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Tales of the City #1-3
28 Barbary Lane
Armistead Maupin's uproarious and moving Tales of the City novels—the first three of which are collected in this omnibus volume—have earned a unique niche in American literature and are considered indelible documents of cultural change from the seventies through the first two decades of the new millennium.
“These novels are as difficult to put down as a dish of pistachios. The reader starts playing the old childhood game of 'Just one more chapter and I'll turn out the lights,' only to look up and discover it's after midnight.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review
Originally serialized in the San Francisco Chronicle, Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City (1978), More Tales of the City (1980), and Further Tales of the City (1982) afforded a mainstream audience of millions its first exposure to straight and gay characters experiencing on equal terms the follies of urban life.
Among the cast of this groundbreaking saga are the lovelorn residents of 28 Barbary Lane: the bewildered but aspiring Mary Ann Singleton, the libidinous Brian Hawkins; Mona Ramsey, still in a sixties trance, Michael "Mouse" Tolliver, forever in bright-eyed pursuit of Mr. Right; and their marijuana-growing landlady, the indefatigable Mrs. Madrigal.
Hurdling barriers both social and sexual, Maupin leads them through heartbreak and triumph, through nail-biting terrors and gleeful coincidences. The result is a glittering and addictive comedy of manners that continues to beguile new generations of readers.
869 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 19, 1989
619 people are currently reading
1298 people want to read
About the author
Armistead Maupin
147 books1,969 followersArmistead Maupin was born in Washington, D.C., in 1944 but grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. A graduate of the University of North Carolina, he served as a naval officer in the Mediterranean and with the River Patrol Force in Vietnam.
Maupin worked as a reporter for a newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina, before being assigned to the San Francisco bureau of the Associated Press in 1971. In 1976 he launched his groundbreaking Tales of the City serial in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Maupin is the author of nine novels, including the six-volume Tales of the City series, Maybe the Moon, The Night Listener and, most recently, Michael Tolliver Lives. Three miniseries starring Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney were made from the first three Tales novels. The Night Listener became a feature film starring Robin Williams and Toni Collette.
He is currently writing a musical version of Tales of the City with Jason Sellards (aka Jake Shears) and John Garden (aka JJ) of the disco and glam rock-inspired pop group Scissor Sisters. Tales will be directed by Jason Moore (Avenue Q and Shrek).
Maupin lives in San Francisco with his husband, Christopher Turner.
Maupin worked as a reporter for a newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina, before being assigned to the San Francisco bureau of the Associated Press in 1971. In 1976 he launched his groundbreaking Tales of the City serial in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Maupin is the author of nine novels, including the six-volume Tales of the City series, Maybe the Moon, The Night Listener and, most recently, Michael Tolliver Lives. Three miniseries starring Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney were made from the first three Tales novels. The Night Listener became a feature film starring Robin Williams and Toni Collette.
He is currently writing a musical version of Tales of the City with Jason Sellards (aka Jake Shears) and John Garden (aka JJ) of the disco and glam rock-inspired pop group Scissor Sisters. Tales will be directed by Jason Moore (Avenue Q and Shrek).
Maupin lives in San Francisco with his husband, Christopher Turner.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
March 20, 2017
I've lost track of how many times I've bought and read these books.Tales of the City stills stands as one of my all time favourite books; I read it about every other year. The first three books of this nine book series are pretty fast and furious. Not only do the books delve into the lives of the inhabitants of 28 Barbary, but all three have an undercurrent of crime that I enjoy. I highly recommend these books to queers in their 20's who want to know what it was like to be gay in the 70's and 80's. The books are perfect time capsules of the time. I'm always surprised by how much I enjoy Further Tales of the City; you would expect the series to start to feel long in the tooth by the third book, but Maupin manages to heighten the tension just enough for you to fall in love with his characters all over again.
April 2, 2010
a review from the l.a. times compared the experience of reading these books with eating a bowl of pistachios - they're as hard to put down & each whets your appetite for the next. the third book kept me awake for hours until i'd finished it & some of the more intense plot points that i won't spoiler here were safely resolved.
i didn't know san francisco in the seventies, but found the writing evocative even of my more recent time there (where i bought this book at one of many amazing second-hand bookshops). spare but full of hinted-at description. i love how the gossipy storylines emerge slowly sometimes, so that you've guessed long before the characters find out, and sometimes drop suddenly out of nowhere. & i love the characters and their dramas and i'm so glad there is another volume of these stories to read.
i didn't know san francisco in the seventies, but found the writing evocative even of my more recent time there (where i bought this book at one of many amazing second-hand bookshops). spare but full of hinted-at description. i love how the gossipy storylines emerge slowly sometimes, so that you've guessed long before the characters find out, and sometimes drop suddenly out of nowhere. & i love the characters and their dramas and i'm so glad there is another volume of these stories to read.
