Tales of the City: A Novel (P.S.)
For more than three decades Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City has blazed its own trail through popular culture?from a groundbreaking newspaper serial to a classic novel, to a television event that entranced millions around the world. The first of six novels about the denizens of the mythic apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane, Tales is both a sparkling comedy of manners and an indelible portrait of an era that changed forever the way we live.
Since 1976, Maupin's Tales of the City has etched itself upon the hearts and minds of its readers, both straight and gay. From a groundbreaking newspaper serial in the San Francisco Chronicle to a bestselling novel to a critically acclaimed PBS series, Tales (all six of them) contains the universe--if not in a grain of sand, then in one apartment house.
Tales of the City: A Novel (P.S.) Accessories
 More Tales of the City (Showtime Tie-In Edition)
Further Tales of the City (Tales of the City Series, V. 3)
Babycakes (Tales of the City Series, V. 4)
Significant Others
Sure of You (Tales of the City Series, V. 6)
Michael Tolliver Lives: A Novel
Maybe the Moon: A Novel
Michael Tolliver Lives (P.S.)
Tales of the City (Collector's Edition)
Night Listener, The tie-in: A Novel (P.S.)
Tales of the City: A Novel (P.S.) Reviews
I will rate this book with 3 stars. Still, it's fun to be asked to share my ignorance. I'll rate it as a 7. Who am I to review this man's writings. As they used to say on one of the 1950's Teen Dance Shows, on TV, "It's a catchy tune, but a little hard to dance to. Many books, by todays' authors, are touted as being hysterically funny, etc. If I had laughed, 'til I had tears in my eyes, I'd have given it 5 stars.
I enjoyed how brief he made each chapter, yet (at any given point) tied them together and continued the stories of the several lives, to whom he has introduced us. Maupin allows us to enter the world of the Gay and Straight communities, without forcing either on us as being the "correct" one. Unfortunately, for me, I find that although I am said to have an excellent sense of humor, these fall rather flat well before the end of the stories. There were some "whimsical" moments, and fewer "outright humorous" scenes, however, I had no trouble finishing the book, and look forward to reading his next two installments.
Maupin creates a coterie of friends that I love and revisit often. They may be fictional, but I think of his characters as family. This book will make you laugh, cry, and leave you hungry for more. Do yourself a favor and read the entire series.
The plot is a soap opera, but the book on a whole is entertaining and worthwhile. Also, as a heterosexual who lived in San Francisco just a couple of years after this was written, I did not witness the ridiculously loose sexual mores portrayed in the book. This is a fun, late-20th Century take on the old theme of the virtuous midwestern girl who moves to the big city. Indeed, most of the characters in the book are paper thin. The result can be amusing and an excellent vehicle for satire, but not something that has great literary value.
Unfortunately, she lacks some of the emotional depth and appeal of Siste Carrie. I find some of the upper class characters to be unbelievable and less than paper thin. The real hero of the book is not so much Mary Ann as it is the two most appealing gay characters (Michael Tolliver and the closet gay gynecologist) who, despite their untraditional lifestyles, conduct themselves according to a moral code that would resonate with traditional American and even Christian values. Indeed, perhaps the book is most significant for its ability, 30 years ago in a different and less tolerant time, to portray gay characters realistically and sympathetically. Ulnlike Sister Carrie, though, Mary Ann Singleton is not so much the focus of the book as she is the touchstone by which other characters are measured and reveal themselves.
Maupin is more like Tom Wolfe than Dreiser in his ability to spin amusing yarns that have a good sense of the pulse of American culture, but without the depth and pathos that make for great literature. Maupin is at his best in portraying the less lofty. Either Maupin is exaggerating to an unpardonable degree, or I horribly mis-spent by youth.
His text is a love letter to the art of creating a world using imagination and observation of his life and times. If you are going to San Francisco be sure to wear some flowers in your hair, someone sang. It is funny and it also has cultural and sociological importance. The characters are unforgettable and after a couple of pages it feels like we have known them for ages. The stories, has been said, are a love letter to San Francisco. But he didn't stop, and last year he reached the seventh installment.
It all begins when Mary Ann Singleton a Cleveland twenty-something spends vacation in San Fran and decides she does not want to go back home. The owner is Mrs Madrigal who receives her favorite tenants with a special gift. The new P.S.
"Tales of the City" is a quick read - what doesn't mean is a disposable one. By this time, "Tales of the City" has become classic. edition brings some interesting information on the writer and his work. The most important scenario is a building in 28 Barbary Lane, where Mary Ann moves to.
But the most touching part is a short text he wrote recollecting the time when the series started to become popular. If you are not going - but you want to, just for starters pick a copy of Armistead Maupin's "Tales of the City" a novel that was first serialized in the mid-70's in a local newspaper and some time later was published in a single volume. As she starts her new life, we are introduced to a group of people who are somehow related - although they are not aware of the ties all the time.
Armistead Maupin not only captures the zeitgeist of San Francisco in the '70s, but through his characters, carries us through moments of the human condition, seperate from time, place and gender.
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