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Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
A fiercely ambitious TV talk show host finds she must choose between national stardom in New York and a husband and child in San Francisco. Caught in the middle is their longtime friend, a gay man whose own future is even more uncertain. Wistful and compassionate, yet subversively funny, Sure of You could only come from Armistead Maupin.
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| New Beginnings |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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The Tales of The City series comes to a bittersweet, and for some devoted fans of the series, startling conclusion with Sure Of You. Maupin does have his characters and the readers who have grown to love them face some hard truths. Dramatic changes occur and old bonds are broken, but after all the upheaval, new possibilities emerge and what had seemed to be a sobering conclusion transforms into a promising new beginning.
Some cynics have claimed this is the book that turns the likeable and ambitious character of Mary Ann Singleton into a driven and cold-hearted monster. These cynical readers are wrong and have missed the nuances of Maupin's story. Admittedly, Maupin is particularly kind in his portrayal of Mary Ann; however, he is not entirely unforgiving and we can sympathize to some degree with her choices and the desires that drive them. Mary Ann does make some decisions which deeply wound those she loves and her behavior is sometimes selfish; however, there is never callousness in her actions nor does she lack regret. Furthermore, the choices she makes are driven by a desire to change a life that has fallen into a dark and unhappy rut, which she believes she can only escape by taking a new direction she hopes will finally lead to true happiness for herself, and eventually for Brian. At the end of the novel, while nothing will be the same, new bonds have been forged, some old bonds have been renewed and strengthened, and where some bonds have been severed, there remains the promise of reconciliation between two old friends.
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| Moving on |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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This is a toughie. This is Maupin's most beautifully written entry in the "Tales" series (owing partly to the fact that it was not originally written as a serial), but it's also the most disappointing. To this day, I'm still a bit confused as to why Maupin made Mary Ann turn out the way she did. Over the years, the more people I've talked to, the more I realized I wasn't alone. Some said Mary Ann was never quite the character we perceived her to be from the start but if that's so, why did so many feel so let down by her? Maybe Maupin's ideas of her and the reader's perception never matched from Book 1. Perhaps things would be different had Maupin not had Mary Ann be the first character introduced. We see San Francisco through her eyes, and we identify with her. What's that say about us when she ends up cold and unfeeling?
Time hasn't helped the case for the book either. Once the miniseries came out and Laura Linney became THE Mary Ann, it's even harder to read this final book. In the end, the fact that this book's still has people talking 18 years after it's release shows how much we grew to love these characters. This book is full of sadness, but also hope. Michael has AIDS and San Francisco is a different place than it was only a decade earlier, but we get glimmers of the new activism that rose out of the AIDS crisis, and would eventually help fuel the "gay 90s."
I am glad that Maupin will have a new book out soon that, while not officially a Tales book with its multi-character stories, will feature some of the old gang; it's been much too long. "Sure of You" may have been the end of the series but it's a classy, sad, depressing, troubling, frustrating and great finale.
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| IS THIS THE END??? |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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After reading all of the comments on SURE OF YOU (TOTC, #6), I was a little reluctant to read it. I hadn't even finished reading BABYCAKES(TOTC, #4) yet, and I couldn't wait to get to the sixth and final book of the series, so I peaked at the reviews.
I know, bad move--I should have waited. Well, I finished books 4 and 5 and so, with a deep breath, plunged into book 6.
Needless to say, all of Maupin's engaging writing style is still there along with all the characters we TALES OF THE CITY fans have grown to love.
But, I have to disagree with other fans that say it wasn't a fairy tale ending. It was a fairy tale ending for each of the characters, according to their own stories, being that they got what they wanted...but it wasn't the fairy tale ending I wanted.
As far as Mary Anne becoming a hated character, I don't hate her. Was I ready for what was to come? No...but I understand it.
Perhaps this is what makes Maupin's TALES...series so endearing, because the stories are about people, life and change. And unfortunately people grow apart, life around us changes, and nothing stays the same.
I know this is the final TOTC book and even though MICHAEL TOLLIVER LIVES is coming out in June '07, Maupin says it won't be TOTC #7. Hopefully, he'll reconsider that or at least write a TOTC #7.
So, if you've read TOTC up to book 5, then you might as well read the last one. No, it won't be the ending you would want or even expect, but at least you'll get closure.
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| Mary Ann Singleton - the heroine who betrayed Barbery Lane |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Mary Ann Singleton first saw San Francisco at 25, everyone fell in love with the midwest transplant, but then when fame and ambition made her betray those closest to her ... she ran to New York and away from it all. It was characteristic of the ultimate lesson of the 80's. While the Tales of the City characters galavanted around in adventure during the 1970's ... the 80's greed and ambition transformed TV star Mary Ann into a cruel yuppie. Ending the saga ... culiminating in the 1989 San Francisco earthquake and Mary Ann abandoning all those who supported her throughout the years. Tales began and ended with Mary Ann ... and it was all just bittersweet.
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| Not a fairytale ending just painfully realistic |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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The residents of 28 Barbary Lane first came into my life in 1991 and they've remained firmly amongst my favourite literary characters of all time. Having read several reviews of "Sure of You" expressing feelings of disappointment and betrayal, I felt I had to chip in with my "twopenny" worth.
The evolution of all of the main characters (guided by Maupin's prodigiously talented hand) is achingly believable and, I for one think that, as an epilogue, "Sure of You" hits exactly the right notes. The many Mary Ann fans out there who felt particularly let down are maybe in need of a reality check. Look at what has happened to these people in the 12 tumultuous years from 1976 to 1988. How can we realistically expect the warm, cosy, fun-loving and uncomplicated world of the "20somethings" in "Tales" to be untouched by the passage of time as they approach middle age. Mary Ann, in spite of flashes of good, was always an essentially selfish character (very early on she dropped the flaky, but undeniably good-hearted, Connie like a hot potato once she had no more use for her and her apartment). She only really began to warm to Brian once she found out he was an ex-lawyer giving a very early indication that social standing meant a great deal to her. By book three she was well on her way up the greasy pole and woe be-tide anyone who crossed her. The lusty, heart on his sleeve, happy-go-lucky Brian seemed always pre-destined to be left behind in her wake. None of these observations are to her credit but nor do they make her a monster, just a believable human being of the "ambitious, go-getting type" - a type, incidentally, often highly prized by a Society where people who don't achieve materially seem to be routinely referred to as "losers." Mary Ann achieved fame and fortune and I should hazard a guess that those two things change people for the worse far more often than for the better.
I absolutely agree that the last installment made for uneasy reading, but to rate this excellently written book as a one star turkey just because you don't like the direction of the story and development of the characters seems a little absurd.
Well done Armistead Maupin for so effectively holding up a mirror to our collective faces. Let's not blame him if we don't like everything we see in it. In any case Michael, Mrs M and Brian are as likeable in the last book as they are in the first - Brian perhaps more so.
I only hope Michael Mouse made it (I suspect, however, that it was unlikely that he would). The Tales Anthology is not a fairy story with a happy ending (watch the Wizard of Oz if you want that). It's simply a brilliant series of books with some of the richest characters and best dialogue ever put into print.
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