September 16, 2007
I'm so addicted, I can't put it down. It would have been torture to only be able to read one column a day. I plowed through the first two Tales in just a couple of days while on vacation, and now I'm working on the third volume. And I know I'm very late to join the Maupin bandwagon, but I wasn't born yet so what can I say. He has a brilliant way of capturing characters in just a few words; I can perfectly imagine each of them and all their eccentricities in my mind.
I can see how this column would have been like the Sex and the City of its time, with its honest and uncensored look at life in late '70s San Francisco. It makes me want to move to the city by the bay even more...
I can see how this column would have been like the Sex and the City of its time, with its honest and uncensored look at life in late '70s San Francisco. It makes me want to move to the city by the bay even more...
December 25, 2024
Livre très sympatoche qui change des pavés de dépression que je me suis enfilée récemment
Ambiance débridée des années 70 et feuilleton qui s’enchaîne bien
Ça va pas révolutionner l’eau chaude mais agréable à lire (un peu envie de lire la suite !!)
Ambiance débridée des années 70 et feuilleton qui s’enchaîne bien
Ça va pas révolutionner l’eau chaude mais agréable à lire (un peu envie de lire la suite !!)
March 5, 2021
I just finished "Babycakes" (4th in the series) and was so surprised as I found it very good. As far as the first 3 in the series, I liked them (#1-3 stars, #2-3 stars, #3-2 stars) but was a bit disappointed as I found the writing uneven and sometimes forced. (And I thought one revelation in #3 bordering on preposterous.) I'm glad I'm returning to Barbary Lane though as the author shows much improvement, especially in the overall storyline and pulling it all together.
April 23, 2008
Armistead Maupin's uproarious and moving Tales of the City novels—the first three of which are collected in the is omnibus edition—have earned a unique niche in American literature, not only as matchless entertainment, but as indelible documents of cultural change in the seventies and eighties.
When originally serialized in the San Francisco Chronicle, Tales of the City (1976), More Tales of the City (1977) and Futher Tales of the City (1982) afforded a mainstream audience of millions its first exposure to straight and gay characters experiencing on equal terms the follies of urban life.
Among the cast of this groundbreaking saga are the lovelorn residents of 28 Barbary Lane: the bewildered but aspiring Mary Ann Singleton, the libidinous Brain Hawkins; Mona Ramsey, still in a sixties trance, Michael "Mouse" Tolliver, forever in bright-eyed pursuit of Mr. Right; and their marijuana-growing landlady, the indefatigable Mrs. Madrigal. Hurdling barriers both social and sexual, Maupin leads them through heartbreak and triumph, through mail-biting terrors and gleeful coincidences. The result is a glittering and addictive comedy of manners that continues to beguile new generations of readers.
When originally serialized in the San Francisco Chronicle, Tales of the City (1976), More Tales of the City (1977) and Futher Tales of the City (1982) afforded a mainstream audience of millions its first exposure to straight and gay characters experiencing on equal terms the follies of urban life.
Among the cast of this groundbreaking saga are the lovelorn residents of 28 Barbary Lane: the bewildered but aspiring Mary Ann Singleton, the libidinous Brain Hawkins; Mona Ramsey, still in a sixties trance, Michael "Mouse" Tolliver, forever in bright-eyed pursuit of Mr. Right; and their marijuana-growing landlady, the indefatigable Mrs. Madrigal. Hurdling barriers both social and sexual, Maupin leads them through heartbreak and triumph, through mail-biting terrors and gleeful coincidences. The result is a glittering and addictive comedy of manners that continues to beguile new generations of readers.
July 5, 2019
This is a hard one to rate since it contains the first three books of the Tales of the City series. I found the first book fairly slow but that picked up in the second and third book. I ended up falling in love with the characters and loved reading their progressions through the books (and years). The issues of the times really show within. I really got caught up in the stories and the 880 pages seemed to pass quickly. I found some of the scenarios and coincidences a bit much at times but it did make things entertaining. Overall, a good read. I look forward to reading the other 6 books and to see how all the characters change.
November 3, 2007
I used to read the Tales of the City books over and over when I lived in Ohio. They were a talisman for me of the life I wanted, the characters then about 10 years older than I. I haven't read them again since Ohio, and in the interim I did live in The City for a while so I had a sense of place this time that was missing from my earlier reads. This re-read was bittersweet on many levels but it still felt a lot like coming home. If you want an objective review, you'll have to go elsewhere. I love these people.
