I am very much a fan of Maupin's Tales of the City series after being introduced to the ground-breaking range of gay fiction by my girlfriend (of all people) a few years ago, especially as one of the books (albeit partly) is set in our very own leafy suburb.I had seen the TV show based upon the first book in the early nineties but had never associated the adventures of Barbary Lane in San Francisco to the novel series at all until I started in the rock n'roll world of bookselling, a few years ago so I was very excited indeed to receive a pre-publication copy of this to devour heartily as I had the books over the last few years. In fact, to say I did a gay, little skip would be an understatement.Initially, I have to admit, I was unsure of the re-visitation of these characters. Like the recent Rocky film, to go back after such a long time and also mention in the press that this 'wasn't a Tales of the City book' despite being so, it had all the ingredients to go horribly wrong. The characters are complex, troubled souls, despite being utterly adorable. Then there is the problematic surrounding factor of Michael and his now long-term contraction of the AIDS virus. It was tender hooks clawing on my soul and nerves when I started, but go wrong it did not.It was just overwhelming and captivating brilliance on every page. Armistead tackles every obvious problem and obstacle with a big gay heart and an ease that makes us fall in love with Michael and Brian and Mrs.Madrigal all over again. The new characters, Brian's daughter, Michael's brother and surrounding family are all taken on with terse and confrontational genius. He always had this ability of presenting you with these character who was utterly hateful but then made you fall in love with them with the simplicity of one chapter or verse.The way Armistead tackles the problem of contemporary culture catching up with his work and the elder statesman of the bath houses himself, references like the internet and the progression of politics and the attitude of society in general are amazing and often hilarious. The way he just sums up the entire mood, problem and absurdity of the war in Iraq with just a couple of lines of dialogue just floored me.This is before we even approach the relationship between Michael and his new younger man, which is just beautifully written and cleverly witty.Then came the tears. Yes, I cried like the girl I actually am. I balled my eyes out in sadness, then I was chuckling along with the story as they dried on my face only to start myself off again, until I got to the end and had to sit in a quiet room for a while, just while every emotion I had felt in the short few hours it had took me to read actually sank in and I could speak again.The book is absolutely captivating and I want to stand and applaud. Don't just buy it, tell everyone else they have to buy it aswell. Hands down, Book of the Year.
TWO REVIEWS: TEH BOOK & THE AUDIOBOOK REDA BYTHE AUTHOR:THE UNABRIDGED AUDIOBOOK:Maupin's seventh volume in his Tales of the City series arrives 18 years after his supposed final Tales novel, "Sure of You." Indeed, the story picks up nearly 20 years later with none of the characters still living at 28 Barbary Lane, but still a family even if they're not under the same roof. Michael is now 55, and thanks to his HIV drug cocktail, he's living with AIDS and enjoying a healthy relationship with a much younger man. The novel also celebrates his strong relationships with his "logical" family of choice (as opposed to his "biological" family) that includes 85-year-old transsexual Anna Madrigal, longtime pal Brian and Brian's sex columnist daughter. Maupin's the perfect reader; he doesn't create voices for his characters because the book is told from Michael's POV. Although more sexually explicit that the previous novels, Maupin's cheerful and reassuring delivery makes it all good fun. This is the tale of Michael's move beyond his "suspended boyhood," and this return visit will enchant Maupin's legion of fans. There's a charming 20-minute interview with Maupin on the final disk.THE BOOK:Maupin denies that this is a seventh volume of his beloved Tales of the City, but—happily—that's exactly what it is, with style and invention galore. When we left the residents of 28 Barbary Lane, it was 1989, and Michael "Mouse" Tolliver was coping with the supposed death sentence of HIV. Now, improved drug cocktails have given him a new life, while regular shots of testosterone and doses of Viagra allow him a rich and inventive sex life with a new boyfriend, Ben, "twenty-one years younger than I am—an entire adult younger, if you must insist on looking at it that way." Number 28 Barbary Lane itself is no more, but its former tenants are doing well, for the most part, in diaspora. Michael's best friend, ladies' man Brian Hawkins, is back, and unprepared for his grown daughter, Shawna, a pansexual it-girl journalist à la Michelle Tea, to leave for a New York career. Mrs. Madrigal, the transsexual landlady, is still radiant and mysterious at age 85. Maupin introduces a dazzling variety of real-life reference points, but the story belongs to Mouse, whose chartings of the transgressive, multigendered sex trends of San Francisco are every bit as lovable as Mouse's original wet jockey shorts contest in the very first Tales, back in 1978
What do You think about Michael Tolliver Lives (2007)?
