Formerly EFL teacher and IT consultant, now relocated to Marseille, France. Final year biochemistry ...
Formerly EFL teacher and IT consultant, now relocated to Marseille, France. Final year biochemistry student, my passions are perfumery and making my own natural cosmetics / body care products.
Member since:12.12.2007
Reviews:149
Members who trust:151
Published: 1976
Introduction
I first heard about this American author when my boyfriend bought and read Maupin's then latest book 'The Night Listener'. He had told me Mauprin was the same who wrote the 'Tales of the City' series I'd vagely heard of. Always excited by finding a new 'favourite' writer, I serendipidously came across 'Tales of the City' on the 'Book Swap' shelves at my workplace.
About the author
Armistead Maupin was born in 1944 into a conservative family embracing those values and becoming a lawyer. He later changed his views and moved to Califormia where he started working as a journalist for papers such as The Pacific Sun and The San Francisco Chronicle. It was the latter where his column 'Tales of the City' was published from 1976. The book - his first - bearing the same title came out in 1978. He lives with his husband in San Francisco.
The plot
The story follows the intertwining and everyday lives of a bunch of assorted characters ranging from the rich and the working class who all live in San Francisco. Amongst others we meet a small town girl in her twenties from Cleveland, a middle-aged hippy landlady, somehow all of them lonely and without roots which is no surprise as 'no one is from San Francisco'. So why is that they all came here to this iconic and liberal city that is now wallowing in its flower-power ruins and lost illusions?
Writing style
The book is chopped up into bitesize chapters of a few pages long that with their focus alternating between the characters. This style can be offputting as you can find it really hard to get into or the opposite, read it knowing you can put it down any time.
I liked the 70s feel of the book in which it drew a fairly descriptive picture of what life looked like back then including details of the decor of an average pad or public place at the time. The language used is of course San Franciscan 70s, with typical expressions of the era, some gone some still alive but now obviously dated.
Apart from these descriptions the other forte were the dialogs. They are everyday, banale such as the characters while at the same time being the pivoting point of everything happening and forming most of the story as it rolls along.
Characterisation
Personally I instantly warmed to the main protagonists. There are certainly some that are likeable and some that are not, though as I progressed in the book I found them shallow and never fleshy enough to care about especially the characters introduced later in the book. They were banale and miserable and wondered if what the point was in introducing them at all other than to give a 'period' caricature. There seemed to be no genuine feeling in any of them just a desperate clinging to themselves and sometimes to others while each holding onto their 'dark secrets' afraid from being ridiculed and humiliated. I felt there were too many characters for me to choose one then see them develop which they hardly did anyway.
Conclusion
Strangely, Tales of the City is like a soap, you know it's not brain science but it does draw you in. The book hooked me in a way and I'm planning to read more of the series such as 'More Tales of The City' and 'Further Tales of the City'. A good read if you like a soap-style character and plot development satire served a la 1970s. I don't think it really is a book in the classic term. It's what it was meant for originally: a column in a paper to entertain and not much else. I'm glad it has made it into book form for prosperity though.
Price / where to buy
Bookstores such as Waterstones (£7.99) and online from Amazon used and new £0.01 - £5.99
Thanks for reading.
İpowered by lillybee also posted on dooyoo
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not sure this is one that i would be too bothered about but great review none-the-less. Em x
lel1969 30.10.2008 00:04
Great detailed review. Lel xx
Mitsudan 29.10.2008 16:45
I read several of the books in this series and found that there is more substantial character development as they progress; funny and strangely addictive too. David
Advantages: fast paced, lots of wit, great deal of plot twisting, shocks in store Disadvantages: i so regret not watching the television series, although i was probably too young to appreciate it
Oct 28th, 2008
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