Armistead Maupin - Tales of the City Books

Pros: A witty and intelligent book that happens to be groundbreaking.

Cons: More satisfying if one considers it a part of a serial.

Review: Growing up in Northern California in the seventies, I don’t think that I fully appreciated the magnitude of the social changes that were taking place around me. Protestors and picket lines weren’t strange; the longhaired boys and girls that played music...

Pros: Great book about life in 1970's San Francisco, gay or otherwise

Cons: Maupin seems a bit of a drama queen :-)

Review: Unlike Mary Ann Singleton, I was 18, not 25, when I first saw San Francisco. I was from Seattle, not Cleveland. I was going to Stanford, not running away from a life without promise or excitement. But in so many ways, I was able to feel in touch with...

Pros: Life long friendships. You'll read over and over again.

Cons: Only six volumes.

The Bottom Line: Find out about the 70s, drug use, sex, San Francisco, faith healing,.....and yourself.

Review: I’m an adult. But my inner child has a group of imaginary friends. They visit me in the bathtub. When I am feeling low they cheer me up. One is named Mouse. They all do drugs. One is stuck up, but is a really nice person underneath. One is waiter...

Pros: Humor, pathos, and mystery in San Francisco

Cons: Sexual content may be offensive to some

Review: I discovered the Barbary Lane gang through the wonderful PBS Series, Tales of the City. I immediately took myself off to Barnes and Noble and bought all the Maupin titles available (7 at that time) and proceeded to immerse myself in a totally alien...

Pros: Get stories of great people

Cons: Last book loses its luster

Review: This is one of the best series of books I have ever read. Amistead Maupin tells the story of an apartment house in San Fancisco in the late 1970's. It follows their loves (homosexual and heterosexual) and losses. His writings leave you feeling their...

Pros: Easy to pick up and leave off.

Cons: There are only six books!!!

Review: A few years ago I discovered the "Tales of the City" series of six books. I have voraciously read and reread each. Some are better than others but all are quite good. Armistead Maupin has a unique ability to make you like the people he...

Pros: Wonderful storytelling with great characters

Cons: It IS San Francisco in the 70s ... drug and sex references may offend some readers

Review: After Dickens and before The Green Mile, there was another fantastic story that played itself out in episodes printed periodically. Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City started life as a series of columns in the San Francisco Chronicle....

Pros: positive portrayal of gay and lesbian people; interconnected stories pull you in

Cons: some parts dated

Review: Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City is one of those famous books I had always meant to read but had never gotten around to. Facing a 10-hour drive home for Thanksgiving, I decided to bite the bullet and pick up the audiobook.

Tales...