What a time capsule of 1988 this was. I'd read a few of the Callahan books back in the early 2000's (one of my cool older cousins was throwing a Callahan-themed party, so he sent me "Callahan's Lady" as pre-party reading) and remembered being charmed by this pun-filled Irish Space Bar, full of wild and wacky characters (I particularly fondly remembered a Were-Beagle)). So when a pal was clearing her shelves, I was excited to return to Spider Robinson's writings and see how it holds up. This really felt like nostalgic Fan Service for the series itself; a series that Definitively ended in book 5. Like, ended with a nuclear bomb and the time traveling removal of several main characters. And so here, a few years later, we have what's left behind of our merry band starting a new bar. And lots of worrying about whether the new bar can live up to the old one. And boy, are there So Many Details about how exactly this new bar is set up. Interminable, almost. But it was a fun time capsule, because there are such STRONG OPINIONS about sound systems, furniture, the MAC computer in the corner, the fireplace, the pricing. Details. Lots of them. And then just so many LISTS OF NAMES, because this book sees ALL the other regulars returning, and there's easily over a dozen people the first night, and then another maybe 20 names join later in the week. Only a dozen of these characters figure prominently, but it's lots of mentions of past book events (about which I have no memory). This is definitely Not an ideal book to Start the series at all. And oh my god, there's probably 30 pages (at least, throughout the book) devoted to Irish Coffee, and what type of beans mix best with what whiskeys and just, woah. Like I said, Strong Opinions. What bits of plot and hijinx there are, those are interesting and fun. And several of the puns are great and many are groan-worthy. There are many Lessons being learned/trying to be taught about tolerance and kindess (which is lovely, if a bit preachy. But it is nice to see this 1988 bar accepting of everyone, regardless of race or sexuality or gender identity, etc. That was sort of the whole point of Callahan's Place, and that's still a wonderful thing, even if some of this is a bit cringe-worthy by 2021 standards, the heart and message are still in the right place). Also, the extensive plot points involving AIDS crisis are a real time capsule moment, too. So, the 1st third is all set-up and descriptions of the bar (thank goodness for the character of Duck, to keep things interesting). The middle third is some plot and gets kind of interesting. The final third then turns into a VERY LONG description of an all week music jam-fest. Very long. And while I'm sure it would've been amazing to see such a concert, just reading a glorified list for pages and pages, it got pretty boring and "one note," if you'll excuse the pun. Lists of musical instruments and character names playing what songs and different musicians' styles and so many names of historical and contemporary musicians. and then there are just paragraphs and paragraphs of different lyrics from the different songs. It. Is. A. Lot. And my eyes started to glaze a bit. Happily, once this bit ended, the plot returned and things got interesting for the final conclusion. (In the Author's Note, Robinson mentions that many of the music listed were from fans who had mailed him albums, and he charmingly included mailing information for where readers from 1992 could write to inquire about purchasing). The writing style and characters held up better than I'd feared (some contemporary stories just do not work so well now). But this isn't really a story. It's just a loving fondness for the world and characters of the previous 5 books, and so many paragraphs of Firm Opinions about How Things Should Be. But I guess if you're creating the perfect Irish Space Bar, it's your prerogative to create it however you like. If you've recently read the other books and/or remember them much better than I, then this may be a 4 star experience. For me, with only the haziest of memories, it scratched a fun nostalgia itch but didn't lead to a cohesive reading experience.