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Tales of the City: A Novel
Summary
Inspiration for the Netflix Limited Series, Tales of the City
A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick
The first novel in the beloved Tales of the City series, Armistead Maupin’s best-selling San Francisco saga.
For almost four 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 nine 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.
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Reviews
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin is the first volume in a group of novels that consist of stories written originally in a serialized form that appeared as installments in the San Francisco Chronicle. In this volume, the stories were inspired by his observations of life in the city during the mid 1970’s and feature a group of people who are loosely interconnected, but the star of the book is the city of San Francisco.There is a marvellous mix of characters from gay to straight, old to young, male to female. They are sympathetic, vibrant and realistic. Their stories run the range of emotions from playful to sentimental, humorous to touching. The author effortlessly carried me back to the 1970’s with a simple whiff of Charlie perfume, a mention of a movie called “Young Frankenstein” and a stray pamphlet encouraging one to vote for Jimmy Carter.Like a small time capsule, Tales From the City captures that short period in San Francisco when the hippies had moved on and AIDS and HIV had yet to appear. Maupin captures the rhythms of the city that he writes about and with it’s authentic setting and whimsical stories, I enjoyed this book immensely.
This is a Reading Good Books review.Tales of the City is a love letter to San Francisco. It celebrates the rawness and the wildness of this beautiful city. The characters embody what San Francisco (during that time, at least) is all about.Unlike a lot of reviews that I’ve read, I have not seen the PBS miniseries (although I should get on to it because of Thomas Gibson). What I’ve seen was the musical staged by the American Conservatory Theatre in 2011. I liked it a lot and it was so much fun to watch. Since then, I wanted to get my hands on the book and read it.Tales of the City is a story about the life and times of the residents of 28 Barbary Lane. Mary Ann Singleton visits San Francisco in 1976 and falls in love with the place and the culture. She then decides to stay for good. She meets the landlady Mrs. Anna Madrigal, who readily takes Mary Ann under her wing; the other residents, Mona Ramsey and Michael “Mouse” Tolliver; and other colorful characters. All of them have their own baggage and journey.The book is a very easy read. It has (very) short chapters and each chapter is a peek into a character’s life. Think, episodes. And as you read on, you will realize that all of them are somehow connected. The different ways they are connected are hilarious. It makes it so much fun to follow each storyline to find out how two seemingly unrelated characters are connected to each other. The various plot and character twists are hilarious. I can see how people, not just the LGBT crowd, can relate to these characters. It is real, candid, and heartfelt. While it is not a “great” piece of literature, it is definitely a good read.But just like what I said about the musical, “The characters are relate-able enough but it can be a little bit confusing for non-San Francisco, non-Bay Area people. I’m not and I admit, I didn’t get some jokes.” Nevertheless, this book made me care about these characters enough for me to look for the other books and find out their journeys through life.Rating: 5/5.Recommendation: If you like LGBT lit, this one is a must-have, a must-read.
This series has been on my radar for a long time, and most recently again with a family members move to San Francisco. I really enjoyed this book and all the quirky characters. I'm so happy there are more yet to read because I'm not ready to say goodbye to them just yet!
The classic San Francisco novel introduces a family of characters who live in Mrs. Madrigal's rooming house on Barbary Lane. The book is so full of dialogue that it reads like a script. Very funny, quirky, mind-opening, and heart-warming.
A fast, fun, light read with plenty of quirky characters. It's so San Francisco.
Yay for serial novels! The characters are really funny and warmly portrayed; the story feels largely effortless. Maupin could have spent a lot of time waxing poetical about San Francisco, but instead he lets the city shine through the characters. The jokes made cheerfully at the expense of seventies' culture are still funny because, man, the seventies were pretty strange.
Hoping that the rest of the series is this good!
Hoping that the rest of the series is this good!
Charming and hilarious little story about life in San Francisco in the 1970s.
Enjoyed this book even more than I expected. The San Francisco setting, however fictitious, was interesting, and the characters suprised me pretty often. I don't read many short story collections for some reason, enjoyed these. It was nice to come and go from the book without feeling like I'd missed much.
Very entertaining reading, esp for anyone who may have nostalgia for the 70s and San Francisco in the 70s in particular. I was a child in the 70s so most of the pop-culture references were beyond me, but the stories were still fascinating and fun to read--probably because Mary Ann is an outsider too. Thank goodness. These were originally serialized in a newspaper, which explains why the tales never seem to get anywhere. As a book, it doesn't conclude; I guess one just has to keep reading the whole Tales of the City series...
