Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Tales Of The City: Tales of the City 1 (Tales of the City Series)
Tales Of The City: Tales of the City 1 (Tales of the City Series) | Armistead Maupin
22 posts | 23 read | 6 to read
LibraryThing
blurb
Dilara
post image

Glad I read it as it's a modern classic, but it wasn't really my cup of tea. The constant shop/product/celebrity name dropping was distracting. Sad that the slang has grown old but all the social issues (drugs, anorexia, paedophilia...) are just as current as ever.
I'll probably leave the book in a little library so it can go to someone who will appreciate it better.

rwmg I read it in the 1980s and again quite recently. It started life as a column in a local newspaper, and has lots of in-jokes which the original readers no doubt found hilarious but both times I read it I found it too much like a party where I don't know anyone and have no idea what they're talking about. 3w
Dilara @rwmg Yes, that's exactly it! 😁 3w
29 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
cant_i'm_booked
post image
Pickpick

Living in San Francisco, it is almost mandated that you read this classic by SF Chronicle columnist Maupin. Rollicking, acerbic and outlandish are the only words I can come up with to describe the interlinked exploits, shenanigans and “affairettes” of the residents of 28 Barbary Lane (which is based on Macondray Lane, right above my workplace). Next up: watching the 1993 TV miniseries (Laura Linney anyone?)

Suet624 Love Laura!! 4mo
Blueberry I've never seen that cover. I had the ones that have the cover like a map that all link together. Love the book series, didn't care for the tv series. 4mo
Blueberry P.S. I live in Fairfield (east on 80). 4mo
cant_i'm_booked @Suet624 I love her too, and how she brings the Midwest with her to SF 3mo
cant_i'm_booked @Blueberry I know what covers you are talking about! Id say those are the cooler editions. And right on about Fairfield! I pass on my way to Sacramento via 80 and have been meaning to stop by and check it out. 3mo
15 likes5 comments
review
birdie_gw
post image
Pickpick

The photo is book 2 but the review is of book 1. I read it so fast and jumped right into book 2! A fun one that made me miss SF. I‘ve been bad about using this app because I read ebooks and don‘t have cute photos to share!

review
KCofKaysville
post image
Pickpick

Very readable connected episodes among a cast of people starting with Mary Anne who is new to the area. Very typical of late 70s types and situations and is like eating potato chips. Hard to stop!

Ruthiella Like potato chips is a good analogy! I really enjoyed the first three books. 1y
23 likes1 comment
blurb
KCofKaysville
post image

Found this at a thrift store and since it is in San Francisco …I‘m starting it.

dabbe #coverlove 🤩🤩🤩 1y
24 likes2 stack adds1 comment
blurb
merelybookish
post image

Reminds me a lot of Three's Company. Similar humour, setting, references.
Making me think about what makes a book feel dated. 🤔

Ruthiella Just wait. It gets totally kooky and very far from a Three‘s Company plot line! 1y
merelybookish @Ruthiella It does get kooky! 1y
65 likes2 comments
blurb
merelybookish
post image

Lazy Sunday afternoon reading on the screened-jn verandah.
This month's #doublespin

Suet624 Enjoy! 1y
54 likes2 stack adds1 comment
blurb
Magpiegem
post image

I finished 6 books in April and almost finished Invisible Women. It was a good months reading, the only disappointment being The Twyford Code. Tales from the City was my first and favourite book of the month. The characters stole my heart completely. Now I‘m trying to hunt down the other books in the series!

blurb
Magpiegem
post image

🐣 Happy Easter everyone!🐰The easter bunny has been, the BBQ has been cooked and I‘m having a cider from my local farm with this wonderful book. I went into this one blind and it has won my heart. And the structure is making it very hard to put down!

AmyG These are lovely books. Happy Easter! 2y
31 likes1 comment
review
ChaoticMissAdventures
post image
Mehso-so

This was fine. I can see why it was popular in the 70-80s. I was interested reading it, but was constantly confused on who was who. I also suspect I am not going to remember anything about it in a few weeks. But if I was in a cabin somewhere and the second one was laying about I would pick it up.

review
amma-keep-reading
Mehso-so

Such a strange cast of characters. I definitely had no idea where the story(ies) were going but I guess that it is what either keeps you interested or not. I am glad that I stuck with it until the end.

review
Hooked_on_books
post image
Pickpick

Maupin traipses through 1976 San Francisco with his cast of characters and I just loved this! I‘m delighted that there are more books, as I absolutely plan to dig into them.

AlaMich Yes, that series is a lot of fun. When I read them, I really really wanted to live at 28 Barbary Lane; they always seemed to be having a good time. 2y
LeahBergen This really is a fun series! 👍 2y
CarolynM ❤️ 2y
38 likes2 stack adds3 comments
review
rmaclean4
Pickpick

What a great sense of time and place! Early 1970's San Fransico. This was a delicious soap opera of a book. So glad it is just the start of the series.

review
rwmg
post image
Panpan

I've read this before round about 1980. I found it a frustrating read then, and I did again this time round. It started life as a column in a San Francisco newspaper and there are just too many in jokes or brand names, shops, and districts used in descriptions which obviously mean SOMETHING but I have no idea what. It feels like a party where I don't know anybody or anything about what they're talking about.