May 25, 2007
As a required text for english my sophomore/junior year of high school, this book sparked my interest in reading for fun. With each storyline, I found myself unable to put Tales of the City down. I suggest this book to anyone who wants to get lost in a good book. Enjoy!
March 29, 2022
Ça fait plaisir de voir une représentation de la communauté homosexuelle de l’époque mais j’aurais préféré plus de protagonistes femmes. Hâte de lire la suite! Ça reste quand même un genre d’humour que j’apprécie puis j’aime beaucoup le format des chroniques.
April 20, 2025
ça m'a sauvé mon voyage mon téléphone s'est éteint dans l'aéroport 🙏🏻
October 31, 2025
Book I: Tales of the City
This is a weirdly nostalgic look at San Francisco in the seventies. Weirdly, because it was written in the seventies. And the author’s photo looks like I’d expect the male characters to look.
Much of the bones of San Francisco in this novel still existed ten to fifteen years ago when I occasionally visited, mainly over Thanksgiving. Perry’s was still there. Russian Hill—and much of San Francisco north of Market—was still walkable. Christmas was known by way of store decorations rather than snow, because of course there isn’t any. I suspect the suburbs had moved further away but there was still the culture shift when crossing the bridge (either one, each with their own shift) or heading south to where the peninsula, and the space, widens.
That also made reading the book nostalgic for me.
It’s a good bedside book: it’s written in very short installments, originally for a periodical much like old science fiction, but shorter.
The book is at least as touching as the television series, which was my introduction to the work.
Book II: More Tales of the City
The strength of the first book is, at least initially, the weakness of this second. Like the first, it reads like a period piece, but it reads like a forced period peace. Instead of a sense of place and a sense of time, Maupin initially tries to set the period using people, and most people disappear from public conscious far faster than places and eras.
Further, he’s introducing people as far afield as Florida, about as far as you can get from San Francisco in the continental United States.
Where restaurants and north of Market and Russian Hill continue to evoke a period of San Francisco history, Florida activists don’t. Worse, he’s doing so through letters from home to Mouse, and the letters themselves come off as forced plot explainers more than an actual letter from an actual parent.
It comes off as a bit of a mean-spirited maligning of the dead.
Angel Dust gets pulled in, too, very much like someone writing a period piece and trying to stuff in as much from the era as possible. There’s no reason for it, and nothing happens. It doesn’t even go nowhere, it just disappears from the story.
On a positive note, I do fondly remember the Cow Hollow Inn, though I’m not sure how my Cow Hollow Inn is related to the one mentioned here by upscale DeDe to her even more upscale mother. I used to stay at the Cow Hollow Inn when I’d go up to San Francisco. It was a wonderful base of operations for wandering the city.
The ending is so clumsily set up that I initially thought he must be trying to incorporate a real event, but that would have required his fictional characters to have broken the scandal; it appears that Grace Cathedral (fortunately) did not in fact have such a scandal.
The epilogue is a little off, too; I suspect it’s setting up the real-world events in the third book.
Book III: Further Tales of the City
Unsurprisingly, as the cast gets more complicated the book veers further and further into soap opera territory. It always was a soap opera, but the structure also lent itself well to the sort of contemporary nostalgia that Maupin does very well. It’s a weird thing to pull off, and it becomes more blatant and less nostalgic as the series wears on. There are only so many things that you can be nostalgic about in the present time.
Jim Jones and Guyana is probably not a good choice for that. Certainly, he was a major part of the San Francisco elite in the era right up until he added a new phrase to the American lexicon: drinking the kool-aid.
He does fit well into the soap opera, however, invoking the perennial soap opera twist of twins (or at least, doubles), especially ones that aren’t really necessary for the plot to proceed. It’s not quite at the level of UFOs, but perhaps Maupin was saving that for a later installment.
This is very clearly a pre-AIDS work. Massive sleeping around is normal not just in gay culture in general, but even within the context of a gay marriage. And not just normal, but praiseworthy, the acceptance of which makes a partner “perfect”.
The Jim Jones plot is very weird and unbelievable, but only in the sense that the seventies were weird and unbelievable. The extent to which Jones was accepted and praised in the seventies is difficult to believe not just post-Jonestown but post-New Religion. It really was a different time, and it isn’t surprising that someone could be nostalgic for it while it was happening.
This is a weirdly nostalgic look at San Francisco in the seventies. Weirdly, because it was written in the seventies. And the author’s photo looks like I’d expect the male characters to look.
