More Tales of the City

I didn’t realize how much I had missed Mrs. Madrigal, Mary Ann Singleton, Mona Ramsey, and Michael “Mouse” Tolliver until I began More Tales of the City, Armistead Maupin’s sequel to his spectacular Tales of the City. (Other books had gotten in the way.)

In the sequel, Mary Ann finally meets the man of her dreams — although he has nightmares of his own. Mouse, too, finds love while he narrowly escapes death. And through a serendipitous encounter in the Nevada desert, Mona finds out more about Mrs. Madrigal — and herself — than she ever wanted to know. Lastly, Mary Ann and her new love investigate an unusual and intriguing mystery; to say any more about it would ruin the fun.

But I also missed this San Francisco circa 1980 show more when young people could revel in life, before young college graduates became so burdened by college debt, venereal diseases, underemployment, and judgmental sniping from elders who should know better. And it didn’t hurt to see the loathsome Beauchamp Day get his long-deserved comeuppance.

This second book in the series is not quite as delightful as the first, but it’s close and it’s still good enough to merit five stars. I promise it won’t take as long for me to revisit the fascinating tenants of 28 Barbary Lane and their sparkling and wise landlady. show less

This was just a fun read.....do not, i repeat do not expect deep moving literature, but do expect a fun romp with slightly bizarre off-beat characters living out a series of events right out of a daytime soap opera, absolutely chock-full of ridiculous coincidences and nearly unbelievable story lines. But i enjoyed it and my current busy schedule made me very appreciative of the 2-4 page chapter structure. And i had read the first of this series quite some time ago, yet I was right back in there like it was yesterday.....you know, just like the daily soaps. I might even follow up with number 3 right away since it went so quickly!

Why is it that we admirers of the Tales of the City series enjoy it so much? Part of it is the fact that it is a combination of gossip and a good television series, all in a neat little package. Part of it is Maupin's great writing, which manages to capture the action and the spirit in a friendly, admiring style. Part of it is the motley crew of characters. But I think that the largest factor is jealousy - you read these stories and wish that you could live at Barbary Lane, and spend afternoons talking to Mrs. Madrigal, or tossing about campy bon mots with Michael.
This book is number two in a six part series about a house on Barbary Lane in San Francisco in the late 1970s and its inhabitants. Gay and straight, messed up and on the show more right track, Maupin's book is based on a regular (fictional) newspaper column that he wrote. And the book feels like you are getting regular episodes in the life of a group of people that you don't know personally, but you are interested in their lives anyway. You care about Mary Ann and her quest to the answer to her amnesiac lover's past. You want things to work out between Michael and the gynecologist Jon. You identify with Mona's surprise when she discovers her past during a chance visit to a desert whorehouse. You hope everything works out for DeDe and her twins-to-be. And as fantastic as these themes sound, they all become reasonable in Maupin's book. (Okay, so the parts concerning the amnesiac were a little bit far fetched, but nothing a reader can't cope with). I can almost guarantee that if you have not previously read the Tales of the City series before you read this book, you will be searching the shelves for the rest when you are finished. show less

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 friends - a show more 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. show less

Far, far too many years have passed since my last rereading of this masterpiece of mirth. Why did I leave it so long, and oh, what fun!
It’s the second book in this joyful series, so start with the first, and you know that you will want more. It’s soo more-ish.

The second instalment, with a wonderfully kitschy Hitchcock-pastiche thriller plot, and various further revelations about Anna Madrigal, Woman of Mystery.

[More Tales of the City] carries on with most of the same characters and putting some flesh on some earlier minor characters. I love it that the bad guys get bad ends, and the good guys just keep on keepin' on! I also love that I've read these books before so I remember some of the plot completions, but not all. The hints are broad, and amusing when you know the outcome, but I'm sure I miss as many as I catch. I will be continuing. The books make me feel good about life and some of the flawed people in my life as well as those in the books. I am smiling.