With the film version of Armistead Maupin's most recent book, The Night Listener, about to hit cinemas, I thought it was time to mention another of my all-time favourites, the Tales of the City series.
Tales of the City is the first in a series of six books set in San Franciso in the late seventies and early eighties. Mary Ann Singleton is a sheltered secretary from Cleveland when she visits San Francisco for the first time and decides to stay. Moving into 28 Barbary Lane she meets and befriends a cast of outrageous but totally believable and charming characters, pretty much all of whom I fell in love with.
Probably the most popular and best-known character of the series is Michael "Mouse" Tolliver, apparently based on the author himself. Mouse is just gorgeous, vulnerable and real, and even though he's a gay man I identified with him more than Mary Ann so I was very excited to hear that Maupin his finally signed a deal for a new book. It's called Michael Tolliver Lives and, though some other Tales characters may appear, it's primarily about Mouse aged 55 and living with HIV.
But I digress. The Tales of the City series is a modern soap opera. It's far-fetched, melodramatic, unbelievable, stuffed with ridiculous plot twists and coincidences, but I defy you not to fall in love with it. I read the first and then could not rest until I'd read the other five. I've recommended them to everyone. I exclaimed out loud - with shock or delight - when reading them (sometimes in public). Yep, as so many reviews say, I laughed, I cried, I couldn't put it down. Really. I can't recommend this series highly enough.
Of course, if you're obsessed as me, you'll know that Tales of the City, More Tales of the City and Further Tales of the City were all made into TV mini-series (starring Laura Linney and Olympia Dukakis) and are available on DVD.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Did you know? If you're heading to San Francisco you can take the Tales of the City tour (yes, I've done it).
