Michael Tolliver Lives: A Novel (Tales of the City, 7)

When I first heard that Armistead Maupin was writing MICHAEL TOLLIVER LIVES, I wasn't sure I wanted to read it. Maupin would say time and again that MTL was not going to be a "Tales of the City" number 7, and I was not happy about that. Reading and enjoying all six TALES OF THE CITY books (1-3 being my favorites), I wanted more! Well I decided to give MTL a chance, and I'm glad I did. I LOVED it! Although it isn't a TOTC #7 book, there are enough appearances from familiar characters of "Tales..." that would keep even the most die hard fan satisfied. And these appearances are not random, gratuitous pop-ups; they push the story along and allow the reader to reconnect with the characters, particularly Michael Tolliver. The story begins in the current day--some 18 years after we last heard from the people of "Barbary Lane"--and gives us a sense of how much the world has changed, how much these characters have changed, and how much we have changed, ourselves. I'm not going to give out the plot, but in the last book (SURE OF YOU) Michael Tolliver he was preparing to die from AIDS. And since that didn't happen, he now has to face life like any other person getting older...finding a way to grow old gracefully. The MTL book ties up any loose ends that might have left readers hanging from TOTC book #6, SURE OF YOU. And it does so very nicely. Unlike the "Tales..." books, MTL revolves around the main character Michael Tolliver and is written in first person. Action follows a…

Maupin's "Tales of the City" novels had an undeniable impact on my life. I was a closeted college sophomore when I checked the first three books out of the Springfield, MA library in the Fall of 1990. I had a feeling I was coming late to the "Tales" party at that point but was instantly taken with 28 Barbary lane and its inhabitants. I was so square at 19 that the thought of a pot smoking landlady made me vaguely uncomfortable; I don't miss those days or my old rigid self. At the age of 22, the landmark PBS miniseries had me spending my tax refund check on a ten day vacation to San Francisco so that I could check out the city Maupin immortalized on my own. Any misgivings about a pot smoking landlady were gone. So now, thirteen years after I read the last book in the series, I was over the moon to see "Michael Tolliver Lives." But after reading two negative critic reviews, I was worried. Could this book measure up to my memories? Yes, and then some. "Michael Tolliver Lives" is different than the previous novels in the "Tales" series; this is one man's, first person narrative, unlike the multi-character structure of the other "Tales" books. But "Michael Tolliver Lives" is as wonderful, moving and beautiful as anything Maupin's ever written (quick plug for "Maybe the Moon.") Here are the characters we know and love. Times have changed, but Mouse and Brian and Anna Madrigal, the pot smoking landlady (and some others, but that'd be ruining the surprise) are here and take no time…