Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Harpercollins Publisher (1989), 345 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. Humor (Fiction.) HTML: Inspiration for the Netflix Limited Series, Tales of the City The second novel in the beloved Tales of the City series, Armistead Maupin's best-selling San Francisco saga. 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.
Media reviews
Le Monde
Au fil des années 80 et de six volumes, les Chroniques ont connu, Aux Etats-unis, un succès croissant, critique autant que public : bien au-delà de San Francisco et d'un lectorat gay, Maupin a peu à peu conquis une audience internationale qui, pas plus que ses personnages, ne se renferme dans
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un quelconque ghetto. La qualité littéraire y est pour beaucoup : les saynètes qui constituent la trame du récit sont certes tissées de dialogues, mais la justesse parfaite du ton ne doit pas occulter l'écriture. Les Chroniques nous parlent en effet du présent sur un mode désuet (...). Les tableaux nous promènent dans toute la société, du monde au demi-monde, du vernissage au rodéo gay, de la débutante à la punkette, du prêtre au policier - jusqu'à la reine d'Angleterre. Show Less
Elle
Maupin nous présente des hommes, des femmes, des jeunes, des vieux, des ambitieux, des tendres...Les maîtres mots de sa saga culte sont "solidarité et "amitié". Tout le monde s'y retrouve.
User reviews
LibraryThing member maggie1944
[More Tales of the City] carries on with most of the same characters and putting some flesh on some earlier minor characters. I love it that the bad guys get bad ends, and the good guys just keep on keepin' on! I also love that I've read these books before so I remember some of the plot
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completions, but not all. The hints are broad, and amusing when you know the outcome, but I'm sure I miss as many as I catch. I will be continuing. The books make me feel good about life and some of the flawed people in my life as well as those in the books. I am smiling. Show Less
LibraryThing member klarusu
I can't really believe it's taken me this long to find these gems, but sometimes it's the ones that lie undiscovered under your nose that prove the most surprising. These books detail the lives of a motley band of individuals who live in San Francisco on Barbary Lane under the watchful eye of the
I guess, should you choose to, you could level the criticism that the interlinking storylines are all-to-convenient and readily wrapped up .... but I didn't find it problematic. It is an inherent quality of the original media they were published in and you have to allow for that format. I'm just glad to see them put together as a book so that they can be enjoyed by everyone. I think that if you cannot overcome objections to plot and structure, then these books were probably never meant for you. Personally, once I found them, I couldn't put them down and I'll certainly be looking forward to the next batch.
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matriarchal Anna Madrigal. The pluses and minuses of these stories all stem from the fact that they were initially serialisations in a regular newspaper column. It makes them an addictive doddle to read - each book is divided into bite-sized chunks that have an element of self-containment mixed with a splattering suspense that leaves you wanting more. The characters are skilfully drawn and quickly come to life and become much-loved friends - a testament to Maupin's skill as a writer. They are each a little window onto life in San Francisco at the time - an interesting documentation of society there.I guess, should you choose to, you could level the criticism that the interlinking storylines are all-to-convenient and readily wrapped up .... but I didn't find it problematic. It is an inherent quality of the original media they were published in and you have to allow for that format. I'm just glad to see them put together as a book so that they can be enjoyed by everyone. I think that if you cannot overcome objections to plot and structure, then these books were probably never meant for you. Personally, once I found them, I couldn't put them down and I'll certainly be looking forward to the next batch.
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LibraryThing member AlexTheHunn
Maupin's delightful and fascinating characters find their way through San Francisco in the heady 70s. This time the plots become more involved and intertwined. We do learn important information about Mrs. Madrigal.
LibraryThing member webgeekstress
As with Tales of the City, this is very much a book of its time and setting. On the other hand, I was living in the Bay Area at the time, and I remember the book being serialized in the SF Chronicle, so it's nicely nostalgic, and Maupin is an entertaining writer.
LibraryThing member jeffome
This was just a fun read.....do not, i repeat do not expect deep moving literature, but do expect a fun romp with slightly bizarre off-beat characters living out a series of events right out of a daytime soap opera, absolutely chock-full of ridiculous coincidences and nearly unbelievable story
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lines. But i enjoyed it and my current busy schedule made me very appreciative of the 2-4 page chapter structure. And i had read the first of this series quite some time ago, yet I was right back in there like it was yesterday.....you know, just like the daily soaps. I might even follow up with number 3 right away since it went so quickly! Show Less
LibraryThing member presto
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
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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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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LibraryThing member thorold
The second instalment, with a wonderfully kitschy Hitchcock-pastiche thriller plot, and various further revelations about Anna Madrigal, Woman of Mystery.
LibraryThing member satyridae
I've become a real fan of the narrator, Barbara Rosenblat. The stories are, of course, classics. The narration adds to it for me.
LibraryThing member MomsterBookworm
I sometimes watch Chinese dramas / soap operas with my mother, and I always marvel (in a baffled sort of way) that in as large a city as portrayed in the show, all the characters in the story are inevitably and inexplicably intertwined in their relationships: personal, social, professional, etc. --
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you name it. It's no different here, but the symbiosis works in the case of the books in this series; after all, there is a certain eccentricity amongst the characters that keeps the 'ecosystem' rich and thriving. On to Book 3: 'Further Tales Of The City'. Show Less
LibraryThing member SoulFlower1981
More Tales of the City
by Armistead Maupin
This book continues the characters that are introduced in Tales of the City, which is the first of this particular series. One of the things that makes this particular book interesting is that each chapter is relatively short, so it is quickly read and
by Armistead Maupin
This book continues the characters that are introduced in Tales of the City, which is the first of this particular series. One of the things that makes this particular book interesting is that each chapter is relatively short, so it is quickly read and
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makes it easy for a reader to find a stopping point when they need to put it down for awhile. The reason for this ease isn't because Maupin wrote them this way as a book, but because the chapters are originally articles that appeared in, I believe don't quote me on this, the San Francisco Chronicle. Each chapter was featured as the daily story and because of this the book seems highly dramatic at time because it would be fairly obvious that each article had to keep the reader invested to return to it the next day to read. The thing is though there are overarching themes that actually get solved as well, which makes it very interesting to read in its entirety. As a reader you want to know what the secrets are because Maupin makes you invested in each o the characters. Each character has their own individual life, but as a collective group they make a beautiful book. I really enjoyed this book and plan on reading the next in the series entitled Further Tales of the City. If you want a book that will surely turn out to be a guilty pleasure for you to read then look no further than this and the first book in the series. You will love them and thank yourself for reading them!! Show Less
LibraryThing member sunnydrk
I just can't get enough of these characters and their lives. Thank goodness there are a few more books.
LibraryThing member CharlotteBurt
I love this one. Its a reread for I think the 4th or 5th time (I've lost count over the years) and one of my favourites. I am finding most other books that I am reading at the moment to be a bit heavy going so this is light relief in the extreme.
LibraryThing member ChrisWeir
2nd in the series. More tales of the band of characters we find in the first. Mona learns the truth about Anna Madrigal. Mouse comes down with a strange disease as well as coming out to his parents. Mary Ann meets a man with amnesia on a cruise.
Subjects
Awards
GLAAD Media Award (Winner — 1999)
Language
Original publication date
1980
ISBN
0060964057 / 9780060964054