Much of the bones of San Francisco in this novel still existed ten to fifteen years ago when I occasionally visited, mainly over Thanksgiving. Perry’s was still there. Russian Hill—and much of San Francisco north of Market—was still walkable. Christmas was known by way of store decorations rather than snow, because of course there isn’t any. I suspect the suburbs had moved further away but there was still the culture shift when crossing the bridge (either one, each with their own shift) or heading south to where the peninsula, and the space, widens.
That also made reading the book nostalgic for me.
It’s a good bedside book: it’s written in very short installments, originally for a periodical much like old science fiction, but shorter.
The book is at least as touching as the television series, which was my introduction to the work.
Book II: More Tales of the City
The strength of the first book is, at least initially, the weakness of this second. Like the first, it reads like a period piece, but it reads like a forced period peace. Instead of a sense of place and a sense of time, Maupin initially tries to set the period using people, and most people disappear from public conscious far faster than places and eras.
Further, he’s introducing people as far afield as Florida, about as far as you can get from San Francisco in the continental United States.
Where restaurants and north of Market and Russian Hill continue to evoke a period of San Francisco history, Florida activists don’t. Worse, he’s doing so through letters from home to Mouse, and the letters themselves come off as forced plot explainers more than an actual letter from an actual parent.
It comes off as a bit of a mean-spirited maligning of the dead.
Angel Dust gets pulled in, too, very much like someone writing a period piece and trying to stuff in as much from the era as possible. There’s no reason for it, and nothing happens. It doesn’t even go nowhere, it just disappears from the story.
On a positive note, I do fondly remember the Cow Hollow Inn, though I’m not sure how my Cow Hollow Inn is related to the one mentioned here by upscale DeDe to her even more upscale mother. I used to stay at the Cow Hollow Inn when I’d go up to San Francisco. It was a wonderful base of operations for wandering the city.
The ending is so clumsily set up that I initially thought he must be trying to incorporate a real event, but that would have required his fictional characters to have broken the scandal; it appears that Grace Cathedral (fortunately) did not in fact have such a scandal.
The epilogue is a little off, too; I suspect it’s setting up the real-world events in the third book.
Book III: Further Tales of the City
Unsurprisingly, as the cast gets more complicated the book veers further and further into soap opera territory. It always was a soap opera, but the structure also lent itself well to the sort of contemporary nostalgia that Maupin does very well. It’s a weird thing to pull off, and it becomes more blatant and less nostalgic as the series wears on. There are only so many things that you can be nostalgic about in the present time.
Jim Jones and Guyana is probably not a good choice for that. Certainly, he was a major part of the San Francisco elite in the era right up until he added a new phrase to the American lexicon: drinking the kool-aid.
He does fit well into the soap opera, however, invoking the perennial soap opera twist of twins (or at least, doubles), especially ones that aren’t really necessary for the plot to proceed. It’s not quite at the level of UFOs, but perhaps Maupin was saving that for a later installment.
This is very clearly a pre-AIDS work. Massive sleeping around is normal not just in gay culture in general, but even within the context of a gay marriage. And not just normal, but praiseworthy, the acceptance of which makes a partner “perfect”.
The Jim Jones plot is very weird and unbelievable, but only in the sense that the seventies were weird and unbelievable. The extent to which Jones was accepted and praised in the seventies is difficult to believe not just post-Jonestown but post-New Religion. It really was a different time, and it isn’t surprising that someone could be nostalgic for it while it was happening.
August 31, 2025
J’ai kiffé le tome 1, j’ai déjà la suite sur les étagères:))
Belle approche des 70s, 80s à San Francisco. Jeunesse, fête, homosexualité, questionnements, authenticité, suspens, humour, tout y est, c’est léger et excitant !!!
Belle approche des 70s, 80s à San Francisco. Jeunesse, fête, homosexualité, questionnements, authenticité, suspens, humour, tout y est, c’est léger et excitant !!!
January 12, 2020
I am always looking for lgbtq+* fiction and so when I heard the new Netflix series was based on a book series I immediately got a copy. I really enjoyed it. It felt like a queer soapy drama with all sorts of intrigue and scandals going on. It is pretty dated in terms of phrases and references as it was originally written in the 1970's. Needless to say there are some pretty problematic moments which were a sign of the times of when it was written but if you can get over that want a good easy read with fun apologetic lgbt characters living it up then this is for you.
I still have not watched the show as I want to finish the third book in the series before I do. Interested to see how a contemporary queer writers room have taken up the world of Barbary Lane.
I still have not watched the show as I want to finish the third book in the series before I do. Interested to see how a contemporary queer writers room have taken up the world of Barbary Lane.
