If you are gay and have not read Armistead Maupin‘s Tales of the City books, you must do it right now. Go to Barnes & Noble on your lunch break and buy the whole series of six books, and read until you’re finished.
The characters of the books, including gay Michael Tolliver, naive Mary-Ann Singleton, and the wise Mrs. Madrigal have been beloved of gay Americans since the stories made their first appearance as a serial in two different San Francisco newspapers in the late 70s. Over the years they have crossed the pond and bewitched British readers as well, according to a new public poll that named Tales of the City as Britain’s favorite gay novel.
We also recommend the mini-series based on the books starring Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney, who are both superb.
Tales of the City ‘best gay read’ [BBC]
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Mark
No they don’t. Forty-year-old British queen clones with bad handlebar moustaches – and Freddy Mercury obsessions – like Tales of the City.
The rest (ie most) are right and think it is … crap 😉
Joe
Did you know that Armistead Maupin screwed up the investigation case of the notorious Zodiac killer from the San Francisco Bay aria? Maupin was about to release his fist “Tales of the City” and got a lot of attention for it when he layed a complaint against Dave Toschi (the head police investigator of the case). He said Toschi faked one of the serial killer’s notes to the police. This got so much attention that Toschi, who had been searcching for Zodiac for several years and was making a ot of progess, was demoted and the case took a turn for the worst. The killer was never found!
Nick
Mark… how can u say it’s crap, u must not have read them! Armistead is currently writing a new book about Michael Tolliver – called ‘Michael Tolliver Lives’ – it will out later this year – hopefully!
dhruv
ahhh, indians love em too…or maybe its the colonial influence!! But whatever i adore the series!!
Mark
I must not have read them if I think they are crap?
Sorry, I don’t follow that logic at all. You don’t actually think I could have read his books and concluded that they were banal and ineptly written? :s