(Black Swan)
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Synopsis
Welcome to the legendary world of Tales of the City, and meet the weird
and wonderful inhabitants of 28 Barbary Lane. There's sweet, innocent
out-of-towner, Mary-Anne Singleton; Michael ‰Mouse' Tolliver, gay, proud
but not yet out; Mona Ramsay, who isn't quite sure what she is, and, of
course, their irrepressible, dope-smoking landlady, Anna Madrigal. If
you thought San Francisco in the seventies was all about sex, drugs and
having fun you're absolutely right.
Tales of the City, the first in a series of six, has won a place in people's
hearts, regardless of their age, race or sexual orientation. This hilarious,
exuberant and humane novel places Armistead Maupin among the finest of
contemporary writers. But beware ë you might find it so addictive you
won't want to wait long before your next fixô
Biography
Armistead
Maupin was born in Washington, D.C. in 1944 but was brought up in Raleigh,
North Carolina. A graduate of the University of North Carolina, he served
as a naval officer in Vietnam before moving to California in 1971 as a
reporter for the Associated Press. In 1976 he launched his daily newspaper
serial, Tales of the City, in the San Francisco Chronicle.
The first fiction to appear in an American daily for decades, Tales grew
into an international sensation when compiled and rewritten as novels.
Maupin's six-volume Tales of the City sequence - Tales of the City, More
Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, Babycakes, Significant Others,
and Sure of You - are now multi-million bestsellers published in eleven
languages. The first two of these novels were adapted as a pair of widely
acclaimed television mini-series: the third, Further Tales of the City,
is currently in production. Maupin's 1992 novel, Maybe the Moon, chronicling
the adventures of the world's shortest woman, was a number one bestseller.
His latest novel is The Night Listener. He lives in San Francisco, California.
Contributors Testimonials
I
grew up in a small town in North Carolina in the early seventies and discovered
my sexuality, or at least the mechanics of it, at a rather early age.
And I realised as soon as I had any concept of sexual attraction that
I was interested only in men.
But in the religious fervour of a strict Southern Baptist upbringing,
even rock’n’roll music and dancing were sins, so of course
my sexual encounters with other boys were shameful and guilt ridden. Still,
the threat of eternal damnation was no match for the immediacy of the
hormones racing through my body. And as there were no alternatives to
the ubiquitous pairings of ‘husband and wife’ or ‘uncle
and aunt’ I accepted that what I did behind the gymnasium was a
dirty secret. Without alternatives, my life would settle on an inevitable
path that included girlfriends, a fiancé, and eventually marriage.
Until 1978, when I fell in love with the group leader at summer camp.
Kevin was twenty-one and old enough to know better - I was sixteen and
old enough. On the only night we slept together, he held my hand and told
me I’d be OK. I wasn’t even sure what he meant. He also told
me to go to the library and check out Armistead Maupin’s Tales of
the City. Instantly there was a whole new world of possibilities. Suddenly
there were alternatives.
Armistead Maupin changed my life through his colourful and positive depiction
of the inhabitants of Barbary Lane in San Francisco. Like Mary Anne Singleton,
I wanted to escape the conformity of small-town minds and start a new
life - where being different was part of the adventure and the landlady
grew more than just roses in the garden.
At the age of sixteen, after reading Tales of the City, I knew what Kevin
meant. I would be OK.
John Malpass
Armistead
Maupin's Tales of the City are the only books I've read from the list.
I'm a really slow reader and fiction is something I rarely make time for.
But what a read! I was living in Sydney at the time and found a whole
new set of friends and experiences I could relate to through the pages
of Tales of the City. I enjoyed the escape to a world where people co-existed
in harmony and celebrated their difference. I loved the positive upbeat
content, the economy of phrase and fast pace of the books. Tales of the
City turned me into a reading evangelist ... I no longer have a set of
the books, having lent them out to so many people I don't know which failed
to return them! I'm proud that BT is sponsoring the Big Gay Read. Books
really add a richness to life and connect our worlds completely. I hope
others, like me, are inspired by the Big Gay Read to delve deeper on the
bookshelves to discover other great stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender lives.
Paul F Kearns, Chair, BT Kaleidoscope