Armistead Maupin: Tales Of The City

[Sybarite]

Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

Perfect reading matter for sitting out in the sun all day – although you can quite happily imagine curling up in an armchair on a cold evening with it too – the first collection of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City stories is an unrelenting delight.

Starting with the arrival in San Francisco of Mary Ann Singleton, a naïve young secretary from the Midwest, it gradually broadens out, introducing us to a widening cast of colourful characters.

Frank and funny, charming and tolerant, these stories were initially serialised in the San Francisco Chronicle and depict life (apparently very accurately) in that city during the 1970s and '80s.

It would be easy to see them as a literary form of comfort food, but they're far more than that – not least for their humanity. The scenes between marijuana-growing landlady Anna Madrigal and stuffy businessman Edgar Halcyon are genuinely moving and provide a key to these tales – a zest for life itself and a determination not to waste it.

Just a hint of a cliff hanger at the end was quite enough of an excuse – were one needed – to order the next four volumes.

[Irene Wilde]

I used to read these in The Chronicle, twice weekly, when my father would bring the paper back from his trips north. I assure you, there was nothing like it in the LA Times! Wildly funny, sometimes poignant, and a little shocking to my teenaged suburban eyes -- I have to confess, I read it even before I read Herb Caen's column, and Herb was good!

[Sybarite]

Originally Posted by Irene Wilde

I used to read these in The Chronicle, twice weekly, when my father would bring the paper back from his trips north. I assure you, there was nothing like it in the LA Times! Wildly funny, sometimes poignant, and a little shocking to my teenaged suburban eyes -- I have to confess, I read it even before I read Herb Caen's column, and Herb was good!

I can imagine not, Irene. And I certainly won't be lending a copy or recommending it to my mother.

I think that the frankness, without any moral judgment, is incredibly refreshing. Maupin himself sounds a fascinating character, not least given his original background and attitudes.

I laughed out loud on a number of occasions and cried too – the first major Anna and Edgar moment, with the balloon, had tears rolling down my cheeks before I knew it. Like Terry Pratchett, he can throw pathos at the reader quite unexpectedly. And it was never sentimental – but that scene in particular was quite beautiful and, as you say, very poignant.