Tales of the City

I felt like I was in a time warp, reading about a lot of the things happening in the early 1970s.  For anyone from that era, remember “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” a comedy/satiric take off of soap operas?  Well, this one was written at the same time, and in many ways was the newspaper version.  Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City combines short episodic stories with the happenings of city life.  The book is set in the bay area, San Francisco, and centers on the boarding house of Mrs. Madrigal.  Mary Ann Singleton, a native of Cleveland, leaves her parents' home for a week and decides not to return.  Staying with her sex-crazed friend, she realizes this isn’t going to work out and finds a boarding house on Barbury Avenue that is run by marijuana growing farmer Mrs. Madrigal.  The rest is history!  Gay life, sex at all turns, finding a job, infidelities, having babies, mysteries, and all kinds of escapades are found in this “laid back” book.  The writing is a series of 3-4 page chapters.  The stories actually appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle each evening and was later placed in book format.  There are more books in the series, but the first book sets the stage for the folks who live in the house.  I love how the book ends, lots of cliff hangers (the author was smart, having you want for more!)… a daughter of the executive announces she is pregnant, one of the character’s parents visit (unannounced) whom she hasn’t seen in years (not a big deal right? Well she changed her skin color!), and finally Mrs. Madrigal is under investigation, but the PI is dead (he lived in the house!!!). Who done it?  Why?  What is up with Mrs. Madrigal?  What will happen to Mona and D’orthea (whose parents are sitting down stairs to see her)?  So many questions…  stay tuned.  A fun and light read.  I can see why people would buy the SF Chronicle every day just to read this.  Low impact, funny, and pretty easy reading!