Revisited via audio CD. It was lovely to be back on Barbary Lane with the kids, but odd that they are kids now and not too long ago they were glamourous grownups. Sweet and improbable and dated in the nicest sort of way. There's one prescient moment where Brian says to Michael that it's likely that someday they will be sad old libertines lost in a world of uptight kids, because the pendulum always swings.
Originally published as a serial in the late 1970's, this novel remains an entertaining read. The characters are clever, realistic and easy to relate to in spite of the passage of time and, as one would expect from a serial, the story incorporates enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing a little bit which is always a treat.
goofy but entertaining tales
Maupin's delightful and fascinating characters find their way through San Francisco in the heady 70s.
Synopsis: Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City has blazed a singular 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 wry comedy of manners and a deeply involving portrait of a vanished era.Vanished era is right. Boy was it hokey. All the drug references were kind of quaint – the pot and the Quaaludes and the overt casualness of their use. Funny. Same with the pre-AIDS bed hopping by both straight and gay people. No wonder we had an epidemic; these people had all the restraint of alley cats. They all wanted (whether they admitted it or not) a serious relationship, but they all just moved from bed to bed. It’s hard to believe that people actually did this. It seems detrimental not only physically, but emotionally. What a way to live. No wonder they needed drugs.The story is something out of Melrose Place. Well, the reverse. Whatever. It’s very soap operaish. Maybe that’s where Spelling got his idea for the trashy series. I didn’t like many of the people in this story though. The lead character, Mary Ann, is compared to everyone else, priggish and judgmental. She thinks she isn’t, but she is and her constant waffling between “loving” the new city and wanting to move back to the safety of the staid Cleveland gets annoying. She is dense and I was sick of reading about her.None of the other characters were likeable either. The landlady who gives out joints to people and says that her house chooses them and not the other way around. The rich couple with marriage problems – he is actually gay, but won’t come out of the closet. There’s Mary Ann’s boss who is dying of some disease, can’t stand his wife anymore because she didn’t stay a 20-year-old and who begins a “love” affair with the crazy landlady. There’s the bed hopping single guy who is up for sex with either gender. Two roommates; a lesbian who wonders if she’s a fag hag for hanging around with her roomie, a “twink” who goes in for jockey shorts competitions at gay bars. And finally, the reclusive guy upstairs who claims to be a private investigator who really turns out to be a child pornographer. Oy vey. The writing in this one was not nearly at the level of The Night Listener, either. Maupin’s writing definitely improved between the writing of the two. In Tales he struggles with creating suspense without giving away the game and fails in a lot of storylines. But the story wasn’t compelling; each of the character’s situations were trivial and lame. I didn’t care about any of them. Bah.
Great story, great backdrop, great characters. Definitely read this book.
I knew I'd love this book from the first sentence, and it didn't disappoint. So readable, a real page-turner, you can't put it down, the clever plot leads you to the next chapter and the next until you find you've finished the whole thing. Wonderful to find that there are 5 equally good sequels.
Oh, cute, cute, cute. What more does anybody have to say? Go read someone else's review and just consider mine positive.
I can't really believe it's taken me this long to find these gems, but sometimes it's the ones that lie undiscovered under your nose that prove the most surprising. These books detail the lives of a motley band of individuals who live in San Francisco on Barbary Lane under the watchful eye of the matriarchal Anna Madrigal. The pluses and minuses of these stories all stem from the fact that they were initially serialisations in a regular newspaper column. It makes them an addictive doddle to read - each book is divided into bite-sized chunks that have an element of self-containment mixed with a splattering suspense that leaves you wanting more. The characters are skilfully drawn and quickly come to life and become much-loved friend - a testament to Maupin's skill as a writer. They are each a little window onto life in San Francisco at the time - an interesting documentation of society there.I guess, should you choose to, you could level the criticism that the interlinking storylines are all-to-convenient and readily wrapped up .... but I didn't find it problematic. It is an inherent quality of the original media they were published in and you have to allow for that format. I'm just glad to see them put together as a book so that they can be enjoyed by everyone. I think that if you cannot overcome objections to plot and structure, then these books were probably never meant for you. Personally, once I found them, I couldn't put them down and I'll certainly be looking forward to the next batch.
