Item: Tales of the City
Rating: 1.00
Author: layawaydragon

by Armistead Maupin

NAMED AS ONE OF THE BBC'S 100 MOST INSPIRING NOVELS

Now a Netflix series starring Ellen Page and Laura Linney . . .

'It's an odd thing, but anyone who disappears is said to be seen in San Francisco.' Oscar Wilde

Mary Ann is twenty-five and arrives in San Francisco for an eight-day holiday.

But then her Mood Ring turns blue.

So obviously she decides to stay. It is the 1970s after all.

Fresh out of Cleveland, naive Mary Ann tumbles headlong into a brave new world of pot-growing landladies, cut throat debutantes, spaced-out neighbours and outrageous parties. Finding a job as a secretary at an ad agency, Mary Ann wants to start her own life, away from her parents and with the flower-power freedom to make her own friends and her own decisions.

The saga that ensues introduces vignettes that are manic, romantic, tawdry and touching - unmistakably the handiwork of Armistead Maupin.

I can appreciate the role this played when it came out and people's attachment and nostalgia for the time.

I was honestly pretty bored when reading it. I didn't get far before I started skimming. So many references to places and people that I didn't know or get with no context to help the newbs along. I didn't even get to any gayness, just lots of straight people fucking each other over and under.

I was just going to DNF and chalk this one up as another classic I didn't like and maybe the TV series would work for me instead.

THEN I SAW THIS SHIT.
(Content warning for transphobic racist BS in the clip tweet quoted)

So this bugs me a lot. I know I've said this before but expecting folks to wait through offensive shit for some sort of payoff at the end is pretty shitty storytelling and this clip of this scene is why. https://t.co/uvGD9W5c0s
— Tepid Girl De (@NaniCoolJ) June 22, 2019

Tales of the City (Tales of the City, #1) (P.S.)

by Armistead Maupin

Reviewed by layawaydragon on Jun 25, 2019

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