"Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers" is a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

short story by

Lawrence Watt-Evans Lawrence Watt-Evans (born 1954) is one of the pseudonyms of American science fiction and fantasy author Lawrence Watt Evans (another pseudonym, used primarily for science fiction, is Nathan Archer). Biography Born in Arlington, Massachusetts, as ...

. It was first published in ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine edited by Sheila Williams and published by Dell Magazines, which is owned by Penny Press. It was launched as a quarterly by Davis Publications in 1977, after obtaining Isaac ...

''.

Plot summary

A young man tells his story about growing up working at a

greasy spoon A greasy spoon is a small, cheap restaurant typically specializing in Short order cooking, short order fare. The term is also used in the UK–along with the informal term "caff" for café–to refer to a small privately-owned eatery that tradi ...

diner near

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. Late at night it happened to be a hang-out for unusual travelers from alternate versions of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

. After being tantalized by descriptions of far-off wonders, the young man begins to dream of hitching a ride in one of the "travelers'" vehicles.

Reception and adaptation

"Harry's" won the 1988

Hugo Award for Best Short Story The Hugo Award for Best Short Story is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The short story award is available for works of fiction of ...

, and was nominated for the

Nebula Award for Best Short Story The Nebula Award for Best Short Story is a literary award assigned each year by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy short stories. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a short sto ...

in 1987. Since 2019, the short story was in development by

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

for a film release.

Sequels

Watt-Evans has published three sequels to the story: "A Flying Saucer with Minnesota Plates" (1991), "Harry's Toaster" (2018), and "How I Found Harry's All-Night Hamburgers" (2019).Harry's Toaster
at Watt-Evans.com; last updated August 15, 2020; retrieved March 10, 2025

References

External links

* 1987 short stories Hugo Award for Best Short Story–winning works Alternate history short stories Short stories about parallel universes West Virginia in fiction {{1980s-sf-story-stub