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Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
The tenants of 28 Barbary Lane have fled their cozy nest for adventures far afield. Mary Ann Singleton finds love at sea with a forgetful stranger, Mona Ramsey discovers her doppelgänger in a desert whorehouse, and Michael Tolliver bumps into his favorite gynecologist in a Mexican bar. Meanwhile, their venerable landlady takes the biggest journey of all—without ever leaving home.
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| Coming out of the Closet |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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The chapter "Letter to Mama" is a must read for anyone grappling with gay/lesbian issues. I am reading Saturday Night Crisis Lines by Robert Harrison which discusses these issues in detail and in real life circumstances on the crisis hotlines of a big city suicide and crisis center, an easy read but hard to put down once I started reading this book.
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| Worthy follow up |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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This is the second of Maupin's 'Tales of the City' books. It's like a soap opera, in that the book is a continuation into the trials and tribulations in the lives of the residents at 28 Barbary Lane.
This book delves into the American psyche of the late 1970's. Maupin does a great job of interweaving social issues into the characters' lives without getting preachy. For example, he has Michael's parents becoming anti-gay crusaders. I understand that Maupin became less subtle about his political agendas in later books, but in this one he does a good job of it.
Maupin does a masterful job in making all of the characters believable and sympathetic (with the exception of Beauchamp Day). They are all people that you and I know. The dialogue is a little snappier than most normal people can manage, but is still engaging and witty.
Then, there are the inevitable surprise twists that Maupin puts in that make these books such fun to read. I won't give any of them away, but they are good.
This is a fine second effort for Maupin.
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| Every bit as good as the Tales of the City |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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More Tales of the City maintains the standard set in the first book as the coincidences become more bizarre and the characters reveal more of their secrets. Of the latter Anna Madrigal has some real shockers; but there is a shock of a different kind in store for the adorable Michael Tolliver; and yet another for the insufferable Beauchamp. But before that Mary Anne and the Michael go on a cruise together and neither returns empty handed. We meet some new characters and some of the old ones play a bigger part.
Very funny and entertaining, with some amateur sleuthing which involves several of the residents of 28 Barbary Lane keeping us guessing to the end, this is a most enjoyable read.
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| Even Lombard Street isn't this convoluted |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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More Tales of the City beat Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City with its gaylit/chick lit twist on the menagerie of personalities at Barbery Lane. This sequel reveals more of the mysterious Mrs. Madrigal than ever with twists and turns only possible in San Francisco. You WILL laugh yourself to tears!
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| Continuation with more surprise twists and intrigue |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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After I finished reading the first novel at a friend's insistence, I was so hooked by the end of it that I got the Omnibus of the first three novels and one of the final three novels so I can continue reading the saga of the residents of Barbary Lane.
The first half of this novel, I thought was better than the first novel, as I simply couldn't put the book down. I had to read "just one more" chapter, and since most chapters ran no more than three pages or so, one chapter turned into several chapters. The different story lines are interspersed, and I found that my curiosity switched from one to another as I read more. Some story lines didn't interest me (regarding DeeDee Halcyon Day and her mother), while others had me hooked (Mona Ramsey's vacation to a ranch in Nevada where she has an amazing coincidence that reveals a deeper connection between her and another character). I also enjoyed reading about Mary Ann Singleton and Michael Mouse Tolliver as they grow closer in friendship and take a cruise to Mexico together. On the cruise, they meet a man whom they don't know if he'd go for Mary Ann or Michael, and some of the wit apparent in the dialogue is laugh out loud funny. The plot moves towards a strange, and a bit far fetched, conclusion built around a mystery of one man's amnesia and the bits he remembers and some odd personality quirks. I didn't find their discovery to be realistic, but its not enough to take away from my enjoyment of the novel. Overall, I still like the first one better, but I'm really glad to see a continuation of these characters. The ending hints of things to come, so of course I plan to read the rest of the series in the next month or two. Like the first novel, the dialogue is simply amazing, full of wit, and laugh out loud funny. Armistead Maupin is a conversational genius and knows how to hook a reader. My only critique would be more time spent on descriptions, offering more details and observations. These novels read like a screenplay, but that's probably a big reason why this novel is so easy to read through. I can't wait to read what will happen next!
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