Tales of the City is based on Maupin's 1970's newspaper serial in the San Francisco Chronicle. Between the pages we meet a group of unforgettable characters AND we get to remember what it was like to live in the 70's. Drugs, Sex and secrets are what make up Tales of the City. The story opens with Mary Ann Singleton a small town girl from the Midwest who falls in love with San Francisco while on vacation and decides to move there. The adventures start as soon as she makes this decision and it's as if we move right into the Barbary Lane apartment with her. The story unfolds in soap opera fashion as we meet Mouse ( who's gay), Mona ( the ad exec), Mrs. Madrigal (The landlady who grows pot), and Brian ( the womanizer) . The story is written in short snippets that at first seem a bit disjointed. The story jumps around from one set of characters to another. But as the story unfolds we see how it all fits together like a jigsaw puzzle and how everyone is connected in some way. And Maupin knows how to write a good story so you'll be hooked soon enough. This is the first of 7 books.
Maupin introduces us to a large ensemble cast of quirky, complex, and lovable (well, mostly) characters from all walks of life, building what feels like a very realistic microcosm of San Francisco in the mid-1970s. The story is a bit choppy due to extremely short chapter lengths -- this work was originally published as a newspaper serial -- but that same issue also becomes something of a strength, since it forces the author to be economical with his words. Description is minimal but precise, and characterization is accomplished mostly through sharp, often funny and just as frequently heartbreaking dialogue. Some of the coincidental meetings and frankly bizarre plot developments are a little far-fetched, but the breezy tone keeps you turning the pages. I love these characters, who are as real in my mind as any I've ever encountered.
Centred on 28 Barbary Lane, San Francisco, the home of Anna Madrigal, Tales of the City chronicles the day to day life of Mrs Madrigal and her assorted tenants, along with their friends and colleagues. The eccentric Mrs Madrigal considers her residents as her family, leaves them notes accompanied by a joint and serves brownies suitably fortified. The residents include twenty five year old Mary Anne, a naïve young secretary newly arrived from Cleveland; Mona, a successful copywriter working for ad agency Halcyon Communications; Brian Hawkins, a randy waiter and one time lawyer in his thirties; and Michael (Mouse) Tolliver, a thoroughly likeable lively gay twink. Among the friends and colleagues, and very much part of the story are Edgar Halcyon, head of Halcyon Communications; and Beauchamp Day, his promiscuous son-in-law and business partner; along with their respective wives. By a remarkable series of coincidences the lives of residents, friends and acquaintances connect and interweave to comic effect.Their escapades range from the devious to the outrageous, ruthless to movingly caring; their sexual interests/orientation from straight to gay, and not always necessarily consistent; the whole providing an hilarious and touching account full of adventure.A thoroughly entertaining, funny and fast moving read, with some endearing and very likeable characters, I highly recommended it; and very much look forward to the subsequent developments in the many sequels.
Re-reading this makes you feel seriously old! At one stage in my live I practically knew the Tales of the city books by heart: I haven't looked at them for ages, but reading Mary Ann in autumn prompted me to dig them out again (and fire up my vintage VCR to watch the TV adaptation again as well).The thing you forget, especially if you have the TV series in mind, is that this isn't seventies nostalgia. It is The Seventies. Tales of the city came out in book form in 1978, the same year as Dancer from the dance and Faggots. While New York was inventing "gay writing", Maupin was writing about lesbian, gay and transsexual characters as though there was nothing about their sexuality that was the least bit more profound, spiritual, absurd, or grotesque than there was about the strange things that heterosexuals get up to. He was normalising the whole sodom-and-gomorah world of seventies San Francisco for his readers by writing about it in a superb pastiche romantic comedy style, heavily laced with references to the most down-to-earth bits of fifties American popular culture. And he got away with it! It's basically the same trick they use in The Simpsons: if you make the audience laugh, give them a bit of sentiment towards the end, and never bore them or pretend that you know better than they do, then you can discuss almost any subject. It's a trick, but it takes a lot of skill, and in Maupin's case it would never have worked without his amazingly sharp dialogue. All those references to Hitchcock, Tennessee Williams and Noël Coward aren't there by accident: Maupin clearly has a very sharp eye for what works on stage and screen, and uses it to pare down his text to the absolute minimum. Brilliant stuff: he's definitely up there with writers like Kipling, Raymond Chandler and P.G. Wodehouse at the very top end of popular fiction.