October 21, 2022
I started this series after watching the Netflix show based on these books. I liked the plot of the show and was hoping that the books would have more to offer. I was hooked on the first book of this series right off the bat. The author does an amazing job of creating characters you can't help but fall in love with, and every chapter leaves you asking, "What's going to happen to them next?" The characters all become a chosen family and this series follows them through relationships, careers, moves, illnesses, and everything in between. While not all of the characters are LGBTQ+, the author does make sure that there is plenty of historical context in that department.
June 17, 2019
Back in the day I read the original books, now as a compendium I have once again enjoyed all three and have moved on to the next compendium.
I love these books.
I love these books.
August 6, 2019
My nostalgia for Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City series was stoked once again by the recent revival of the adaptation on Netflix. On a reread of the first three books, however, a few flaws become apparent.
The initial entry in the series is fun and feels pleasurably voyeuristic on the hijinx of the down and out and rich and famous both . . . but Tales of the City is honestly not as well-written as later installments. Maupin relies heavily on chunks of dialogue without much exposition or inner reflection; the character development is thin. More Tales is fleshed out to a fuller extent, but so much of the action takes place either on Mary Ann and Michael's cruise, or Mona's adventures in Winnemucca, that it hardly feels like it's 'of the City' at all. It's not really until Further Tales that the series comes into focus, and Maupin seems to grasp his authorial strengths.
As a lifelong Dickens fan, I'm totally willing to accept Maupin's often outrageous coincidences that cause his characters to cross paths. What I find less comfortable, though, is how Maupin divides his gay characters in these first three books into two broad camps—the good gays and bad gays. The bad gays are uniformly effeminate: they mince about and use campy language, address each other with effete pronouns such as 'she,' listen to ABBA, and make double-entendres worthy of Are You Being Served?'s Mr. Humphries. Maupin's A-List Gays, whom he dismisses entirely, and other ineffectual minor players are thus uniformly characterized. The author's pets, though, are unswervingly masculine and 'straight-acting,' and if they happen to do anything outrageous such as enter an underwear contest, at least they have the decency to regret it for several volumes.
Admittedly, decades have passed since these novels were initially released, and the LGBTQ population's policing of others' mannerisms has been increasingly left in the past—as have outdated nonchalance about child pornographers and casual institutionalized sexism. While parts of the first Tales trilogy may seem like relics from a time capsule, at least Maupin's primary characters are mostly as fresh and endearing as they were forty years ago.
The initial entry in the series is fun and feels pleasurably voyeuristic on the hijinx of the down and out and rich and famous both . . . but Tales of the City is honestly not as well-written as later installments. Maupin relies heavily on chunks of dialogue without much exposition or inner reflection; the character development is thin. More Tales is fleshed out to a fuller extent, but so much of the action takes place either on Mary Ann and Michael's cruise, or Mona's adventures in Winnemucca, that it hardly feels like it's 'of the City' at all. It's not really until Further Tales that the series comes into focus, and Maupin seems to grasp his authorial strengths.
As a lifelong Dickens fan, I'm totally willing to accept Maupin's often outrageous coincidences that cause his characters to cross paths. What I find less comfortable, though, is how Maupin divides his gay characters in these first three books into two broad camps—the good gays and bad gays. The bad gays are uniformly effeminate: they mince about and use campy language, address each other with effete pronouns such as 'she,' listen to ABBA, and make double-entendres worthy of Are You Being Served?'s Mr. Humphries. Maupin's A-List Gays, whom he dismisses entirely, and other ineffectual minor players are thus uniformly characterized. The author's pets, though, are unswervingly masculine and 'straight-acting,' and if they happen to do anything outrageous such as enter an underwear contest, at least they have the decency to regret it for several volumes.
Admittedly, decades have passed since these novels were initially released, and the LGBTQ population's policing of others' mannerisms has been increasingly left in the past—as have outdated nonchalance about child pornographers and casual institutionalized sexism. While parts of the first Tales trilogy may seem like relics from a time capsule, at least Maupin's primary characters are mostly as fresh and endearing as they were forty years ago.
December 4, 2019
Total soap opera, but in the best kind of way. Fans of the PBS miniseries or the new Netflix limited series will find the first three volumes of the whole Tales of the City saga pretty much do exactly what it says on the tin. Every plot is intertwined, there's always some kind of gasp-worthy heel turn (He's really a P.I.! Cults! Jim Jones!), everyone finds themselves in and out of some larger plot twist. Maupin is a breezy writer, making even a 1,000 page book go remarkably quickly.
At the core, the reason for getting into these stories (and getting invested in these characters) is because he's so good at illustrating the concept of chosen family that is so essential to queer life. We feel it when Mrs. Madrigal, facing a potentially life-ending event, responds to the suggestion that somehow she'll be okay with, "Of course I will be; I'm with my family, aren't I?" referencing people she essentially barely knows. With a few small exceptions, every character relates far better to their Barbary Lane neighbors than they do their biological relatives. They've all come to this exotic place called San Francisco where no one is actually from but everyone ends up if they're the right kind of person and in doing so build a fantasy version of their lives.
