Callahan's Lady

Spider Robinson manages rather nicely both to advocate for tolerance of sensual art and (perhaps) to romanticize an age old stereotype -- the Whore With a Heart of Gold. Somehow all of this unfolds without venturing into language that anybody but a prudish religious conservative could view with offense (of course, there are still a lot of those social dinosaurs still running around these days). It is apparent that Robinson is well aware of the harsher social realities that many people in the sex trade face in real life. Violence and inhuman harm against sex workers are common, and to some extent secretly approved by the larger society. Even in our supposedly liberated age, western culture roundly condemns sex for money -- while conveniently ignoring the possibility that such barter arrangements are fundamental to how a lot of marriages actually work. We merely carefully avoid looking too deeply at the currency of exchange. Was Robinson deliberately trying to strip away the blind fold? It's hard to say. He doesn't seem to have been aiming for a deep moral lesson in this piece. On balance, he has created a humorous romp through a territory that a lot of humorless people disapprove. Though not on a par with "Dangerous Beauty" or "The Honest Courtesan", the book is well worth a read. I'll make a point of sharing it with my grandson when he's old enough to appreciate some of the subtleties.

At the urging of my girlfriend I just read "Callahan's Lady" and "Lady Slings the Booze," even though I'd not thought much of Spider Robinson's "Callahan's Crosstime Saloon." I am VERY glad I listened to her.In addition to the wonderfully atrocious puns, Robinson has created what could be the nicest place on Earth to go to for escape: Lady Sally's House. In addition to the witty and good-taste portrayal of sexuality and eroticism, Sally's House is a place of warmth, love and comfort, where joy is shared as much as it is at Callahan's Saloon if not even more so. All the characters who populate the House are people I have, in just the space of two books in 2 weeks, come to think of as dear friends, who I now find I sorely miss since Robinson's proposed 3rd Sally book has not yet been written or released.The chapters involving Colt are perhaps the funniest and most arousing section of the book, enhanced because of the serious treatment of his dilemma. Maureen/Sherry is a great protagonist, and I shared her pain and despair when she thought she was too late to save The Professor from a mobster. And even the very beginning of the book is enough to make me shake my head and laugh - a werebeagle. A WEREBEAGLE??? Oy vey! And may I say I think I am in love with Dr. Kate! And Lady Sally herself is the perfect combination of friend, lover, mother and madam. If only we had a lot more people like her in this world, it would be a better place.I must count both "Callahan's Lady" and "Lady Slings the Booze" as among my most favorite books of all time. They are wonderfully bawdy fun with a sci-fi twist and enough serious elements to make one think hard and to care about the lives of the characters. It makes me wish the House was somehow real so that *I* could go there myself as a client or an artist. It comes closer to sexual and romantic utopia than anything else I have ever read.Don't let the Lady Sally books slip by you!!!

What if there was a brothel where the employees were treated like artists instead of meat for hire? Where the clients might come just for conversation and a place to relax in a friendly, convivial atmosphere? Where the House is clean, laid out for comfort, and specially designed to handle everyone's own variant of what they desire most in sex? Where the emphasis is on satisfying the psychological needs of everyone, clients and employees, not just the physical ones?That place exists, somewhere just across the river from the UN building, peopled by a very living set of characters. Lady Sally, proprietress, has some very demanding standards for her employees and just as stiff a set for her customers, though that doesn't mean that talking dogs, cross-dressing multi-millionaires, con men, and KGB spies can't get in. And the Lady has a very empathic heart, picking up a street hooker in dire straits and turning her into a woman that anyone would love to be around. Maureen was that poor woman, and this book is a set of experiences that she has as an employee of the House. Each of the episodes reads like a fairly long short story, including the incident of the incredibly potent man, the lady whose every word is an absolute command to all those in hearing distance, the gorilla gangster, best known for poking donut holes in a certain part of a man's anatomy, who finds out just what friends are good for.Spider laces each of these stories with his patented brand of humor, from some truly groan-inducing puns to absolutely howling, fall-on-the-floor gags. Shining throughout these stories is his attitude that people are good, and good people go out of their way to help those in trouble. Heart-warming, touching, and yet there is some definite food for thought here. Our society delegates those who engage in sex-for-hire to the very bottom of the social ladder ands treats sex as a given ability rather than an art form than can get better with practice and training, which seems to be a very odd attitude towards an action that is not only necessary but can be one of the most fulfilling exercises of any person's life. Spider shows, by his emphasis on the positive, just why this attitude does not make sense, and just how much it costs in unnecessary human misery. The stories here are only distantly related to Spider's Callahan's Bar series and can be read with full enjoyment without any knowledge of the other books, even though Mike Callahan is Lady Sally's husband, as here he only makes a few cameo appearances. Though if you find you enjoy this book, then you should certainly try some of the Bar series for some more romps through Spider's wacky, macabre, humor-filled, and endearing universe. Although this book revolves around the actions in a brothel, Spider never gets graphic in his depiction of the happenings therein, though the subject matter does preclude handing this to pre-pubescent children. But the theme of this book is such that a mature teen-ager really

If you treat this book not as a novel, but as a collection of short stories on a recurring theme with recurring characters, it works much better. As a complete novel, though, Spider lacks a cohesive plot. The story of the Lady Callahan, wife of the legendary Mike Callahan and time-traveller, is by turns thoughtful and hilarious. Spider makes a whorehouse sound like a great place to spend an afternoon, and an even better place to live out your career. The chapters (that is, the individual stories) tell of grand stories of the exploits of the employees and patrons of Lady Sally's House. Ever think that a book about a whorehouse couldn't have a happy ending? Think again.Fans of humourous science fiction will likely enjoy this addition to Spider's popular series of books about Mike and Sally Callahan. For someone who has never read any of Spider's work, "Time Travellers Strictly Cash" is a better introduction to the series. Alternately, the short story collection "User Friendly" shows some of Spider's best non-Callahan work.

Sit back and kick off your shoes, it isn't a long book but well worth your time. Callahan's Lady, introduces you to a number of well developed characters, and laughs by the page. If you enjoy using your brain, laughing and just plain enjoying yourself, it is a great book. If you are already a fan of Callahan's, you will be in second heaven. I could say so much more, but I am not one for 'spoilers'. Just read it!