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"Nasty, Brutish, &. . ."  
Analog April1989
Author Harry Turtledove
First Appearance Analog Magazine
Collected Departures
Series Earthgrip
Genre(s) Science fiction
Publication date April, 1989
Preceded by "Nothing in the Nighttime" (publications);
"The Great Unknown" (chronological)
Followed by "The Great Unknown" (publications);
None (chronological)

"Nasty, Brutish, &. . ." is a science fiction short story written by Harry Turtledove. It is set in the Earthgrip future-history, and is the only entry in the series that does not feature the character Jennifer Logan. It was originally published in Analog Magazine in April 1989, and reprinted in the Turtledove collection Departures in 1993.

It is a spaceport bar story set in a space station orbiting the planet Rapti which is a couple of thousand light years from Earth. This story introduces the wolf- or bear-like alien race called the Foitani. The Foitani appeared again in the serialized work "The Great Unknown" (collected in Earthgrip), which appears to take place before this short work.

Literary comment[]

The "bar story" format may be an allusion to Fletcher Pratt's and L. Sprague de Camp's "Gavagan's Bar" series, which Turtledove has repeatedly referenced in other works. De Camp is referenced by name in "The Great Unknown".

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