From an interview Maupin did with Lambda Book Report, I know he shares my dislike for "post-gay" books. True to his preference for gay authors who write gay books, this novel has hot gay male sex; characters reflecting on how their relationships with parents, each other, etc. are affected by their sexual orientation; and a little boy who's probably "pre-gay."The book revisits all the Tales of the City characters we love (Maupin is being coy to claim it isn't part of the TOTC series) and is as exciting and fast-paced as ever. I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 because another new character, who's Michael's new love and onstage a lot, is completely one-dimensional--doesn't have a single serious flaw. (He appears to be modeled on Maupin's current partner, who's much younger than he.) TOTC fans, particularly those of us pushing 50 and older, will be interested to see how the characters are aging. I hope I will forever remember Anna Madrigal's best line in this book, which goes something like "You don't have to keep up, dear, you just have to keep open."
—Faith
Through-out the 80s, I devoured the first six Tales of the City books, while in my 20's, and mostly while living in San Francisco. I first came across part of the series through the Chronicle, where Maupin wrote serialized installments of "Tales". I went on to read Maybe The Moon, skipped The Night Listener and forgot about the world of 28 Barbary Lane until recently, with the publication of The Days of Anna Madrigal. I had some spaces to fill in, so I picked up a copy of Michael Tolliver Lives and Mary Ann in Autumn. I've really enjoyed revisiting Michael and many of the characters I loved once upon a time in the earlier novels. And, Michael and I are the same age! From the book jacket, "Michael Tolliver Lives is a novel about the act of growing older joyfully and the everyday miracles that somehow make that possible." Yes it is and I am grateful for Armistead Maupin's insightful storytelling. Now, to find out what that Mary Ann has been up to...
—Kivrin Engle
I haven't read TotC, somehow. I suppose I was so busy in my youth finding every lesbian book I possibly could that I missed this series. Reading the summaries in the back of my version of the book were interesting, I suppose, but none of them quite called to me the way this book did (not that I won't read them anyway one of these days).I've got pages marked in the book and I'm sure I meant to look at them as I worked on a personal review, but as is often the case when I get to it, I am feeling lazy as hell. I read most of this book in a day while tucked up in bed on a pet/house-sitting job with no Internet. (This would not always be a problem, but as I'd set aside the weekend to work on Internet Things, it was irksome. Reading helped.)There were a number of inclusions that I appreciated--many that run through the series, I know, but I think a few more in this book particularly. One was having a character who was naturally interested in older people and had been since the teenage years. I wasn't particularly engaged with the character himself--he didn't come off the page for me--but his existence was soothing to me in the way it was included, despite some fetishising. I've more often seen it with the older character 'on the prowl' and almost tricking the 'young thing' into something (usually just) sexual, or younger characters pining after older ones (often teachers) with plenty of pathology all around and tragic ends. Having something else was refreshing.Trans characters, and having one explore the grey parts of his identity.Technology. Love the quote having to do with getting older not being about "keeping up" but "keeping open". (Even as a 20-something I find myself feeling that way with the teenagers and kids I work with.) The website spotting and then real-life spotting was a bit eyebrow-raising for me, although I found myself enjoying the flashback to the scene all the same.Having a cast filled with so many non-heteronormative characters all over the place. I enjoyed the supporting characters plenty.Mentions of a pair of men who lived together as pretty much platonic partners. I love nods to that lifestyle and how it can be fulfilling and comfortable in a different way, one that still has merit.The intergenerational feel of it: characters helping raise characters, mothers by blood or long-time love, taking a village to raise a child.The idea of chosen (or "logical") family. That one's always a big one for me despite having a rather wonderful biological family; I know I'm lucky there. Nonetheless, direct acknowledgment of chosen families is something I always cherish.---There was plenty of plot stuff that did my head in a bit. The biological family stuff didn't move me as much as it was likely supposed to. Some other stuff that made me shrug or roll my eyes...but the laziness is kicking in again and I think I'm done here. Good enough.
—Kiwi
