Synopses & Reviews
On a nondescript street somewhere in San Francisco sits Babe's bar, a legendary place where women who love women come to celebrate, to dry their tears, to spin dreams, and, every once in a while, to have their dreams come true.
The Bar Stories presents a panoramic view of the lesbian nation, and celebrates lesbian survival in a world more often hostile than tolerant. These stories are about women whom life hasn't been able to beat and so, grudgingly, respects. "We're respectable," Babe Daniels says, "because we survived...and we survived because we knew how to kick ass."
Review
"The most gripping, authentic, and memorable tales of the great lesbian adventure I've yet read." --
Judy Grahn"A fine new writer with a literate ear and an eye for the heart of dyke life. A panoply of stories we've all lived-or wanted to..." --Lee Lynch
"These are imaginative, incandescent portraits. They suggest the range and depth and drama of lesbian lives. They convey pain and isolation. But most of all, they celebrate diversity-the beauty of eroticism, the humor and pride and strength of lesbian women." --Katherine V. Forrest, Lost Angeles Times
"The delight and surprise of The Bar Stories is that the emotional landscape is not the one we see in most contemporary lesbian novels. In the end, we want to see these women more clearly, smell them, hear them argue, and follow them out of Babe's bar. Donnelly's talent for painting thoroughly believable characters shines." --Dorothy Allison, Lamda Rising Book Report
"Nisa Donnelly is a talented and excited new author...Babe's bar provides sanctuary and the freedom of woman space for lesbians to relax and be themselves. Their stories are revealing, vivid and compelling." --Phyllis Lyon & Del Martin