That fantasy is actually why you want to keep reading. Though Tales of the City is technically realism, the San Francisco it is set in is more of a fairy tale country than a place that ever really existed, and not just because the bulk of the action in the first three novels all takes place entirely before the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic. It's charming, full of rogues and characters and kindly, welcoming landladies who draw you out of your shell with her marijuana garden and her caftans all the while only charging you a couple of hundred bucks per month for your one-bedroom apartment. It's a San Francisco that you want to move to, far removed from the current version or even the version that existed at the time. Add to it the utterly charming and slightly unbelievable characters that make up the world, and reading it can feel like a nice, warm bath.
At the core, the reason for getting into these stories (and getting invested in these characters) is because he's so good at illustrating the concept of chosen family that is so essential to queer life. We feel it when Mrs. Madrigal, facing a potentially life-ending event, responds to the suggestion that somehow she'll be okay with, "Of course I will be; I'm with my family, aren't I?" referencing people she essentially barely knows. With a few small exceptions, every character relates far better to their Barbary Lane neighbors than they do their biological relatives. They've all come to this exotic place called San Francisco where no one is actually from but everyone ends up if they're the right kind of person and in doing so build a fantasy version of their lives.
That fantasy is actually why you want to keep reading. Though Tales of the City is technically realism, the San Francisco it is set in is more of a fairy tale country than a place that ever really existed, and not just because the bulk of the action in the first three novels all takes place entirely before the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic. It's charming, full of rogues and characters and kindly, welcoming landladies who draw you out of your shell with her marijuana garden and her caftans all the while only charging you a couple of hundred bucks per month for your one-bedroom apartment. It's a San Francisco that you want to move to, far removed from the current version or even the version that existed at the time. Add to it the utterly charming and slightly unbelievable characters that make up the world, and reading it can feel like a nice, warm bath.
September 15, 2025
Cette compilation Tome 1 des chroniques de San Francisco replonge dans le San Francisco des années 70-80, bien loin de l'univers chic et clochards que connait aujourd'hui SF. A l'origine, Les Chroniques de San Francisco ont été publiées par Armistead Maupina, à partir de 1976, en feuilleton dans le San Francisco Chronicle pour faire accepter les homosexuels dans cette ville devenue emblématique du milieu gay. Pour faciliter l'intérêt pour ses chroniques auprès d'un large public et minimiser tout ce qui touchait à l’homosexualité, il a crée le personnage de Mary Ann – à la base hétérosexuelle, évoluant dans le milieu des médias et dans une cité queer. Au fil des épisodes, les différentes facettes de la communauté gay sont dévoilées, sous le regard bienveillant et maternel d'Anna Madrigal, une logeuse pas comme les autres au fabuleux 28 Barbary Lane.
Cette lecture rappelle l'essor de ce mouvement de libération, et toutes les barrières psychologiques, sociales et sociétales franchies au prix de grands combats pour arriver aujourd'hui à une situation ou alternent indifférence et homophobie féroce. Une situation fragile, comme d'autres combats menés ces dernières décennies.
Adapté à la télévision en 1993 et dans une série en 2019, la version Netflix d'aujourd'hui est très largement adaptée et actualisée parait il. A découvrir ainsi que les suites de ce tome 1.
Cette lecture rappelle l'essor de ce mouvement de libération, et toutes les barrières psychologiques, sociales et sociétales franchies au prix de grands combats pour arriver aujourd'hui à une situation ou alternent indifférence et homophobie féroce. Une situation fragile, comme d'autres combats menés ces dernières décennies.
Adapté à la télévision en 1993 et dans une série en 2019, la version Netflix d'aujourd'hui est très largement adaptée et actualisée parait il. A découvrir ainsi que les suites de ce tome 1.
June 24, 2022
Livre sympa, on se perd un peu dans l'avalanche personnages, heureusement ce n'est pas le cas dans les livres suivants, l'auteur a dû décider de rectifier cela, et on l'ne remercie :D
C'est plus un livre d'introduction/ présentation des personnages, l'histoire commence avec Mary-ann, nombriliste, sainte-nitouche, orgueilleuse etc, bref antipathique au possible, (je vous rassure cela disparait dans le tome 2) qui arrive à San Francisco qui est à l'opposé d'elle. Le choc des cultures est violent pour elle, et fatiguant pour moi comme lectrice, tant de négativité plombe l'histoire.
Et elle dénigre les autres personnages bien plus attachants qu'elle.