Libby1 I had a similar experience with this one. 4y
rwmg @Libby1 I'm glad I'm not the only one. The series usually gets so much love and I just don't see it 4y
19 likes2 comments
review
MarkoPDX
post image
Pickpick

This was a very fast read, which shouldn't surprise since it was written as a series of vignettes in a newspaper. Written and based in San Francisco in the mid-70s, I loved reading about the city in its transition from the hippies of the 60s to the hedonists of the 80s.

#lgbt

blurb
CarolynM
post image

#20series20days Tales of the City

An unforgettable group of characters in a very specific place and time (and then 3 more books to give us a peek at them in the new century). The residents of 28 Barbary Lane have a very special place in my heart.

Leftcoastzen Yay! I was hoping this series would show up!👏👏👏 4y
Ruthiella Oh how pretty! 😍 I only have the first two trilogies in rather unattractive bind-ups. 😢 4y
LeahBergen Yes! I read the first five (or six 🤔). 4y
See All 7 Comments
TrishB Not read 😐 so many books! 4y
Andrew65 Not a series I know. 4y
Chrissyreadit Yes! I loved the first three! 4y
Centique You have some great editions! I loved this series and must reread 😍 4y
71 likes1 stack add7 comments
blurb
Ast_Arslan
post image

I've really became mad to find this book! It was a real hunting! But now it's finally mine and I can start reading it!
Also, I've even finished to watch the entire tv series, that I truly loved ❤
Can't wait to go back to Barbary Lane ❤

#Barbarylane #armisteadmaupin #talesofsanfrancisco #book1 #lgbt+ #pride #pridemonth #sanfrancisco #toreadtotravel #tbr #28barbarylane

blurb
Chittavrtti
post image

A brief visit home. Upon finishing this book I can honestly say I loved all the references to places that were and some that remain. But, this is a definite period piece. The amount of times I flinched at comments made and attitudes brandished is cringe worthy.* anther addition to the Seuss stack.

1 like1 stack add
review
Reviewsbylola
post image
Pickpick

This book includes Tales of the City books 1-3. I finished the first one last night and will take a break before reading 2&3.

I liked the whimsical nature of the book as it follows the residents of Barbary Lane. It‘s a great look at San Francisco in the 70s. I can see it being a good trip down memory lane if you were alive when this book was written. The writing is spare.

I‘m going to consider this a classic. 🤷🏼‍♀️ #classicschallenge2020

AmyG Definitely a classic. I have read a few and loved them. 5y
BiblioLitten I have never heard of these book, and they sound so good. Stacked!! 5y
CarolynM Absolutely a classic! I know what you mean about the writing. When I read it I was amazed at how much he could convey just through dialogue - and not speechifying dialogue, just ordinary conversation! 5y
75 likes2 stack adds3 comments
blurb
peaKnit
post image

1. Tagged, I love this entire series many times over.
2. Blue
3. Knitting, sometimes parenting, sometimes my day job
4. @Jenreads
#friyayintro @4thhouseontheleft @howjessreads

Blueberry Tales of the City 💙 5y
11 likes1 comment
review
ReadingEnvy
post image
Pickpick

I listened to this in audio, read by Frances McDormand. Tales of the City was originally published in 1978 (the year I was born) and it focuses on a cast of characters all linked in some way to a landlady in San Francisco (near where I was born.)

Centique I loved finding this series as a teenager. Thought I was very cosmopolitan and grown up! And then I fell in love with the characters and the city. 💕 Must reread. 5y
ReadingEnvy @Centique do you remember if the following volumes follow the same characters? 5y
Centique Yes I‘m pretty sure they do, although new people come in to the group too. I read about 4 of them. @Reggie can confirm because he read them all I think. 5y
See All 7 Comments
Reggie I‘ve read up until I think it‘s the 6th one, Michael Tolliver Lives. @Centique you‘re right, they all come and go in the sequels. 5y
CarolynM @Centique @Reggie I've read all 9 and yes, they are basically the same group of characters with the usual comings and goings you would expect in real life. I'm pretty sure Michael and Mrs Madrigal appear in all of them. 5y
Centique @CarolynM @Reggie I think this means we‘re a club now 😂 - joined through space and time by a love of Armistead Maupin. #bookbrothers #andsisters 5y
CarolynM @Centique @Reggie I'm happy with that 🙌🙌 5y
42 likes7 comments
blurb
CarolynM
post image

Nothing says #Californication to me quite like the wonderful and eye-opening (for me anyway) Tales of the City series. #WanderingJune

Trashcanman Hugs 6y
Reggie I haven‘t read From Michael Tolliver lives on, are they good? 6y
CarolynM @Trashcanman Back at ya, George🤗 6y
See All 8 Comments
CarolynM @Reggie I don't think they're as good as the original six, but they bring the characters into the present. Mary Ann in Autumn is the one I thought was most interesting. 6y
Cinfhen I wasn‘t familiar with this series but I see @Reviewsbylola and @squirrelbrain both posted about them 6y
Reviewsbylola I have the first book but haven‘t read it. @cinfhen. I‘ve heard amazing things!! 6y
Centique 😍😍😍 6y
Ruthiella Loved the first six but was a little disappointed in the last three. Still, good fun! (edited) 6y
68 likes8 comments