A friend recommended this book and I got hooked on the quirky characters of Barberry Lane. Entertaining and engaging. I read the 6 books in the original series one after the other. You do want to read them in order as the relationships between these friends, lovers, spouses, build through the series. Some implausible plotting as the series progressed and I got tired of them. The first two are the best.
Date read reflects when I finished the first book, but I had read all six within a couple of months.
Date read reflects when I finished the first book, but I had read all six within a couple of months.
This is truly one of the most charming books that I have read. Having once lived in San Francisco I think it captures the atmosphere and ambiance of the area beautifully. One of the best moments is when Mrs. Madrigal tells her suitor that those that come to San Francisco are believed to be the people of Atlantis returning. This makes the story feel like a cohesive family unit, which is what Maupin seemed to want to project in the story with the cast of 28 Barbary Lane, specifically with that character.
While the story feels like you are reading a soap opera I think that is what it is supposed to feel like overall. The story originally was written in the San Francisco Chronicle, so the chapters are very short and present part of the story in a fast and effective manner. This makes the book pretty easy to read.
While some of the material may seem a bit lewd to some people it feels like it is in a proper place within the story. Maupin sets up each plot masterfully so you are not left scratching your head when something is revealed, instead you simply state to yourself "OH! Now it all makes sense." When you get to the end of the book though you will be wanting to read the next volume because it leaves many things open still, which makes for a good series.
While the story feels like you are reading a soap opera I think that is what it is supposed to feel like overall. The story originally was written in the San Francisco Chronicle, so the chapters are very short and present part of the story in a fast and effective manner. This makes the book pretty easy to read.
While some of the material may seem a bit lewd to some people it feels like it is in a proper place within the story. Maupin sets up each plot masterfully so you are not left scratching your head when something is revealed, instead you simply state to yourself "OH! Now it all makes sense." When you get to the end of the book though you will be wanting to read the next volume because it leaves many things open still, which makes for a good series.
Just couldn't get past the era. (Set in the 70's). All the references to an era that I didn't care for culturally, fashionably, et al.
A fun read, and also interesting to imagine it being published in a newspaper more than 20 years ago.
Reading this book is a bit like a history lesson. Set in San Francisco in the late-1970s, this book was remarkable for presenting homosexuality as part of mainstream popular culture. In 2011 this is hardly shocking, but thirty-five years ago it was. This is important to recognize before going into the book. With the stage set, I felt like this book read like a sitcom. The characters engage in crazy antics. They get involved in humorous love triangles. The series began in the newspaper, and I can see how that shapes the book. The book is comprised of short chapters and small vignettes. It is humorous and easy reading, a bit of mind candy. By the end I was left with some unanswered questions. What was the issue with the landlady? As this is the first book in a series, I'm going to assume that Maupin is setting up for the next book. I'll be reading it to find out.
Just thoroughly enjoyed the book. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
This is one of the PBS Great American Reads 100 best books.It tells the story of the various occupants of a building at Barbary Lane in SAN Francisco in the late 1970s. The writing style consists of short 3-4 page chapters and mostly dialogue between the characters. Characters include Anna Madrigal, the bohemian landlady, Mary Ann Stapleton, a secretary from Cleveland; Michael Tolliver, very gay and promiscuous waiter; Mona, an advertising executive, Brian, a womanizer; Norman, mystery man; Edgar Halcyon, owner of the Halcyon advertising agency; Frannie, his alcoholic wife;Dede his daughter, married to closeted Beauchamp...All of the characters’ lives interact in the city for a period of 6 months. This is period before AIDS is in the news so promiscuity is a way of life.IMHO, not a great book but I can understand how became an important book for the bohemian, gay west coast culture.
I started this book over the weekend to take a break from all the vampire books I'm reading. I thought at first this book must have been written in the early 1990s because the descriptions of San Francisco are spot on. I was surprised to see that this book dates to 1978! My goodness -- the City hasn't changed! I'm laughing my ass off at this book. I'll have to read the other books by this author. It is so much fun to read a novel about a city that is just minutes away. I would give this book a 20 if I could. The City and Peninsula haven't changed from when this book was published. The book might have well been published last year because so much of what is described is still around and still as wacky. The wonderful variety and types of characters portrayed in this book haven't changed either. The ending was quite a kicker!