Heureusement Mouse éclaire le livre, tout comme Mme Madrigal, bref accrochez-vous le deuxième livre est une pépite! :)
C'est plus un livre d'introduction/ présentation des personnages, l'histoire commence avec Mary-ann, nombriliste, sainte-nitouche, orgueilleuse etc, bref antipathique au possible, (je vous rassure cela disparait dans le tome 2) qui arrive à San Francisco qui est à l'opposé d'elle. Le choc des cultures est violent pour elle, et fatiguant pour moi comme lectrice, tant de négativité plombe l'histoire.
Et elle dénigre les autres personnages bien plus attachants qu'elle.
Heureusement Mouse éclaire le livre, tout comme Mme Madrigal, bref accrochez-vous le deuxième livre est une pépite! :)
November 30, 2024
The overall story was a wild ride and pretty intriguing but how we got to each plot point was a little bit muddled. Each ‘chapter’—if you can call them that because they are so short—switched to a different character and story line (for the most part). I found this hard to follow and keep track of but it did provide satisfaction when the story lines eventually merge. A lot of the references went over my head because the whole thing was filled with anachronisms very specific to 70’s and 80’s SF and I liked that it felt like a time capsule into that era. Also I noticed quite a few typos or editing mistakes, especially in the first and final anthology, that really distracted me and I was shocked they made it into the book.
September 20, 2025
Le livre est immergé dans San Francisco des années 70. Le cadre est posé : l’effervescence festive, les excès, les histoires de cœur, les amitiés qui vont et qui viennent… Un aller retour constant entre la vie citadine de San Francisco et les mystères de Barbary Lane.
Toutefois, bien que l’écriture était toutefois accessible, je n’ai pas réussi à saisir l’histoire dans son entièreté. Dans quel but ? Tous ces personnages, quelle conclusion donnent-ils ?
L’histoire est selon moi dénuée de finalité (bien que je sais que ce tome n’est que le premier de la série). Mais je n’arrive pas bien à saisir le pourquoi du comment.
Après tout, ce n’est pas mon genre littéraire de prédilection ! Cela relève finalement des goûts et des couleurs
Toutefois, bien que l’écriture était toutefois accessible, je n’ai pas réussi à saisir l’histoire dans son entièreté. Dans quel but ? Tous ces personnages, quelle conclusion donnent-ils ?
L’histoire est selon moi dénuée de finalité (bien que je sais que ce tome n’est que le premier de la série). Mais je n’arrive pas bien à saisir le pourquoi du comment.
Après tout, ce n’est pas mon genre littéraire de prédilection ! Cela relève finalement des goûts et des couleurs
January 30, 2018
This was my third time through all the Tales of the City. I actually own them separately as ebooks, but reviewing and adding to my shelves seems easier in bulk. I always laugh out loud, and adore the characters. My second time was bc we were considering moving to SF. Third time after my daughter came out. Mouse, Maupin’s alter ego, is my favorite, but how can you not adore Anna Madrigal? I know the plots are crazy and rely on coincidence but I don’t mind that in these light, fun, impossible to put down stories. And while of course there was no Jim Jones double, it almost SEEMS plausible, and Maupin really did “date” Rock Hudson (in the book as “___________”).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 16, 2022
Mary Ann s’installe au 28 Barburry Lane dans l’immeuble de Madame Madrigale.
Nous sommes dans les années 70 à San Francisco.
Elle y côtoie différentes personnes qui suivent leur propre cheminement personnel.
On y parle amour, vie quotidienne, travail et, tout ce fait sous un rythme effréné de dialogues dynamiques.
Les personnages sont hauts en couleur et plein de vie.
C’est une vraie joie de retrouver ce livre 20 ans après avoir lu tous les volumes de cette ‘Auberge espagnol’ où chacun vit à sa manière qui s’égrène au fil du temps.
Ce livre nous plonge dans une vie communautaire avec joie et bonne humeur. Et nous donne le goût du bonheur.
Partager :
Nous sommes dans les années 70 à San Francisco.
Elle y côtoie différentes personnes qui suivent leur propre cheminement personnel.
On y parle amour, vie quotidienne, travail et, tout ce fait sous un rythme effréné de dialogues dynamiques.
Les personnages sont hauts en couleur et plein de vie.
C’est une vraie joie de retrouver ce livre 20 ans après avoir lu tous les volumes de cette ‘Auberge espagnol’ où chacun vit à sa manière qui s’égrène au fil du temps.
Ce livre nous plonge dans une vie communautaire avec joie et bonne humeur. Et nous donne le goût du bonheur.
