Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
Perfect reading matter for sitting out in the sun all day – although you can quite happily imagine curling up in an armchair on a cold evening with it too – the first collection of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City stories is an unrelenting delight.
Starting with the arrival in San Francisco of Mary Ann Singleton, a naïve young secretary from the Midwest, it gradually broadens out, introducing us to a widening cast of colourful characters.
Frank and funny, charming and tolerant, these stories were initially serialised in the San Francisco Chronicle and depict life (apparently very accurately) in that city during the 1970s and '80s.
It would be easy to see them as a literary form of comfort food, but they're far more than that – not least for their humanity. The scenes between marijuana-growing landlady Anna Madrigal and stuffy businessman Edgar Halcyon are genuinely moving and provide a key to these tales – a zest for life itself and a determination not to waste it.
Just a hint of a cliff hanger at the end was quite enough of an excuse – were one needed – to order the next four volumes.
Perfect reading matter for sitting out in the sun all day – although you can quite happily imagine curling up in an armchair on a cold evening with it too – the first collection of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City stories is an unrelenting delight.
Starting with the arrival in San Francisco of Mary Ann Singleton, a naïve young secretary from the Midwest, it gradually broadens out, introducing us to a widening cast of colourful characters.
Frank and funny, charming and tolerant, these stories were initially serialised in the San Francisco Chronicle and depict life (apparently very accurately) in that city during the 1970s and '80s.
It would be easy to see them as a literary form of comfort food, but they're far more than that – not least for their humanity. The scenes between marijuana-growing landlady Anna Madrigal and stuffy businessman Edgar Halcyon are genuinely moving and provide a key to these tales – a zest for life itself and a determination not to waste it.
Just a hint of a cliff hanger at the end was quite enough of an excuse – were one needed – to order the next four volumes.
