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Summary: Gay-Friendly Reader
Review: I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys great writing and an intriguing plot - gay, straight, purple, or green. Despite my being an avid reader, I had no clue this author was gay when I began the book. Although it was a bit of an emotional stumble when i first realized the protagonist was gay and suffering the loss of his lover (oh great, I was hoping for an emotional connection to this book) I was certainly glad I finished the book. To be honest, I didn't have much of a choice as half way though the book I found I couldn't put it down!It was the suspense of the story-within-a-story that held me, but Gabriel's emotional journey was one I found, to my surprise, that I not only could relate to, but sympathize with as well. Human loss, be it death or separation, gay or straight, unites us all. As a therapist myself, I found the initial characterization of the 13-yr-old abuse survivor off the mark. It colored my thinking throughout the book, which on many levels was challenging and uncomfortable to read (not a bad thing). But my skepticism did not detract one iota from my satisfaction with the ending of this suspenseful story. If you are gay, you will undoubtedly love this book and rejoice in this author. If you are not, you may feel uncomfortable with delving deeply into the psyche of a gay middle-aged man. But you won't be disappointed, and may be astonished to discover that finally, we are all one of humanity.
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Summary: The Night Listener
Review: By Armistead Maupin A poorly written, depressing, self indulgent, wail from a homosexual who has lost his aides infected lover. I never fail to finish a book, but I could not finish this one. I kept waiting for the book to have some redeeming quality that might make the juvenile depression expressed by the author worth the time I had already invested, but the empty drone of the wail lasted longer than I could. The side story about the abused child was also not worth the time and only kept my interest because it diverted the author from the continuous detailing of his lost love. Paul Katz Boulder, Colorado
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Summary: Emotional Roller Coaster
Review: I always tell friends about the wonderful American Playhouse adaption of TOTC (I taped it off of KQED!). When I saw Armistead on Rosie last month, I knew I had to read this book. I am cheap and don't buy hardbacks, but a few well-placed hints placed "The Night Listener" was under my Christmas tree! My girlfriend I read it together each night, often losing precious hours of sleep because we couldn't put it down. "Is he, isn't he?" "Will he, won't he?" Armistead keeps the suspense going until the last page. I'm still not completely sure what REALLY happened. Are you?
Rating: 
Summary: More, please.
Review: Armistead Maupin's latest work, "The Night Listener", has only one serious fault: It is about 500 pages too short. Mr. Maupin's lean, sparkling prose flows as swiftly as a flash flood in an arroyo, bouncing merrily over carefully wrought characters and plot devices. After what seems like only a few hours worth of intense literary pleasure, it's all over. Suddenly. And way too soon. The experience is something like getting a telegram from a friend you miss terribly. Yet, for all the seemingly alarming pace, the characters are so boldly and deeply human that they make a lasting impression. The combination of precision, warmth and fascination that Mr. Maupin's writing displays is impossible to achieve without hours of toil and planning, but the effort never shows. One can only hope that Mr. Maupin has the endurance and generosity to produce many more books.
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Summary: Excellent novel with some difficult aspects
Review: I purchased a copy of this for my partner for Christmas, and soon got a "how dare you buy a book like this for me!" I was then instructed to sit down and read it. A very good thing to be made to do. Make no mistake: this book will not be a comfortable read to all. As it indicates in the blurb (which I didn't read first), one of the characters in the book was sexually abused by his father starting at age four. Now, the details of this are not examined closely, but we are never allowed to forget how Pete was abused. It's not in our faces, but it's never too far below the surface. Having said that, the book is a triumph. Mixing fiction and autobiography together, Armistead Maupin sets out a book which is about the way in which fiction is created. The book is the fictionalised account of Gabriel Noone's failing relationship, his long-distance meeting with a young survivor of sexual abuse, and how the two help each other forward, and all the trials and tribulations associated with that progress. But don't get comfortable: 'The Night Listener' turns your expectations on their heads on several occasions. Mr. Maupin also remembers his long time fans: there are several nods to the 'Tales of the City' series and its characters. If you haven't read those books, I don't think that this book would suffer, but if you have, you get a few little bonuses. As good a book as I have read in a long time.