Partager :
May 13, 2023
I read this collection of stories before I knew it was a famous collection of stories and before I knew that there was a TV series made in 1993. By now there's been a new series made in 2019. I see that I can watch the 1993 series with Olympia Dukakis on Tubi and the 2019 series with Laura Linney on Netflix. Awesome! It seems that the 2019 version is a sequel so I should watch the 1993 version first. There are two other series that came out in-between, from Showtime, but I guess they're hard to find.
At the time I read the book in 1997, it reminded me of a Melrose Place style saga about a bunch of people living in an apartment complex in San Francisco. "A good little soap opera."
At the time I read the book in 1997, it reminded me of a Melrose Place style saga about a bunch of people living in an apartment complex in San Francisco. "A good little soap opera."
November 22, 2025
[sur la saison 1]
Pas une mauvaise lecture en soi, mais beaucoup de personnages et j'ai trouvé que les relations entre elleux n'étaient pas toujours claires, donc c'était difficile de se plonger dans l'histoire ; ensuite je trouve que certaines relations étaient plus divertissantes, dommage !
je pensais lire un classique des romans un peu queer, (en tous cas je sais pas trop où j'avais entendu ça mais c'est dans cette optique que j'ai abordé le livre) et je pense que ça n'a pas passé l'épreuve du temps, je capte pas la hype
[spoil]
les rebondissements de fins étaient éclatés et problématiques
Pas une mauvaise lecture en soi, mais beaucoup de personnages et j'ai trouvé que les relations entre elleux n'étaient pas toujours claires, donc c'était difficile de se plonger dans l'histoire ; ensuite je trouve que certaines relations étaient plus divertissantes, dommage !
je pensais lire un classique des romans un peu queer, (en tous cas je sais pas trop où j'avais entendu ça mais c'est dans cette optique que j'ai abordé le livre) et je pense que ça n'a pas passé l'épreuve du temps, je capte pas la hype
[spoil]
les rebondissements de fins étaient éclatés et problématiques
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2018
Relecture assez agréable.
Les personnages ne me sont pas très sympathiques et sont un brin caricaturaux mais ça reste une lecture rapide et plaisante.
Je suis curieuse de connaître la suite des chroniques, mais j'ai pas vraiment été emportée par l'ambiance ou les personnages. J'ai surtout été contente que Mouse et Brian deviennent amis mais le reste des rebondissements m'a laissé assez indifférente.
Je pense que le côté très découpé du récit, s'il dynamise bien l'ensemble, participe à une mise à distance, un manque d'approfondissement des caractères et des intrigues.
Les personnages ne me sont pas très sympathiques et sont un brin caricaturaux mais ça reste une lecture rapide et plaisante.
Je suis curieuse de connaître la suite des chroniques, mais j'ai pas vraiment été emportée par l'ambiance ou les personnages. J'ai surtout été contente que Mouse et Brian deviennent amis mais le reste des rebondissements m'a laissé assez indifférente.
Je pense que le côté très découpé du récit, s'il dynamise bien l'ensemble, participe à une mise à distance, un manque d'approfondissement des caractères et des intrigues.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 8, 2019
In his widely read "Tales of the City" Armistead Maupin writes of his adopted San Francisco and the eccentric and flamboyant people who captured world attention on a city long famous for it's off-beat life styles. Focusing on the interconnected lives of a group of both gay and straight boarders living at 28 Barbary Lane during the 1970's, Maupin takes his readers through a series of outrageous events that are both hilarious and thought provoking. This is a great read for people accepting of mankind's differences and their place in our ever changing culture.
March 23, 2023
This(these) novel(s?) are such a joy. They're light and breezy (I don't know if a 700-page book can be a "beach read" but it carries the same weight) and a true joy. I tend to sprinkle in "break" books between more challenging or dark novels that I'm reading, and this fits the bill nicely. The characters are well-rounded, their stories are engaging and the whole vibe of the world is decidedly wholesome-though I'm sure some of the themes would seem anything but to some of our friends in the middle of the country...
July 20, 2025
The structure of the novel is just like a soap opera... but a thousand times better! As soon as you finish one chapter, you're thrown into a completely different storyline in the next. It just makes you want to keep reading to catch up with the lovable group of characters whose stories are all cleverly connected.
You’re constantly surprised—sometimes by the bold themes, sometimes by the characters revealing who they really are, and sometimes by the way the story’s told, almost like a short story with a twist ending. There's never a dull moment!
I seriously recommend giving it a read.
You’re constantly surprised—sometimes by the bold themes, sometimes by the characters revealing who they really are, and sometimes by the way the story’s told, almost like a short story with a twist ending. There's never a dull moment!
I seriously recommend giving it a read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews