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Summary: Welcome to 28 Barbary Lane!
Review: I recently read this book and enjoyed it a good deal. Armisted Maupin fills his serial-soap opera with loveable characters that you are more than happy to see again and again. From Mary Ann Singleton, the innocent and trusting romantic, to the mysterious but kind Ms. Madrigal, we are introduced to an array of people from the late 70s, living in San Franisco. There are enough twists and plot turns to put most soap operas to shame! Pick up a copy and you won't be sorry. You'll just be ready to buy the next installment!
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Summary: This is good stuff folks!
Review: It was 1982 when I first read this book. Then, this book had been out of print and I'd picked it up in a used bookstore. What a great time I had reading this book!Mary Ann Singleton is the modern day Alice who happens to go through the modern day looking glass: San Francisco circa 1976. I often thought of this series of books as having been written similar to the manner in which Dickens wrote his books: there are not any characters introduced to the reader who do not serve some purpose in driving the plot or story. This is a tight little book. Originally written as a daily feature in the San Fran Chronicle, the "chapters" were compiled into a single novel for later publication. Maupin has said that even readers helped him turn the plots into specific directions. I love the characters in this book and its sequels. Maupin writes just enough that the reader can jump into the story using their own imagination. This is not a gay novel as I've heard it called. True there are gay characters. However, to be honest the true lead character has to be Mary Ann, who is completely straight and leads us or introduces us to many interesting and wonderful characters. This is a great quick read! Even if you're not a big "reader", this book will be a great "on the john" book, because the chapters are short and sweet (but I think your legs will go to sleep, because you won't want to put it down).
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Summary: Mood rings, child pornographers, and San Francisco
Review: This is the classic. The book that sets the stage for five more excellent follow ups. This book was a Peyton Place/Valley of the Dolls combo that was far more entertaining than you would think. There's Mary Ann Singleton moving from Cleveland to San Francisco because the color of her mood ring said she was in the right spot. Of course she falls in love with a married man who is also into men and dates a child pornographer who is also a detective doing research of Anna Madrigal, the owner of 28 Barbary Lane for some unknown seedy purpose. Then there's Mona who worked for Halcyon Inc (or whatever the name of the company is...) as a graphic designer and she's in to quaaludes, pot, cocaine, meditation...basically the works...but for her, she had a...um....relationship with someone (like I am going to spoil that for you!) and moves out of the apartment leaving Michael "Mouse" Tolliver there alone. Now Michael has just gotten out of a relationship with a military recruiter but falls for this gynecologist named Jon Fielding....
Okay, as you can see I would go on and on and on about this....but I won't....just buy the book. Then buy the next. And then the next....
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Summary: Great summer reading
Review: Maupin's tale of San Fransisco is a fun-filled jaunt through the lives of the deliciously sinful characters that surround 28 Barbary Lane. Sex, drugs, and maybe not so much rock n' roll (this is the 70's - let's stick to disco) permeate the atmosphere as a cast of over 10 loveable people discover their place in the world. This is a plot that will not draw you in the way it could, nor are the intriguing characters all that worthy of sympathy. However I find myself in quite an introspective mood after reading a few chapters, as I ask myself the same questions posed to Mary Ann, Mrs. Madgrigal, and the others. My advice: take this series to the beach, and have fun with it.
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Summary: A collected serial worth your time....
Review: I can't remember who it was that handed me "Tales of the City." The first in what I thought was a trilogy (but is actually part of a sextet), I was surprised to learn that the book was actually a collection of a once serially printed story. The characters are a delight, and there's something in here for everyone, not just members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community. From Michael's quest for love, to Mary-Anne's journey to independance, these characters face life and death together on all its myriad fronts. Set in the San Francisco of the wild seventies, this book can be an interesting romp of nostalgia for many, or a wonderful peek into the past for those of us who were there, but in diapers, at the time. The only word of warning I add to my otherwise hands-down reccommendation of "Tales of the City," is that its once serial nature makes it seem to jump and skip at the start, until you are used to the characters and have a feel for their personalities. Once you've got them down, it's a wonderful read, and you'll catch yourself pining for the next one, "More Tales from the City."
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Summary: The Essential Start
Review: While "Tales of the City" is not the best book of the series, its an essential start. It is here that you meet the characters you'll come to love and care for through the other books. It's here where the essential character introductions take place. Maupin, I think, uses Tales to not only tell a good story, but to lay foundations for the next two books. "Tales of the City" is written in a sort of "Mark Twain" style. Mark Twain used to serialize his works in newspapers and thus his chapters are short and to the point. Maupin did the same thing with the San Francisco Chronicle. The book is the perfect thing to read if you don't have a lot of time to sit down for a long read since you'll be through three or four chapters before you know it. Tales is used as current commentary...current commentary for the 1970s. Maupin loved to try to weave current events into the stories. Here you'll see commentary on the Women's Lib movement and the Anti-Gay campaign of Anita Briant written as they were happening. "Tales of the City" is historical comment written as fiction in a lot of ways and as such it can be facinating. Finally, "Tales of the City" is an essential book on Gay culture and Gay self-esteem. It presents a world where straights and Gays basically live together nicely and can be friends. Maupin doesn't display San Francisco as a Gay ghetto and everyone, no matter what their orientation, plays off of each other nicely. It's a world I'd love to live in.
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Summary: The Real San Francisco
Review: This book was completely compelling. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down for two days. Tales of the City is both a very realistic story and Melrose Place for the 70's. You'll love the characters and the drama they experience. I would like to say only good things about it, but although it was fun to read, it IS a paperback soap opera. Read it for fun.
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Summary: Excellent - True to life!
Review: What a book! Maupin introduces so many characters that seem to be neighbors of mine that I feel I live on Barbary Lane! Eveeryone should have an Anna Madrigal in their life. She is like a Mother Hubbard protecting her flock. I promise you that if you start to read this book, you will not be able to put it down! Be prepared for long evenings and short nights.
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Summary: Compulsive reading
Review: I started reading the first in the series and couldn't stop until I got my hands on the rest. This series has everything: a fabulous city, real characters you can care about, and original storylines that are sometimes funny, sometimes touching and always entertaining. I would recommend these tales to all readers who love to lose themselves in a truly good book.
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Summary: Perfection PLUS!
Review: As a published writer (LONELY JUCTIONS), I know how difficult it can be to fully realize in writing the complete characterization of people without making them seem from another planet. That Maupin is more than capable of making ALL of his characters well-rounded people is a tribute to the man's talent. Then, he takes it a step further and places it in a time and city where everything was happening. The man's talent is amazing. And, at the end of the sixth book, I was sad to not know more about my new-found friends, but felt a rare satisfaction...like that of having a good cigar, a perfect bottle of wine, or a very satisfying meal. You MUST enjoy this 6-part saga for yourself. While the mini-series are excellent, they are not the novels and you owe it to yourself to try one. But then, if you try one, you'll be hooked. I know that for a fact!
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