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Summary: Could not put this down. Highly recommended
Review: Any fan of TALES OF THE CITY already knows that Maupin's characters are like addictive drugs -- and this is no exception. The aging gay radio host is more than lovable -- he is a human, you can be angry at him and love him all at once and that is no small feat.... AND THE STORY....... is something along the lines of a soap opera for the articulate. Compelling. I read it until 5 in the morning because I NEEDED to know how it ended. Maupin is one of our greatest.......
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Summary: Maupin Bares All
Review: The idea for a plot line is a good one. A longely, middle aged gay male writer phones a thirteen year old boy to congratulate him on his upcoming book. The boy, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, is sorely in need of a father figure and role model. A close friendship soon forms via long distance. We're intermitently teased with this plot device while we are told about the writer's lover moving out, his ambiguous relationship with his father, his writer's block, and his depression. But we're teased so masterfully that it's only upon finishing this novel that we learn this really wasn't about a thirteen year old boy at all . . . . it was about the writer trying to cope with his life, his pain, and his loneliness. Some reviewers have said that this is probably the most autobiographical work of Maupin's to date. It left me with conflicting feelings . . . . actually embarrassed at times that anyone could so publicly and intimately share their life, yet filled with admiration for the intense honesty on every page. Maupin, if nothing else, is a master story teller as evidenced by his Tales series . . . . probably the best American soap opera of the Twentieth Century. What makes this book more than a mere purging of pain, what gives it its heart, its deafening reality, and ultimately wins our repect is the writer's attitude. For when all is said and done, here's a story about someone who still believes in true love.
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Summary: A deeper return to Barbary Lane
Review: "More tellable than true" we used to say, about a story that was too good, too pat to be exactly true, and usually was not quite. Maupin expresses this concept with the lovely image and delightful story of the jeweled elephant. In this vein, but more seriously, there are stories that initially struck some sort of nerve in society, that later turned out to be deceptions. Florida family murdered by bloodythirsty hippies (but later the father is convicted...), pregnant suburban woman shot and killed by black gang member (but then it turned out to be the husband), white kids carjacked by black man (well, we all know how that turned out). A book by an abused child, escaped, but now ravaged by AIDS, was thought, perhaps, to be such a story, and I don't know the truth myself. Maupin has taken this idea, the awful thought of doubting such a story if true, what could be the meaning of the story if it were not (strictly) true, and created a marvellous book about it. He has returned to the types of characters he created in Tales of the City books, and also to some of the plot devices he used in those delightful confections. And, like TOTC, this book is a page turner that can be read in a single sitting. But it is no confection; it is the most moving thing Maupin has written. His return to Barbary Lane seems to have come after an incredible growth in his ability and insight, and the similarities to his earlier works make the new depths even more striking.
Rating:
Summary: a weak story, poorly told
Review: Maupin, with his "Tales of the City" series and "Maybe the Moon," established himself as a storyteller of high order. That makes this current book an even greater disappointment. A book that cannot decide what it wants to be, it is full of one-dimensional or incomprehensible characters that move around within the rambling plot without reason or cause or much to like about them. The plot "twists" are mostly unnecessary or inane, and one is left feeling that Maupin owes us a refund or a real book.
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Summary: A different Maupin, but intriguing
Review: I discovered Maupin by accident and thoroughly enjoy his writing. The Tales books are a joy and I have always been puzzled that they are relegated to "lesbian studies" rather than simple fiction where anyone might find and enjoy his work. This book, however, is very specifically and clearly about a gay character, rather than a mix of generally facinating out-of-the-mainstream characters. Some of the details about the gay lifestyle made me uncomfortable, but the story was an interesting one that I enjoyed. It did seem a little drawn out by the end, but it was so well written, I kept going anyway. I am a devoted Maupin reader. Although this lacked some of the flavor I enjoyed in earlier works, I found new things to enjoy. I could have done without some of the sexual details, but it was a minor annoyance overcome by a facinating story. I'll be waiting with anticipation for the next novel.
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