque atmosphere of any small town bar will see many familiar faces and read several familiar stories in its pages.
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Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 8, 2007)
ISBN-10: 1416535241
ISBN-13: 978-1416535249
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